Habit's for Life

Habit is the link between goals and accomplishments. You’ve heard it said that it takes 21 days to establish a habit, why?

According to Julia Layton, “Habits are essentially patterns of behavior that become "worn in" to our brains. Someone who wakes up every morning, pours a cup of coffee and lights a cigarette, in that order, every morning, has that pattern built in to his or her brain, in the form of well-used synaptic pathways.”

With patience, persistence, and predilection you can teach yourself whatever you choose to learn through the power of habit. Since December 2003 its been my privilege to share my “Thought for the Day” via the web, on Twitter, at pball001. (This has since morphed to a podcast). Sometimes I ask myself why? Who really reads this stuff? Does it make a difference? Then I realize - (I do) that reading or listening daily to a variety of books - biographies, science, philosophy, mysteries, travel logs, or whatever tickles my fancy - my mind, through practiced habit, selectively picks out passages or quotes that motivates my thinking at that time.

My conclusion is this; its too easy to get caught up in “Stinkin’ Thinkin’ as Zig Ziglar called it. Like the morning cup of coffee (forget the cigarette) we all need a daily reminder (I do anyway) to look for the good in ourselves and others and approach life with positive expectations.

Earl Nightingale said it so simply, “We become what we think about, but the thinking is up to us.”

Yes my friends, believe it or not, its a choice. You can continue to be an Excuse-i-ologist - someone who has studied and mastered the art of the excuse - (you don’t have to look far to find one, just look in a mirror), or you can take action today. However there are times, admit it, (almost daily) that this choice is hard to make.

So, my remedy is a daily quest for a quote appropriate to the thoughts and actions I want to cultivate as a student of positive life experiences. My intention, is to keep these short bites designed to get you (and me) to stop for a moment and think about the positive experiences in your life. With today’s technology (FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, and texting) we have an amazing power to communicate with family and friends in ways we overlook, simple yet powerful experiences. Establish the habit of finding the best in yourself and others. It is education for life.

Here’s today’s installment, "He has not learned the first lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Updated 11/18/2022

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