Spring clean your habits
Habits are the invisible architect of your life
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As we step into a new season, many of us feel the urge to give our homes a good spring clean. Even if you are in the northern hemisphere, and entering autumn, it’s as good a time as any to sort, polish and declutter.
When was the last time you gave your habits the same attention and did a good spring clean?
Habits are the invisible architecture of our lives. They shape our days, influence our health, direct our relationships and determine whether we drift or thrive. Yet, while organisations invest heavily in internal controls – audits, performance dashboards, risk frameworks – most of us run our personal lives without similar checks and balances. Imagine a bank running without audits, a business without internal reporting or a team without clear performance reviews. It would be reckless and unsustainable. And yet… that’s how many of us live.
We often rely on old habits that may once have served us but are now outdated, inefficient or even harmful. Without awareness and intentional tracking, our habits become the hidden “leaks” draining our energy, time and potential.
Let’s take Key Steps to AUDIT and spring clean our habits to…
‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
WHY? Remember why it’s critical to audit your habits:
- Habits are powerful multipliers. A single repeated action, good or bad, compounds over time into massive impact. If you improve by 1% every day, you’ll be 37x better next year, or worse if you reinforce bad habits.
- Habits run on autopilot. Without pausing, we often don’t even realise the small behaviours sabotaging our bigger goals or enabling them. The basal ganglia help run it largely unconsciously, freeing up your prefrontal cortex for other tasks.
- Habits might not be in alignment with your values and vision. Just as internal audits show whether a business is aligned to its purpose and strategy, habit audits show whether your daily life is aligned to your values and vision.
HOW? Take practical Key Steps to spring clean your habits:
- Conduct a habit audit. List your current daily and weekly habits. Ask yourself: Which ones move me forward? Which ones hold me back? Be brutally honest.
- Align with your purpose. Check whether your habits are helping you live your values and achieve your goals. If they don’t align, they need adjusting – no matter how small they may seem.
- Write down your new habits. When you write it, it enhances your commitment. Research suggests that only 3% of adults write down goals and habits and yet to do so increases your chance of success by 45%.
- Replace, don’t just remove. When you drop an unhelpful habit, replace it with something constructive. For example, instead of scrolling aimlessly before bed, replace it with writing down what you’re grateful for in your journal.
- Track and measure. What gets measured and managed gets done. Use a journal, an app or even a simple spreadsheet tracker (email enquiries@keysteps.co.za and we will send you one) to monitor key habits you want to build or break. Treat it like a personal dashboard.
- Build in accountability. Share your habit goals with a friend, coach or team. Just as internal controls in business rely on oversight, personal habit control thrives on accountability.
- Celebrate small wins. Recognise progress, however small. Each tick on your habit tracker is a vote for the person you want to become.
Spring cleaning isn’t just about fresh cushions or tidy cupboards. It’s about clearing space for what truly matters. If you don’t measure, track and review, you’re leaving your personal effectiveness to chance. And chance is a poor strategy. So, let’s audit and track habits to ensure that your daily actions don’t just keep you busy but keep you purposeful and taking Key Steps to…
‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
