What Are Habits Doing to Your Future?

© 2002 Boaz Rauchwerger

In a seminar I conducted this past week for a large corporation, the topic of habits came up. J. Paul Getty said, "The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit--and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him---and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve all the success he desires."

What are your habits doing for you? Are they good servants? Or, in reality, are they your enemies? Eating the wrong foods and not exercising is a habit which can cause serious health problems or worse. Eating healthy and exercising regularly can prolong your life. One habit is your enemy. The other is your ally.

Using charge cards for everyday expenditures or impulse buys is a habit that can lead to financial ruin. Being careful with your money, treating it as a precious commodity, saving some every day -- these habits can lead to wealth.

Treating strangers better than we treat our loved ones can lead to the loss of special relationships. Treating our loved ones as if time is precious, and making certain that those we're closest to are appreciated every day, is a habit that is priceless.

So, let's take an inventory of your habits and see if we can improve the quality of your life?

1. Do you see yourself as a special, talented, capable, successful, prosperous person?
2. Do you treat those closest to you with love, respect, appreciation, kindness and encouragement?
3. Do you respect your body by eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, thinking positive thoughts and eliminating dangerous habits?
4. Do you treat your money carefully and look for ways to save more of it?
5. Do you project a positive attitude to yourself and to others?

If you answered no to any of these questions, let's change. Select from the following affirmations and decide that, from this moment, things will be different!

* I am a special, talented, capable, successful,     prosperous person.

* I treat those closest to me with love, respect, appreciation, kindness, and encouragement.

* I respect my life by eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, thinking positive thoughts, and eliminating personal habits that don't serve me.

* I treat my money with care, pay off my debts, and save more of it each day.

* I am a positive human being, projecting that attitude to everyone around me.

Whichever you choose, say those affirmations the first thing each morning and the last thing each night. Say them with conviction and emotion and you'll suddenly find yourself paying attention to those habits that are your allies and eliminating those that are your enemies.

I Challenge You To Write Your Own Obituary

Since time passes so fast, it's important to make every day count. One of the exercises I conduct in seminars is the process of writing your own obituary. What would you like written about you when you die?

I challenge you to take a few minutes and write your own obituary. It doesn't have to say that you became President or that you solved the problem of world hunger.

What about these points? He was a good father. She was a good mother. He or she was a good parent. He or she cared about others in a most loving way. He or she touched the lives of a number of people. His smile brightened everyone's day. Her kindness made others feel better when facing challenges.

An incredible life is not usually judged by whether one became rich or famous. It is judged by how we conducted ourselves when no one was watching.

My mother, may she rest in peace, taught me to be a planter of good seeds and not look for a crop in return. Why not plant a few warm and caring seeds today? You know where they need to be planted, don't you? You'll make my mother proud and you won't have to worry about the content of your obituary.

A Daily Habit-Changing Affirmation

I am focusing on productive habits every day.