Have you ever stopped to examine where you are in life and wondered how you got to where you are? I believe all of us have that experience every now and again.
So, the question that we ask ourselves is “How did I get here?”
Everything we do in life is governed by habits. Getting out of bed, praying or meditating, brushing our teeth, bathing, getting dressed, driving to work, reading a book or watching tv; these are all governed by habits. We have chosen to fill our daily lives with these certain habits. Whether these habits serve or not is a completely different story.
When I think about many of the habits I have, I know many of them do not serve me in a way I like. Replacing them with a different habit, though, is another topic.
Our daily habits will literally make us or break us. If we look at star athletes, what do they do? They have a certain routine they go through every day that leads them to success. They get up at a certain time. They exercise at a certain time. They eat certain foods at a certain time. All of this is for a purpose – to create success in their life.
When we look at a successful businessperson, we find the same thing applied a little differently. This person is doing certain things in a certain order on purpose: to create success.
This principle can be applied in any area of life. To be successful, one must create a series of habits. These habits will allow one to create one’s desired success in life.
The following poem is a great illustration of this:
The Habit Poem
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to
failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half of the things you do you might as well turn
over to me and I will do them – quickly and
correctly.
I am easily managed – you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done
and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of great people,
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine though
I work with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin –
it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I? I am Habit.
The great thing about habits is that they can be easy to create, depending of course on what it is that is being done.
One more idea I want to share on this subject. In the words of Jeff Olson, “This is easy to do and easy not to do.” Choose to create habits that serve you, and success as you desire will be easy. Choose to create habits that do not serve you and success will be very difficult.
