Turn Habits into Genius Habits Using 5 Principles
The beginning of a new business cycle is a time of re-thinking old behaviors and acting on new ones. You may have recently had an end-of-year review or perhaps your organization is moving toward more frequent performance check-ins. Either way, work performance and career direction is probably top of mind.
It may be time to think about what habits you want to get rid of and which new ones will help you achieve the career-related results you want in the year ahead. You can strengthen your strong habits or build new behaviors that will help you achieve your ultimate goal – a career you love. During my 3-decade career I used the times when I changed positions or moved companies to “reinvent” myself by making conscious choices on what to take to my next role.
I talked to Performance Strategist, Laura Garnett, who has researched the science of performance, success and happiness. She discovered that building successful habits is one of the most important elements in having great work performance. She distilled the science and created a methodology that helps build the right kind of work habits to achieve career success.
From her research, she created The Genius Habit, which focuses on implementing simple practices to help you build more awareness about your work habits. The Genius Habit is composed of five principles that are essential for improved work performance and more career success.
The five principles are:
Challenge: Understand that challenge is an essential building block to great performance because it keeps you engaged intellectually. You need to find your ‘sweet spot’ of challenge; the challenge cannot be too hard or too easy for you. The best way to identify your sweet spot is to identify your Genius. This is the thinking or the problem-solving that you are best at. Garnett says, “In The Genius Habit, I walk you through the process of identifying your Genius. Using the performance tracker, you can monitor how often you are using your Genius.”
Impact: Motivation to perform well must come from within yourself, not from external rewards. It is also important to understand and have a personal connection to the impact that you are having on others or in the world.
Joy: Enjoy the actual work you are doing rather than counting on the achievement of your goals for fulfillment. There is nothing wrong with celebrating achievements, but when those achievements become your only excitement for work, it is a sign that there is more joy to be had.
Mindfulness: Slow down and be more aware of yourself. The ability to identify what is and is not working is essential for success. Without mindfulness, you cannot get to the root cause of any work issues that have you feeling anxious.
Perseverance: Failure is an inevitable part of any career. Garnett says, “In fact, if you’re never failing, then you probably aren’t stepping outside of your comfort zone enough. You should view failure as something to celebrate and work through. Perseverance is all about having grit and never giving up.”
So, if you are looking to shift how you operate at work this year, start by building the right behavior habits. They might just change the trajectory of your career.
Laura Garnett’s new book, The Genius Habit: How One Habit Can Radically Change Your Work and Your Life, has just been published by Sourcebooks.
