Habits 2 Goals: The Habit Factor® Podcast with Martin Grunburg Martin Grunburg

“When you shift your perspective stories, meanings, feelings and even behaviors can change.”
Meaning as a Derivative of Perspective
Our perspective often shapes our emotions and actions.
Consider a bad breakup: Initially, it feels devastating, but years later, it might become a source of amusement.
This shift in perspective changes the meaning of the event, which in turn influences our feelings, behaviors, and outcomes.
Introducing: The Behavior Echo-System
The Behavior Echo-System, a new behavior model, illustrates how three key influencers are interconnected through our emotions and feelings:
Thinking/Story: Our thoughts and beliefs. These are the internal narratives we rely on to plan, predict, and explain events.
Behaviors/Habits/Skills: The actions we take and the habits and skills we develop.
Environment: Our surroundings, including people and places. While we can influence our environment, it also impacts us and our behaviors.
These three components continuously affect one another, creating a perpetual cycle.
Enter: Response-Ability
We can't always control what happens to us, but we can almost always choose how we respond. This is known as "response-ability."
Emotionally mature individuals often manage to choose their responses to frustrating, challenging, and stressful events.


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The Power of Focus
Twain’s profound insight serves as a cornerstone for understanding the importance of focus in our lives.
Focus is about harnessing and directing our energy effectively.
Imagine a five-watt light bulb—it can barely light up a closet. But when that same energy is focused, it can cut through steel.
This is the fundamental principle behind the order of focus: selection, concentration, and then focus.
SELECT » CONCENTRATE » FOCUS
A popular method to enhance focus is the Pomodoro® Technique.
This ttechnique involves using a timer (app on a mobile device) for a specific period, such as 25 or 45 minutes, and dedicating that time solely to one task.
This method establishes a defined focus period, allowing for deep, uninterrupted work. Its simplicity and effectiveness lie in its ability to create a sense of urgency and clarity, making it easier to concentrate on the task at hand.
To improve your Habitstrength™, The Habit Factor applies the concepts of “Minimum Success Criteria” and “Target Days” for successive 28-day habit-tracking periods. Combining The Habit Factor® with the Pomodoro® Technique creates a powerful one-two punch to enhance productivity.
You can quickly transition from scattered energy to focused accomplishment.
Give it a try: track as few as three habits for 28 days and apply the Pomodoro® Technique for your focus periods.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

Stimulus versus Response: A Delicate Dance of Power
Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and founder of logotherapy, once said, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
…In our response lies our growth and our freedom
This profound observation has anchored much of popular psychology, a beacon highlighting our ability to govern our responses to any situation.
But let’s strip this idea down to the bone—what if the story isn’t so starkly drawn?
Learning and Growth: The Power to Respond
Frankl nails it—our power resides in how we respond.
Picture this: a student, face-to-face with a brutal exam (stimulus/environment). Their success hinges on their ability to recall what they've learned and to tame the beast of anxiety (the internal narrative in their head/response).
In these moments we learn, we adapt, and we grow.
Or, take a business leader confronting a market nosedive (stimulus/environment). Innovate or retreat (response/thoughts/behavior).
This decision shifts the company’s fate.
Overwhelming Stimuli
Frankl’s wisdom has its limits.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

“Adversity doesn’t build character — it reveals it.” ~ James Allen Lane
Hurdle Number One, Self Control
Facing challenges tends to reveal our strengths and weaknesses.
By managing some pain and discomfort, we gain insight about our willpower and our character.
Think of self-discipline as the first hurdle to reaching larger goals.
That may mean getting up earlier instead of sleeping in or choosing healthy snacks instead of junk food. These repeated, small acts of self-control (habits) can propel one toward big changes in their lives.
There is a strong link between self-discipline and goal achievement.
While goal achievement is never assured, having good habits helps to prepare one for growth and trains them to use their willpower.
Beginning with self-mastery is the way.
“I’ve never met a disciplined baby.” ...


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habits2goals.substack.com/subscribe