That may be harsh, but it is also true.
Your brain is an energy hog that is looking for ways to conserve energy.
According to Proceedings of the National Academy of Science,
“In the average adult human, the brain represents about 2% of the body weight. Remarkably, despite its relatively small size, the brain accounts for about 20% of the oxygen and, hence, calories consumed by the body.”
(Now you know why, after a day of thinking, you feel tired even though you don’t feel like you DID anything.)
So, to conserve energy, your brain naturally forms habits.
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhig notes, “One paper published by a Duke University researcher in 2006 found that more than 40 percent of the actions people performed each day weren’t actual decisions, but habits.”
Much of this habit formation is good.
- I no longer think about how to brush my teeth.
- I can tie my shoes while listening intently to a podcast.
- I can even drive a 5-speed manual transmission vehicle while conversing.
Some of it is bad.
- I habitually pick up my phone when bored in a grocery store line. (This is a topic for another day, but I hate that software engineers have exploited a bug in the human operating system to addict us to our devices. It is inhumane and grossly self-serving.)
- I eat bad things out of habit.
- I have a habit of waiting until the last minute to finish projects. (As I type, our content manager probably wonders if I am writing this week’s blog.)
And if you’re in a leadership position, your habits impact not only you but also your coworkers and customers.
In my previous job as the point leader, it was humbling to realize that the organization often mirrored my best and worst qualities.
So, in this blog series, we will explore professional habits.
And to get us started, I want to ask you two questions:
- What is your BEST professional habit?
- What is your WORST professional habit?
I’ll go first.
My BEST professional habit is having a high responsibility quotient. I feel responsible for doing what I say I am going to do.
My WORST professional habit is assuming that others understand what I am thinking. I am an introverted Enneagram 5, so I overthink and overanalyze everything. By the time I say something, I have thought about it so much that I assume everyone understands WHY I believe what I do.
I probably have worse professional habits than that, but I will keep those in my journal for now.
Your professional habits have ripple effects every day, so it’s healthy to think about what they are.
