HABITS AS A RUGBY REFEREE
My son Ben is one of the 12 referees involved in the RWC in France. He recently controlled the Ireland v South Africa match and by all accounts reading what the pundits say – he had a pretty good performance.
It wasn’t always like that though. He had to start somewhere. And part of the process was forming, and having good HABITS.
Habits either work for or against you. Take any habit you practice, and times it by 365 days, then times it by 70 or 80 years and you can pretty much write your own obituary.
In the early days of his refereeing career Ben had to learn the HABITS of good discipline, great fitness and effective communication. Even on those cold wet blustery days in Dunedin NZ, when it would have been easier to sit in front of the fire, he had to go our running to ensure his fitness level was at the standard required. That would have been a negative habit if he hadn’t that would have impacted on his refereeing career.
Determination is a crucial factor in forming successful HABIT.
Speaker and author Robert Ringer says, ‘The world is saturated with intelligent, highly educated, extraordinarily skilled people who experience ongoing frustration because of their lack of success. Millions of others spend their lives working hard, long hours, only to die penniless.’
What’s the solution?
Ringer says: ‘Remember, life is nothing more than the sum total of many successful years;
a successful year is nothing more than the sum total of many successful months;
a successful month is nothing more than the sum total of many successful weeks;
a successful week is nothing more than the sum total of many successful days.’
That’s why practising successful HABITS, day in and day out, is the most certain way to win in the long term.’
You have to take a realistic look at yourself to know where your HABITS are taking you. If your HABITS don’t line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream. If you want to hold on to your dream, then be prepared to change your HABITS, because a bad habit never goes away by itself.
I believe you need to begin to control your thoughts and keep your mind on the right things. Breaking old HABITS and forming new ones takes time, so keep practising. Developing self-discipline isn’t easy, but it’s worth it in the end. When you win the battle for your mind you’ll be much more decisive, confident and focused. You’ll also be a more effective and successful person.
Watch your thoughts for they become your words.
Watch your words for they become your deeds.
Watch your deeds because they become your habits.
Watch your habits because they become your character.
Watch your character because it becomes your destiny.’
If you’re serious about changing your life, you must STOP practicing bad habits and START instituting good ones. Great HABITS helped Ben become a top flight rugby referee.
