Today’s Quote: Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have. – Dale Carnegie
Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
When you are a ridiculously good Virtual Assistant, you strive to do better and to be better as often as you can. In this episode we will talk about why habits can make or break the success you want to achieve – and how to break bad habits to create better ones.
Click the play button above to tune in, or choose your favourite podcast player below:
Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Working alone every day can be a blessing, especially for those of us who are control freaks! – but when we don’t have to answer to anyone, we can sometimes form bad habits that impact our day, our schedule, and our whole business.
If you haven’t read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, you should.
The habits we have and the things we naturally do each day can make or break our business.
Success means something different to everyone. And sometimes when I ask people about their success, they shy away from telling me what they really want.
We don’t all want massive success – sometimes we just want to make some money and work from home.
But if that’s what you want, that’s success as defined for you!
Having said that, we all need to get better at our business, no matter what our goals are. But increasing our level of success doesn’t mean taking massive action.
I tell you all the time that all you need to do is take one step forward every day to be better tomorrow than you are today.
In the Atomic Habits book there is an interesting statistic, and it is this:
if you get 1% better every day for a year, you will be 37% better by year end.
I don’t know how that math works but doesn’t that sound great?
I think it echoes what I always tell you too.
It means that if you have earn $2,000 a month now, you can easily be at $2750 by taking small steps every day. Being 1% better every day.
And it works the same way in reverse – if you get 1% worse every day, you will decline down to zero (probably much sooner).
I like small steps. It’s why I teach small steps. Because I see them working for me, and for the VAs that I work with.
It’s so much easier!
Patience is a virtue – that’s our downfall most of the time.
If you have trouble creating new habits, you probably aren’t patient enough to see them through.
The system you have in place is likely to blame – it’s not you! – isn’t that great? It means it’s fixable whatever you are struggling with.
So let’s talk about that.
How can we get to where we have never been before if we don’t know the way? Well it takes some planning, learning, and action. This is the system that you have to put in place to walk towards your goal, that thing you want.
And the first thing you need to believe is that you can get there. If you don’t believe it, you’ll never get there.
You can’t just hope to get a client.
You can’t just wish you were making more money.
You can’t simply want to be a booked out Virtual Assistant.
It takes a plan, a strategy, a system.
And it starts with the YOU that you are showing the world. If you are struggling, you are probably showing people that.
Who do people see when they look at you right now?
We’ll call it your identity – and it starts with what you think of yourself. Who you believe you are. And that usually comes down to whatever you have proof of.
Here’s what I mean:
If you think you are a VA with no clients, then that’s what you believe of yourself. And that’s what you are showing people, whether you think you are or not. The only thing that’s true from that statement is that you are a VA that doesn’t have clients right now, not that you are a failure at getting clients.
See the reframe?
And if you get 1% better at getting clients today – by implementing a plan, a strategy, a system, that you commit to … then you are on your way.
And really, if you are getting the proper help, you can do much better than 1%. You can get 10% better fast, even 30%. Once you get one client, you are no longer the VA that can not get clients.
You are the VA that knows how to get clients.
And then that’s who your clients will see.
It sounds simple and it is, but only with the right guidance and help if you don’t know what you are doing.
It’s like learning WordPress to build your own website and then never earning money to use WordPress. It makes no sense. Pay people for the things that you don’t know about, and move yourself forward faster. Then work in your brilliance.
Who do you want to be? Let’s get you to be that person.
Okay … jumping off my soapbox now ha ha. Let’s talk about habits.
Habits are important because we do them without thinking.
Routines are what can help us build good habits.
Atomic Habits talks about habit stacking – that means doing something when you are already doing something else naturally – so that you build the new habit alongside the old one.
Like having your coffee in the morning, which so many of us do. How about instead of endlessly scrolling TikTok while having coffee, we make some notes about social media posts that we will create for the coming week or month? And when the coffee is done, the note making time is done. See how that can create a new habit and also stop the scroll? Win win.
Walking the dog and listening to a podcast is popular, how about recording notes while you listen and then transcribing them when you get home. What you learn you need to implement. Don’t just listen to a podcast. Use the tips you are hearing to make your business better. Look for those 1% opportunities!
Here’s mine: getting up, brushing my teeth, putting on my running shoes and going for a walk. Before I do anything else. If I don’t walk first thing before anything else I do, I don’t find the time to walk. So as sure as I brush my teeth every day, I’m going for that walk.
Habit stacking is a great way to start new habits.
What about bad habits? How can we change those? Let’s talk about a couple that you probably have:
Pop up notifications – do you pick up your phone every time and get distracted? You lose time, every time, if you do. How to break this bad habit – leave your phone in another room (set an alarm on it so you can go and get it 30 minutes later, or an hour, or even 2 hours as you get good at it).
Turn off the pop up notifications and set an alarm for when you are allowed to check them. Make sure you make a bucket of time – a start time AND a stop time.
You will find yourself being more productive – especially because most of us don’t realize how many times we get interrupted by all day long. It’s a bad habit, and we need to break it.
Tell yourself ‘Every day at 10 am I will’ …. set an alarm and do it.
Compare this new habit creating to eating a meal. I will fill my plate halfway with veggies – and then I will eat those veggies first and the starch/carb last. Whatever. 1% better.
And to shopping – when I buy something new, I will give something else away that I already own.
Another really good way to start changing bad habits is to adjust how you think about them. Instead of thinking, ‘I have to do this’, think instead ‘I GET to do this’. Especially when it’s related to your business. We GET to do so much!
Think about the benefits that you get by being able to do some of the business stuff we do:
- do a client task (whether you like it or not), you get more money
- take time to write your blog post, you get to showcase your expertise
- booking out time in your calendar Friday afternoons, you get to go for a massage … then all you have to do is get your work done so you can treat yourself at the end of the week
For a habit to become a habit, you have to practice it and sometimes that takes more work than you think at first. make it as easy as possible for yourself.
Remember you don’t want the new habit or thing to do – you want what it will give you or allow you to do. Focus on that – if I do THIS, I get THAT.
Whether you are creating a good habit or breaking a bad habit, both of those things will make you better – remember our 1%.
And when the habits you work on are directly focused around the goal you are trying to reach, you will get there much faster!
Start a Habit Tracker – write down the change – and what it allowed you to do.
What did you do today (new habit or breaking old one) and what did that get you? More time? Less anxiety? More money? More clarity? Many things can come of changing our habits.
And the journal helps you see the results you are achieving.
I started walking every morning. I immediately within 1 week felt my belly tighter, then I was also taking a shower earlier in the day, ate good breakfast every day, started dropping weight. lost 30 lbs but also … I got a new 2 hours to my day every day. No excuse like in the afternoon when I can’t seem to walk no matter what I think. There is nothing in my calendar first thing in the morning – except Tiktok lol.
And finally, work with an accountability partner or a mastermind group. Nothing like support to get you to where you want to go.
And remember what works for someone else might not work for you. You have to find what works for you – and that’s where having a trusted community comes along. It’s such a good idea, you can get the push you need and the support too. Your partner and colleagues genuinely care about you and helping you get to where you want to go.
Keep things simple, don’t do too much at once. Be patient. Track the progress, those successes no matter how small. Move forward one step at a time, gain some confidence, move forward faster when it feels right.
… and on Friday, go and get that massage!
Need Some Help?
If I can help you learn how to break bad habits, or create new amazing ones, reach out to me at tracey@yourvamentor.com. I’ve helped hundreds of VAs through their challenges and got them on their way to the next thing. I’d love to do the same for you. I do private coaching, and registration for my new mastermind group The Virtual Circle is open now. Maybe one of those is right for you!
That’s all I’ve got for you this week, thanks for tuning in to learn to become a ridiculously good Virtual Assistant.