Chapter 1: Why So Many Bad Habits?
Until you learn to master your bad habits, you will be prisoner to them.
(Similar to a quote by Epicetus (Greek Philosopher – 55-135 A.D.): “Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.”
Here’s an interesting exercise for you. Stop right now, and write down a list of your personal habits. Divide the list between bad habits, and good habits. Put the book down, give yourself several minutes, and think about every aspect of your life – career, personal, financial, health, diet, spiritual, family, etc., and identify every habit you can think of. Put the book down now and DO IT!
*****
So what did you find out? Well, if you experienced what I experienced when I did this little exercise a couple of weeks ago, it probably was an eye opener! Now, I have always been considered an “overachiever”. I was a city champion in one sport, and the top playe in my high school in another. I was an honor student in high school, college, and graduate school. I’ve achieved important and prominent positions for some very well known and highly-regarded organizations, and I’ve received consistently high evaluations in every one of those jobs that I’ve held in my 15+ year career. I started my own firm with no debt and was consistently making a tangible profit within 18 months of starting. And I had written and published a book on my favorite topic, time management, within 2 years of starting that business. As is evidenced, I’m definitely not a slacker, and I’m a pretty self-motivated person.
And you know what I found out? My list of “bad” habits was about 3-4 times as long as my list of “good” habits! Do you want proof? Here’s my list:
Bad Habits (7/1/2006)
Too much fried foods
Video games
Staying up too late
Channel surfing
Mindless web surfing
High-fat foods
High-carb foods
Inconsistent aerobic exercise
Putting off important work
2 Much Lord of the Rings & Star Wars
Too much housecleaning/dishes
Ice cream
Pizza
Sleeping until my daughter gets up
Caffeinnated sodas after noon
Diet sodas
Too much aspartame in diet
Inconsistent writing/program development
Not making enough new business contacts
Missing available networking opportunities
Not working when a “little tired” in the evening
Not giving my wife enough attention/ affection
Spending too much time on the little stuff and not enough time on the big stuff
Impatient on the roads
Skipping breakfast
Eating until I’m “past full”
Spending our full weekly budget (not enough savings!)
My Current Good Habits (7/1/2006)
Brush teeth daily
Shower & shave daily
Dave Allen morning routine
Pick up house every day
Keeping property properly maintained
Clean sink every day
Stay on top of e-mail accounts
Quicken every week
Eating cereal most days
Writing
One-on-one time with my daughter daily
Doing something to keep my business moving forward every day
It was both fascinating and, honestly, somewhat depressing. Did you have the same experience?
My strong bet is that most of us had this experience. (If you didn’t, and your life is already dominated by good habits, you might not even need to be reading this! Just go back and keep living your already highly effective life!) For some reason, it is easy for even the most productive and self-motivated of us to get several “bad” habits. But why? Why do we get these bad habits (and their negative impacts) in our lives?
The reason is simple: “bad” habits at some very basic level either provide us with pleasure, or at least help us avoid pain. (more chapter 1 soon!)
(Similar to a quote by Epicetus (Greek Philosopher – 55-135 A.D.): “Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.”
Here’s an interesting exercise for you. Stop right now, and write down a list of your personal habits. Divide the list between bad habits, and good habits. Put the book down, give yourself several minutes, and think about every aspect of your life – career, personal, financial, health, diet, spiritual, family, etc., and identify every habit you can think of. Put the book down now and DO IT!
*****
So what did you find out? Well, if you experienced what I experienced when I did this little exercise a couple of weeks ago, it probably was an eye opener! Now, I have always been considered an “overachiever”. I was a city champion in one sport, and the top playe in my high school in another. I was an honor student in high school, college, and graduate school. I’ve achieved important and prominent positions for some very well known and highly-regarded organizations, and I’ve received consistently high evaluations in every one of those jobs that I’ve held in my 15+ year career. I started my own firm with no debt and was consistently making a tangible profit within 18 months of starting. And I had written and published a book on my favorite topic, time management, within 2 years of starting that business. As is evidenced, I’m definitely not a slacker, and I’m a pretty self-motivated person.
And you know what I found out? My list of “bad” habits was about 3-4 times as long as my list of “good” habits! Do you want proof? Here’s my list:
Bad Habits (7/1/2006)
Too much fried foods
Video games
Staying up too late
Channel surfing
Mindless web surfing
High-fat foods
High-carb foods
Inconsistent aerobic exercise
Putting off important work
2 Much Lord of the Rings & Star Wars
Too much housecleaning/dishes
Ice cream
Pizza
Sleeping until my daughter gets up
Caffeinnated sodas after noon
Diet sodas
Too much aspartame in diet
Inconsistent writing/program development
Not making enough new business contacts
Missing available networking opportunities
Not working when a “little tired” in the evening
Not giving my wife enough attention/ affection
Spending too much time on the little stuff and not enough time on the big stuff
Impatient on the roads
Skipping breakfast
Eating until I’m “past full”
Spending our full weekly budget (not enough savings!)
My Current Good Habits (7/1/2006)
Brush teeth daily
Shower & shave daily
Dave Allen morning routine
Pick up house every day
Keeping property properly maintained
Clean sink every day
Stay on top of e-mail accounts
Quicken every week
Eating cereal most days
Writing
One-on-one time with my daughter daily
Doing something to keep my business moving forward every day
It was both fascinating and, honestly, somewhat depressing. Did you have the same experience?
My strong bet is that most of us had this experience. (If you didn’t, and your life is already dominated by good habits, you might not even need to be reading this! Just go back and keep living your already highly effective life!) For some reason, it is easy for even the most productive and self-motivated of us to get several “bad” habits. But why? Why do we get these bad habits (and their negative impacts) in our lives?
The reason is simple: “bad” habits at some very basic level either provide us with pleasure, or at least help us avoid pain. (more chapter 1 soon!)
posted by Randy_Dean at 12:08 PM
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