Do you practice success?

Most of us mindlessly follow our routines and never ask "Why." We fall into patterns that have been established over time and we continually perform them even when they have stopped delivering the expected result.

Have you ever taken the time to determine the specific habits that drive your personal and professional success? I believe that success involves habitual behavior, so "Success Is a Habit" is the theme I have chosen for my company in 2019.

I recently met with a business owner to discuss his struggling logistics company. The company was formed by his father and handed down to Jim. Jim's father was a man of routine who followed the same process each day of his life. He rose everyday at 4:30 a.m. and exercised for 45 minutes. Next, he had breakfast for 20 minutes, followed his morning hygiene process which took another 30 minutes. He left the house at precisely 6:10 and was at his desk, in full business mode, by 6:30 a.m. At work, Jim's father created a methodical plan to attack his day, leaving precisely at 6 p.m. each evening. This regimented life helped Jim's father build a business that never had a year where they missed their financial goals.

Jim, on the other hand, has a lot of natural talent. He went to a top-notch business school, excelled in his studies and entered his father's business as a kind of "wunderkind." Unfortunately, he never turned his raw talent into habitual behavior. The business struggled under Jim's lack of discipline and haphazard execution. That's when I entered the picture and began to examine Jim's lack of predictable success.

Jim has the necessary skills and certainly knows what to do with them to drive his business growth, however, his lack of discipline prevented him from consistently achieving success. Whatever your position or job function is, see if the following 5 habits might be the key to more predictable success:

Commit daily to the rule of 3 and 2: Each day, set 3 professional and 2 personal goals that you are unconditionally committed to accomplishing. The professional goals will help you achieve high performance in your job while the 2 personal goals will keep you balanced and your self-worth high. Make sure the 3 professional goals keep improving your performance and stretching your ability by shattering all comfort zones.

Spend time wisely: Place a high value on time. First you must determine the behaviors each day that drive your success and then commit to spending at least 80 percent of your day performing them. The average worker wastes 40 percent of their day on busy work that doesn't impact success.

Stay in the present: Don't focus on the failures of yesterday or buy into the fears of the future. If you focus on being the best you can be each day, success will be more predictable.

Prioritize behavior: Detail the top 10 behaviors you must routinely perform in your job and then measure them on a 1 to 10 performance scale. Set growth goals for each and journal your progress weekly.

Commit to weekly KPIs: Develop the top 5 weekly key performance indicators that are the result of your behavior execution. These KPIs should be mile markers on your road to success and act as a compass when you stray from the road.

I have a wall in my training center where my clients can participate in my Success Habits program. If you would like to participate, send me an email at bbartlett@sandler.com and I will send you my Success Habits tracking form. You can return it, filled out and I will publish it with the rest of them on the wall. Go conquer your worlds!

• Bill Bartlett owns Corporate Strategies, A Sandler Training Center. bbartlett@sandler.com. Text "salestip" to 35893 to receive Bill's biweekly newsletter.