My mother wrote me a note the other day from Tennessee (snail mail; she’s still no fan of email) to tell me that she and Dad were going into the mountains to see the leaves. I was appropriately jealous. One thing about living in Florida that I’ve never gotten used to is the absence of Fall colors (and no raking in the Fall—instead our leaves fall in February—go figure).
The changing leaves reminds us of how God set up the wonderful world of plant life to go through this period when the leaves change color and ultimately fall in a downpour of colors. This time of change can be a powerful reminder of how we should act to pursue our dreams.
In the pursuit of excellence and life success, the reality is that we develop habits and choices that typically are often not helpful. Even the most skilled person should be in a constant state of watchfulness and learning to see how they can improve in an area of their lives.
What should you change? Where should your fall colors show?
It takes discipline and purposeful action to stay on the path of life success. You have to build habits that will support your dreams; often you have to change habits that hurt your chances.
Do you want to change? Do you want to win?
When I was coaching on an Olympic level swim team, we preached the mantra of building correct habits that would maximize the chances of swimming success. But do you know the old mantra, “practice makes perfect?” Well, that’s not really true. Here’s what I taught my swimmers—“Practice makes habits and you must work to develop the RIGHT habits.”
What habits are you building through your continued actions? Are they really helping you? As students, are you getting enough sleep or are you coming to class exhausted from watching Conan or World of Warcraft? What would happen in your classes if you completed your written assignments within the first few weeks of the semester? How much better would your life be if you developed the practice of a spiritual quiet time or meditation? Are you eating healthy or drinking water? Where would you be financially if you developed the habit of saving or of not using a credit card for purchases?
These and many other choices lie before you. Why don’t you start today in just one area? Where do your Fall colors need to show so that old leaf of a bad habit can drop off? Take some time today to write down just one area to change.
Now think about the best way to develop that habit. The experts say it takes up to 30 days to develop a habit, so do some of the following actions to support your CHOICE to build a great new habit:
–Write down your new habit, new pattern on sticky notes or note cards and place one in your bathroom, one near your computer, one near your TV and one in your car.
–write down specific steps you must take to accomplish your new habit. Perhaps if you are going to drink more water, you list a step of stopping at every water fountain for a 10 second drink or buying a large water bottle to carry with you. If your new habit is savings, perhaps you write down that all loose change or single dollar bills will be collected into a jar every day and then taken to the bank every 2 weeks. Whatever your habit it, spell it out.
–“success leaves clues”—invest in learning more about building this winning habit; use your local library to read up on ways to win in this.
–enlist a support partner; share openly what you want your new habit to be and tell them to ask you about it often.
Be determined! The trees each fall work diligently to get rid of these old leaves. Its time for a change; time to prepare for a new stage of life. You can do the same thing!