Successful Habits
Character is developed by the habits we commit to and practice. What are your current habits? What type of character are those producing in you? Below, there is a list of habit that will produce excellent character.
Prep Work:
- Identify your skills, prioritize them, and improve the most important ones
- Identify your talents
- Clarify your personal goals
- Identify your hopes and desires and ask God for guidance
- Identify your spiritual gifts
- Ask God what His purposes for you are (“The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren)
- Think about who you want to become – use 1Cor 13, Gal 5:22-23, and John 13:1-17
- Identify something you are passionate about
- Identify something you are curious about (some people can’t identify a passion)
| Good Habit | Desire or Have |
| Write in a personal Christian growth journal daily | |
| Start to create your life plan (refer to “The Life Plan” by Shannah Kennedy) – review weekly | |
| Write down your definition of success and review it daily | |
| Read good books (such as “Atomic Habits” by James Clear) | |
| Exercise physically, at least 3 times per week | |
| Identify one of your dreams and take steps to make it happen – weekly | |
| Prioritize your talents and improve the most important ones – weekly | |
| Identify your limiting beliefs (what prevents you from achieving success) and change them weekly | |
| Identify your good habits, prioritize them, and improve the most important ones – review weekly | |
| Identify your bad habits and make a plan to break each one – review weekly | |
| Take a risk and do something out of your comfort zone (expect failure) – weekly | |
| Take the opportunity to speak publicly – monthly | |
| Volunteer – weekly | |
| Be on time – daily | |
| Follow through on your commitments – daily | |
| Think before speaking – review weekly | |
| Be genuinely kind – daily | |
| Practice being a better listener (read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey) | |
| Fulfill your immediate responsibilities – daily | |
| Have a more positive attitude – review daily | |
| Make a To-Do list – daily | |
| Seek out positive, successful people – weekly | |
| Avoid distractions – TV, Social Media, unproductive friends, meaningless activities | |
| Write a list of things you are thankful for – nightly | |
| Practice Spiritual Habits – daily (see page with your spiritual habits) | |
| Improve focus in the moment – hourly | |
| Consciously release worry – hourly | |
| Forgive others and yourself – daily | |
| Learn from your failures – review daily | |
| Get at least 8 hours of sleep – daily | |
| Get up early to start your day – daily | |
| Save money and avoid unnecessary spending – review weekly |
Here’s an encouragement about skills and the Holy Spirit. God can put wisdom, understanding and skills into your heart and mind. Don’t limit Him. Receive all that He wants to give you. When you serve the Lord, you bring glory to Him.
- “And Moses said to the children of Israel, See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.” (Ex 35:30,34)
- “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.” (Ex 36:1)
Creating Successful Spiritual Habits
Ask the Lord to give you direction. You cannot completely change your habits overnight. But you can improve a habit slowly. Ask God to help you start a new habit. Then commit to make this habit a part of your character.
| Habit | I Have / Want It | Start Date | Progress Notes |
| Read the Bible daily | |||
| Pray daily | |||
| Speak affirmations daily | |||
| Study the Bible weekly | |||
| Encourage a person daily | |||
| Do one good deed weekly in the name of Jesus | |||
| Glorify God with your creativity | |||
| Learn something new daily | |||
| Take an uncomfortable risk weekly | |||
| Share your faith monthly | |||
| Ask God to increase your faith weekly – pray for a miracle | |||
| Give sacrificially monthly – of your time, money, talent |
You can change:
Dr. Bandura, Stanford researcher and professor:
- Guided Mastery = take small, incremental steps to overcome phobias
- Self-Efficacy = belief in your own ability to change. You take on tougher challenges, persevere longer, and are more resilient through obstacles.
(Creative Confidence by David Kelley, p. 37-39)