“We are all highly vulnerable to the incentives and behaviors of our environment…and often the best we can do, if we want to develop good habits and behave in a certain manner, is to carefully choose the environment that influences our behavior.” — Gary Ryan Blair
If you’ve ever played the game Monopoly…you’ve no doubt received one of those yellow Community Chest or orange Chance cards that say…
This phase has become widely used in popular culture to describe an action forced upon a person because of their bad behavior and which has only negative results.
If you’ve ever tried to make changes in your life but despite your best efforts seem to find yourself always reverting back to old habits and behaviors…if you’ve backslide on a diet…started but not finished a project…repeated a bad habit to your detriment…and want to put an end to these type of chronic behaviors for good…you’re going to love this message.
But you’re going to have to go directly to jail, and not collect $200 in order to understand why these behaviors exist, and what you can do to change them.
Allow me to explain…
Of all the mind-numbing statistics thrown about in the criminal justice system, perhaps none is more important than the RECIDIVISM RATE.
Recidivism rate represents the likelihood that someone who broke the law once…will do it again after being set free.
The word recidivism comes from the Latin root words re, meaning “back,” and caedere, meaning “to fall” — or literally “to fall back.”
The word is most commonly used to discuss the relapse rate of criminals, who have served their sentence and have been released.
However, it can be used for any relapse in behavior.
Alcoholism. Drugs. Porn. Adultery. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Anger. Tardiness. Manipulation. Procrastination. Selfishness. Greed. Worry. Stress. Mediocrity….(insert your favorite here__________ _______)
Are you guilty of being a repeat offender to any of these behaviors?
C’mon…we all are.
Allow me a little liberty here as what follows can change your life and career…improve your relationship with your kids…and maybe even save your marriage.
While criminals are not one of my marketing demographics…I do want to use this lesson to focus on a different form of criminal behavior and explain how one would go about reducing recidivism rates.
More specifically…we are going to focus on certain, non-flattering aspects of your behavior, and how it impacts your results in every area of your life and career.
Let’s begin by defining what I mean by criminal behavior.
Criminal behavior…is any act that violates forward progress, undermines self-esteem, compromises your reputation and character, decreases your earning ability and which negatively impacts your relationships, your future, your quality of life and overall peace of mind.
A moment’s reflection will validate this argument…
If the goal is to live a life of excellence, to lead by example, and unleash your greatness…then it’s criminal to do anything less than your best.
It’s a criminal act to dishonor commitments…to make promises and not keep them…to set goals and not achieve them…to say one thing and do another.
Here’s the deal…
- Lying is deliberate and calculated deception.
- Greed is a repulsive bottomless pit of selfishness.
- Debt and over-spending imprison, enslave and extort your peace of mind and future growth.
- Gossip is an emotional cancer that is practiced by the weak and which preys on others misfortune.
- Mediocrity is a corrupted belief system that undermines any chance of greatness.
- Apathy, procrastination and laziness are all forms of behavioral rot.
And, perhaps the greatest form of criminal behavior, the primary weapon of mass destruction that undermines more lives, abuses more marriages and destroys more careers is…NEGLECT.
Neglect is the act of failure and betrayal. It is not caring for nor paying attention to something or someone.
And, when you neglect or simply demonstrate indifference to your health, money, personal development, employees, customers, etiquette and relationships…they quickly begin to deteriorate.
They take on the look and feel of a shabby, run-down, dilapidated building on the bad side of town.
For those who are tempted to justify neglect…or who like to think that they can talk their way out of criminal behavior, heed these words…BEHAVIOR NEVER LIES.
The cold, hard truth is that you cannot talk yourself out of a problem that you behaved yourself into…you can only behave yourself out of a problem that you have behaved yourself into.
I have a very simple philosophy on life and success…
You shouldn’t steal from yourself…yet that is exactly what we are all guilty of doing.
If you’re going to commit your life to excellence, wealth creation, the security and financial well-being of your family…and if other people to include your staff, your team, your spouse and children are going to commit their lives to you…you owe it to yourself and to everyone to get the highest, best and most consistent results.
This can ONLY be achieved by and through behavioral excellence…in other words, you must be on your best behavior at all times.
That’s why you need to raise your awareness, and adjust your attitude as to what truly constitutes criminal behavior.
In the game of Monopoly…the Go To Jail Space is located between Marvin Gardens and Pacific Avenue. It only takes one bad roll of the dice to quickly find yourself back in the clink.
The same is true for any area of life you’re interested in changing. Just one behavioral relapse can put an end to your career, relationship, reputation and your finances.
In Monopoly, there is one “get out of jail free” card in both the Chance and Community Chest. Any player can use the card to leave jail on their next turn.
Behavioral excellence is your “get out of jail free” card.
It’s the key to a lifetime of success and fulfillment and most important…it’s also the primary solution to recidivism.
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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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