Patterns are those recurring events in our lives and in the business world that create similar, if not exactly the same outcomes.  Patterns are also one of the more difficult pieces of self-awareness for people and closely connected to the Law of Attraction.  The bottom line is that you will continue to attract exactly what your continued patterns dictate until they are identified and managed.

Business Patterns

The reoccurring patterns in our business life are the easiest to spot and recognize because they have metrics associated with them.  Measurable elements like revenue, jobs created, time in business and customer satisfaction provide great insight into successful (and the opposite) business patterns.  Another common business pattern is a “feast or famine” cycle that happens within a great many industries.  Examine closely these patterns of successful business operation and learn to replicate those key factors in all jobs and businesses.  If it worked well and created the success you desired, do it again.  And again.  Team member turnover is also a good one to look at to see if the patterns you create are healthy or not.

Conversely, a pattern of failure in business or becoming bored with a job or function in a matter of a brief period can be telling.  Even in times of success, the pattern that led to past failures should be examined.  Why did the past business ventures fail?  Why were you bored and jumped from industry to industry?  Look for both points of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in job functions and look closely at why past entries into business failed.  One that I have seen over the past 20 years is entrepreneurs that burn through partners and employees like some people change shirts.  This is most certainly something to examine and reflect upon.

Personal Habit Patterns

Also, relatively easy to spot but much harder to manage or change, personal habit patterns are often rooted deeply in behavior, belief and emotion.  In some cases, they also carry chemical dependency and social needs as well.

Successful patterns are those in which you CONSISTENTLY take care of yourself through exercise, diet, activity, learning, saving, investing, healing and growth.  Meditating and jogging two days in a row does not a successful pattern make.  Harmful patterns are those in which the continued behavior creates ill effects on health or your even your financial position.

Some other personal patterns to consider as you become more and more self-aware include trusting (overly skeptical or overly trusting), use of money, managing time, reactions to pressure situations, and how we choose to react in negative emotions (hate, revenge).

Relationship Patterns

Now the examination of our patterns begins to get tougher.  All of us have had friends and acquaintances that share how their three failed marriages, six subsequent relationships and the kind of people they are attracting are all the fault of those other people.  The truth is that we attract the people in our lives based on the patterns we live and our external projections.  If you are attracting awesome, healthy people in your life and they stay connected to you for an extended period of time (sometimes forever), keep doing what you are doing and identify some of your great projections you are putting out there.  Create a mirror of your behavior to attract the kind of relationships, both personal and professional, you want in your life.

Oppositely, if you are not attracting quality, long-term relationships (this even applies at work), look at what you are projecting and why the wrong people migrate to you.  Some people are just a bug light for chaos, cheapened interactions and short-term, toxic encounters.  As my father told me, “you catch what you go fishing for”.

Blame, Justification and the River in Egypt

The evil demon that prevents the self-awareness of our patterns is the three-headed monster of blame, justification and denial.  Each block us from seeing how we create our own patterns and more importantly, how we can change them.  Work on not attributing your patterns to others, explaining them away and denying that they exist.  The painful truth is that we create our own patterns by action or inaction and it is up to us to identify them and make changes when needed.

Changing Patterns

The great news is that no pattern in our lives or work is cemented in cosmic code and all of them can be changed.  The first step is obviously to identify both the short-term and long-term patterns that serve us well and those that need to be changed.  Note the good.  All patterns have some good associated with them and some are all good stuff.  By noting what is good, we can reproduce the quality outcomes and relationships we want to have in our lives.

Bad patterns are not changed in whole and only addressed in the behavioral (sometimes very small) pieces that create them.  You can’t just change a bad pattern of broken marriages and relationships by saying so, you need to look at the individual behaviors that caused the dysfunction and tackle them individually and over time.  I think my dad would call that “changing bait”.

You will also want to track your changes and patterns (did someone mention journaling?) to see your results and provide yourself with the reinforcement needed to create new and great patterns in your life.

Tim Schneider is the founder of Aegis Learning and has been working with teams and leaders for 25 years.   He generates results, impact and his sole focus is your success.

He is the author of The Ten Competencies of Outstanding Leadership and Beyond Engagement and a widely sought speaker, training facilitator and individual development coach.