In our January ezine, you learned about Pete Zafra, a personal development blogger whose goal is to inspire as he teaches. Recently his blog caught my attention as I love to compare my best habits to other professionals. His latest blog offers eleven habits for having a complete and successful life. I’d love to continue to share some of my take aways as I reflect on these habits in my life in this new year. My hope is that some or all of these habits will inspire you.

Remember, Zafra studies successful people – people who are successful in their internal and external world. They are people who live with inner peace and outer joy and fulfilment. I bet we all want that. So, let’s look together at the Habits and see if there are some we might model in our life to live more completely as we begin this new year. In part I, you thought about yourself and reflected on habits one through six. For a review, here are the first six.

Habit 1: Work on your Mindset

Habit 2: Be grateful

Habit 3: Take care of your body

Habit 4: Give respect

Habit 5: Don’t partake in gossip

Habit 6: Remind yourself of your goals

So, let’s keep going with more of the habits of successful people, internally and externally.

Habit 7: Read more books

I know you have learned as I have that life is a never-ending experience. Just when I begin to think I know what I need to, here comes something else that flashes – essential to know! Honestly, we all know that the day we stop learning we stop growing. When we keep learning we are investing in ourselves. Our brain needs the new all through our lives. The more books we read, the more we expand the horizons of our minds! I just got a new book today and I will start it this week! Promise to self.

Habit 8: Be humble

I hear Tim McGraw’s song in my head. Our egos, if not under control, can be destructive.

We can be arrogant, or we can underestimate the skills people bring to the table. Being humble nurtures our relationships and extends our success. So, we are going to tone down the ego and/or pride and just be humble.

We want to be humble enough to know and accept that no matter who you are, there are always things that you will encounter that you won’t know the answer to. And, no matter how good you are at something, there will always be someone out there who’s better. We will choose to be inspired to just work harder!

“Always stay humble and kind”

Habit 9: Give and serve

The life of an educator is one of service. People who really know how to give and serve are always loved, supported, respected and are always happy individuals. Happiness is always best when shared. Most selfish people live a sad life. Being an educator gave me the gift of being with wonderful people and colleagues. And just knowing that you’re changing lives one at a time is a feeling like no other…and having others to share the good, the bad, or even the crazy, makes it all worthwhile.

As educators we all know that one small act of kindness can make the biggest difference in someone else’s life – and those small things can really pile up. Become a person who lives to serve and knows how to give to others that need something more than you do. When we help others, we are actually helping ourselves!

Habit 10: Move past rejection

Ideation is one of my strengths, so I get ideas of all kinds at different times. Sometimes people love my idea and sometimes they just thumb them down. Rejection is just part of our lives and as we go through life we learn that when people reject our ideas, it does not mean that they are rejecting you. We all learn, usually over time, that we must use rejection as an inspiration to work harder on self, rather than getting discouraged. How many stories do we share with kids about rejection of famous people and help them see how many succeed just because they kept on working to get better. Every day our goal is to become a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday.

Habit 11: Strive to learn more from people who know more

Be a seeker of human excellence and model your life after theirs. Find mentors that you respect and admire, study them, learn from them, model their habits, mindsets and work ethics in your life. When you surround yourself with greatness long enough, eventually that greatness rubs off on you. Next thing you know you start thinking, talking, moving and working like a successful person. Remember, you become who you’re with.

Throughout my entire career, I was so blessed to have wonderful models of greatness and success in many shapes and forms. Not only those who rose to great positions but also the surprising ones who taught me great things. I’ll share one of the best of my life.

There was an excellent teacher in my district and I found myself always seeking her input and involvement in my ideas or plans. My major learning came when I asked for her help in a project and she responded, very respectfully, that she would be unable to help me this time due to so many other commitments and she could never accept my request unless she could meet my expectations. Her words ring in my mind to this day after 40 years. She had become my teacher.

As you have journeyed through these wonderful Habits of Pete Zafra, may we both strive to always integrate them into our lives. As we notice a nice change, with each and every day, we will grow happier and closer to who we are and want to be.

Happy New Year! Have a blessed successful year and please join us at a Results Coaching Global seminar or webinar soon.

Kathryn (Kathy) Kee, M.Ed. PCC

Master Consultant and Leadership Coach

Results Coaching Global – Solution Tree

Reference: www.PeteZafra.com for daily inspiration and training.