“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Jim Ryun. So, you are discussing with a spouse or your physician and they tell you that you might want to consider losing a few pounds and/or getting in shape. And you are open to their suggestions so tomorrow morning you head to the gym after a light breakfast of protein. And this process goes on for a few weeks . . . yes . . . you are motivated. It’s kinda like new years resolutions. You get excited starting them but soon lose interest for any number of reasons. It’s now been three weeks of your new routines but you are starting to; whine, complain, make excuses, whatever . . . and you start to cut back on the exercises and go back to carbs and sugar for breakfast. Game over. You tried. You gave it your best shot. You simply didn’t give yourself enough time that is required to create new habits that would be easy to maintain. Starting is one thing, but sticking with things that matter or are good in the long term often takes any number of habits, attitudes, mindsets, or behaviors like; courage, faith, patience, effort, and just the desire to see it through to a positive and successful outcome. I know, looking back over the years many times I have quit and given up while at other times I stuck with something until the victory was mine. I’ll close with a quick question – which outcome will tend to help you feel better about yourself, your life, and your future – quitting or creating the right and best habits?
“Man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.” Albert Schweitzer. In my quote file on my computer, I have over 200 pages and 5000 quotes I have accumulated over the years. This week’s three were all on the same page and in the following order – go figure. Were they trying to tell me something? Am I trying to tell you something? Boy, this is getting deep. Habits are mental and physical routines, lifestyles, or strategies that we create over time. They can be good or bad – smart or stupid, but in the end, they are just ways we try to make life simpler. I could list thousands of both good and bad habits but I won’t waste your time. What I would like to ask is – have you ever created a written list of what you feel are both your personal positive and negative habits? I did once and it scared the crap out of me. Why bother you might ask? Well, the simple answer is that the good ones are improving the quality of our life and the bad ones could be destroying it. And if you are not consciously aware of the outcomes of both – then what is in control of your life – you or your habits?
“Quality is not an act. It is a habit.” Aristotle. He was a bright guy and I have many of his quotes – so I’ll summarize the above with his words. Acting is one thing when you are trying to convince others or yourself of some outcome. Quality, in whatever form is the willingness to create the best possible outcome and results with the resources you have. Over time habits become who you are. So, let’s look at life and wisdom – are you a quality person grounded in positive habits, or are you less than what or who you could be because of poor, wrong, or negative habits? If I killed a fly with a hammer this week – talking about habits – I apologize – but they are important as they determine the quality of our life.