Habit Sequencing: How Good Management Transforms Your Personal Life

By Pierre K. Poteau, PhD

Habit Sequencing is a new revolutionary self-help book that facilitates change. The book helps you gain clarity and motivation to make changes, explains what you can do to improve the lives of others, and takes you through a self-discovery process to help you access all the information you need to move forward, including new habits and a game plan to set you up for success.

Habit Sequencing asks a series of questions that require writing and reflection to help you see what is going on in your life, understand how to make long-lasting changes, and break out of the rut of misery.

This book is not simply a book. It's a unique way to think about your daily tasks and how they can turn you into a happier and more positive person. This comprehensive self-help book offers practical lessons for staying motivated and turning everyday actions into valuable and enduring contributions. With Habit Sequencing, every day is an opportunity to become a better person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Pierre Poteau
• Release date: Jun 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215887790

Pierre K. Poteau, PhD

Pierre K. Poteau, Ph.D. author of two self-help books, including 86,400 Seconds a Day, which have sold over 500 copies in different formats internationally. Since 2014, after my time in the military, I have devoted myself to writing and distributing materials to encourage people to create lasting and meaningful changes. A former United States Army officer, he served as an infantryman and became a second lieutenant. In his experience as a staff operations officer, he accumulated broad experience in management strategies, strategic planning, and the successful execution of goals and plans. While in the military, he was well-known for his ‘open-door policy. He welcomed all people who wished to speak with him, ask for advice, or receive guidance, and he gave them undivided attention. He enjoys working out, breathing the fresh morning air, and contemplating the beauty of nature. He is fluent in English, French, and Haitian Creole and lives in Ft. Mitchell, Alabama.

Book preview

Foreword

H

abits are a large part of who you are because what you do shows your character. Most people take their habits for granted as they go through the routine of their lives. With this book, you now have someone outside of yourself to show you how to see the patterns you live by in an objective way.Your patterns can either lock you down or set you free to live a good life that cultivates more joy, less drama, more relaxation, less fear, and the efficiency that comes with being self-responsible.

Get ready for a great reading experience that will empower you with practical, easy to follow exercises and techniques to get and keep your life organized and on track so that you can live a life of greater understanding, peace, and joy. Dr. Pierre Poteau is a friend of ours and we know him to be a man of strong character, high integrity, and great compassion for human beings.

Having this book by your side is as close to having Pierre with you in person. His voice is embedded in the words he has chosen for this book, and they will ‘be there’ when you feel the desire to know your- self better, when you take time to study yourself, to know your personality, your habits, and what actions, thoughts, and schedules work best for you to live an efficient, self-responsible lifestyle.

There is great wisdom for you in this book, and we believe that it will give you great support you as you learn to be gentle in the art of knowing yourself—and your behaviors—in the clearest ways possible.

Becky and Don James, Ph.D., Pastor, Christian Life Church

Phenix City, AL

Introduction

A

ttention to your habits is necessary to lead a life that delivers meaning through quality, integrity, and joy. So, to lead a good life, make your first habit be the practice of paying attention. This means to pay attention to your core self.Who are you as an individual? What makes you unique? Next, pay attention to everything you want and need to do, to the things you plan to do, to what you are doing right now, and, to what you imagine your future actions will be.

Here are three key elements you’ll find in this book:

Looking into yourself—and finding what makes you unique— is best done with love.

Imagination is a great tool for managing all aspects of your lifestyle. Paying attention is as valuable as paying yourself money.

The last key addresses your personal economy—the fact that you have 86,400 seconds in each day. Attention is the same thing as time. Time is measured for all humans—including you and me—by the sequence of every beat of your heart and each cycle of your in-and-out breaths.

In this book I offer you my best knowledge and understanding of how to pay attention to your habits.You’ll learn and understand the tools you can use to manage optimal habit sequencing (which means noticing the patterns of your actions).You’ll find answers as to why habit sequencing is important to know about, learn to do, and to put into practice. Most of all, you’ll understand how to use the power of self-awareness to achieve more joy through the art and science of being responsible to yourself.

The word habit has an interesting history.According to the On- line Etymology Dictionary, the word comes from the Latin word habere, meaning to have, hold, possess; find oneself, be situated; consider, reason, have in mind; manage, keep. (See: www.etymonline.com/search?q=habit) In 1903, the American Journal of Psychology defined the word as a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience. (See: www.dbpedia.org/page/Habit)

You might have your own definition for the word habit. Think about it.Your definition is either wrapped in a mindset where you run your life by following a good pattern of habits—or, you live in the opposite way.

Is your only habit to live in chaos?

This book was written for those who live in chaos and don’t like it. It was written for people who know they live by general habits— and only some of them are efficient. It was also written for the person who appreciates exerting appropriate levels of control and who wants to manage that energy in better ways.

May the wisdom in this book assist you in understanding ways to assess your habits, to change judgments you may have about living with more structure, and to have you pay attention in a way that lets you experience the joy that occurs when you’ve achieved a sequence of habitual behaviors that make sense, work efficiently, and add perspectives of peace, freedom, and joy to your lifestyle.

Sincerely,

~ Pierre Poteau, Ph.D.

PART 1

Prepare Your Ground

I

f you have any experience with farming or gardening, you’ll be familiar with the phrase prepare your ground. But what does it mean to prepare ground in terms of paying attention to the patterns going on in your life? You’ll need a shovel...but not a real one.

The kind of shovel you’ll need to prepare your ground is one of your own making. It comes from your imagination. After you read this sentence, close your eyes and imagine a shovel.

What did you see? Was it an old shovel, like one that might have been used by your ancestors? Was it new—with a price tag still on it from the hardware store? Did it have a long or short handle? A wide or narrow blade? As long as the shovel you saw in your mind’s eye had all the parts that made it worthy of being called a shovel, you can use it as a tool to dig around in the ‘soil’ of your brain’s grey matter and discover how to be ready to set intentions to create new ‘ground’ from the old ‘grounds’ where your past actions, patterns, and habits lay waiting to be turned.

There’s no need to prepare those old grounds before you dig. Just flex your mental muscles, grab the handle of your imagined shovel...and start piercing, digging, and turning.The imagination exercise you just did has set you up to practice the beneficial art of meditation—the master habit—the daily practice that allows for the efficiency of sequencing all other habits and keeps your ‘ground’ in good shape.

Pay attention. It’s time to learn about the master habit: