We live off of what used to be when the beginning of the entrance to the bypass was completed.
At that time the entrance into our subdivision took on a whole new annoyance… we used to be able to simply turn on or off of Reserve into our subdivision or onto U.S. 93. Not
anymore! Some person who obviously does not live in our neighborhood of about 100 homes and a large apartment complex thought it made sense to add another five minutes to our day coming in and out of our subdivision.
Country Estates now has two ways out of our subdivision that routes us all the way up to Glacier High School and then back down to get onto U.S. 93 on the new bypass roads. My husband I have been going on the old West Reserve exit out of our subdivision, taking a left onto Reserve Loop, and then a quick left on the new bypass road to U.S. 93.
Our son Michael was in town recently and he took the other route out. Instead of taking the Reserve route out, he choose going west on one new bypass road, up to Reserve
Loop, a brief left and then down the other new bypass road to 93. He believes this is much faster… so we decided to try it out. Our daughter left in her vehicle at the same time my husband I went our “normal” way out… Hands down, she beat us to the light on 93 by at least one minute! This just gave me back about 12 hours in a year!
But first, I need to create a better habit, and change my old habit that is costing me minutes daily, and hours yearly. I am all about saving time and efficiency whenever I can. But I got in my car to go to work on Monday morning, driving basically on auto pilot, and I left our subdivision the same ole way I always had. I didn’t even think about the other way. Tuesday morning, got up and again, on auto-pilot, I turned and went the same way, and yet this time I realized, I should have gone the other way! Not until Thursday morning did I get it right, and I had to consciously think my way out of our subdivision and force myself to CHANGE my normal path of being and take the
other, faster, way out of our sub-division. Later that evening as my husband and I were running a bit late to a dinner reservation, again on auto-pilot, he took our old way out, and not until he turned onto the old West Re-serve road did I realize he was taking our “normal” yet slower way out of our subdivision.
So, I asked him, has this been your normal route out all this week or have you been taking the other way out. He shared that, in fact, he had been taking the other way out, and yet, under a bit of haste he reverted back to his “old way” of being and left our subdivision the long way, even though we were running late.
What is it that keeps us from doing something we know will improve our life, immediately, yet we continue down the path well traveled, even though this path may prevent us from saving time, money or getting to the next level of greatness in our lives. Habits are created from previous thoughts and behaviors that end up becoming unconscious ways we go through life. Then these actions become habits, whether advancing us or not. I see that in business as well as in my driving!
For the past several months I have been working with our service technicians, installers and Call Center takers on incorporating some “different” ways of bringing even a higher
level of customer service for our customers, and yet they continue to do things the “OLD WAY.” So then we revert to trying to figure out stronger ways of accountability to supposedly force them to pay closer attention. This higher level of accountability often does work; however, we still need to change the habit that is preventing each of us from advancing to the next level, because as was shared above, until we change, we revert back to what feels natural, good or bad.
To be effective, we need to chunk down the behavior we want to create. If our goal becomes keeping a cleaner house, that is all good in itself, but maybe a bit overwhelming, if this has never been part of your conscious way of thinking. Instead, to chunk it down, for the month of October I am going to do the laundry and put all the clothes away when I fold them.
To change a “BAD Habit,” we will need to engage in alternative behavior or thought pattern consistently for an average of 30 to 60 days, and for some it can take even longer depending on the behavior and the person.
I am committed to bringing the best possible Central experience when you call our company. As always, your Comfort is our Central concern, call 756-6656, for all your heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and drain cleaning needs.
FALL IS HERE
At this time of year I love to replace my tired summer flowers with the different ornamental Kale and Mums available throughout the Valley nurseries.