7 GOOD HABITS (OF CHAMPIONS) YOU SHOULD CULTIVATE

Today I shift my thoughts to you, to me. I do not know about you but I want to maximize my potential. I want to live to my fullest. I want to be a champion – a champion father; a champion husband; in my personal, professional and public roles I want to be my best. (I agree this is rather long but stay with me.)
As I have come to learn, champions are not made in the ring (that is, the arena of battle) they are only recognized there. If I keep preparing, one day my superior performance will show. It’s like what Abraham Lincoln said years ago, “I’ll prepare and someday my chance will come.” So true!
You don’t really decide to be a champion. You choose your habits and those habits decide your destiny – championship. Think about that! I think it was Aristotle, the Greek philosopher that made the remarkable observation: “We are what we repeatedly do. Success therefore is not an act but a habit.”
Personal growth precedes professional advancement. When we improve, the things around us improve. So, let me suggest to you some seven habits I think you need to cultivate. (These are not some ivory tower discoveries, just some scriptural and common sense advice; stuffs that had worked for me.)
1. Champions learn everyday and from every experience. Leaders are learners. And life and daily living provide for them an excellent classroom. Champions have a learning bent on life.
2. Champions write down what they learn. Oh yes! You have to device a way to capture your learning points. And what better way than to write them down. I think I have come to agree that the faintest pen is sharper than the sharpest brain. Two brains put together may not perform the wonder that ink on paper will. And when information is not documented it will never get to be implemented.
Acquire the pen and paper habit. Journaling is good. It’s served me well for more than thirteen years now. It helps you grow (because it forces you to think as you try to put your thoughts on paper) and keep you in tune with your values and vision; keeps you on the straight and narrow. It was Francis Bacon that said, “Writing makes an exact man”. I couldn’t agree more.
3. Champions apply what they learn immediately. See, the goal of learning is not knowledge, it is application! How long it took me before I realized this. When you know truth, really know it, it’s supposed to set you free. That’s what Jesus taught in John 8:32. Apply truth to your life. Observe to DO, not to quote, teach or share; that is when it begins to bless your life (see Joshua 1:8; James 1:22-25). It was from Bill Gates I learnt that you should act on your idea or new knowledge within the first twenty-four hours of catching it.
4. Champions evaluate themselves, their lives and their growth consistently. Nothing happens by accident. Growth must be monitored or it would not occur at all. I’ve learnt to be deliberate about the books I read, the seminars or courses I attend, and determine ahead of time what the take-away would be for me and enforce that personally. What new thing will you be learning? What do you have to re-learn or unlearn? Where are you deficient and need to improve? These are questions you have to answer if you desire meaningful growth.
5. To help their growth, champions enlist the help of a coach or mentor. Mentors and coaches are gates to greatness. Isaac Newton said, “If I’ve seen any further I’ve done so by standing on the shoulder of giants.” Mentors and coaches are those ‘giants’ who by the benefit of their wisdom we can perform better than we would all by ourselves.
We should be smart enough to tap into this and even if need be pay for such services. If you want to take your game to championship level (as it is in sports) in any endeavor or field, you must enlist the help of a coach or mentor. Like that Ethiopian official, your understanding will only be enhanced by a human guide (Acts 8:26-38).
6. Champions cultivate a habit of daily prayer and Bible study. This is how we touch base with headquarters. It should have been a no-brainer, isn’t it? Without God we are nothing! Device whatever style and method that works for you. I read daily five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs (for inspiration and wisdom) plus two chapters of the Bible book I’m studying. That way, roughly in a year I’ll be through the Bible and would have gone through the Psalms and Proverbs every month. It works for me, not even for my wife! Find your own groove. No religious hocus-pocus or dogma here.
7. Champions commit themselves to the ministry of a local church. They don’t float around! Only those who are planted in the courts of our God will flourish (Psalms 92:12-14). And don’t tell me you can’t seem to find a perfect church. Even if you find one, don’t join. Why? You’ll make it imperfect! Find a Bible-based church that teaches the Word of God and connect yourself with that family of faith. Find a place to serve there. Actively participate in the body-life and you’ll see the results.
I don’t know about you but these are what I have tried and tested. YOU WILL SUCCEED!SHOULD CULTIVATE