Bad Habits Die Hard

Great minds unanimously declare that success is a result of habits. I have definitely read it a lot of times, but not until recently have I been more aware of many wasteful patterns I go through everyday. Here are some of them:

1. Watching TV for at least 2 hours everyday.
2. Spending at least an hour in the internet reading news/gossip or watching videos that don't contribute to my goals.
3. Eating junk food instead of healthy alternatives.

I realize how these bad habits formed over the years have created a compound effect in my life. I can only imagine how a lot different my life would have been had I used those hours in more useful endeavors (like reviewing and fine tuning my Life Goals instead, or learning a skill that could increase my income).

But awareness is one thing, and actually getting rid of these bad habits is another. I look back this past week and I can say I still spent considerable amount of time repeating the patterns already imprinted in my subconscious.

Sprouts can easily be pulled off the ground, but huge oak trees with deep roots...

I'll give myself credit though, I've started turning around. And like what Darren Hardy would say, it need not be a big change done one time . One simple step done repeatedly over time will surely have its compound effect.

"When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear."

200 minutes. That's the average commute time I spend daily.

It's only 10 miles from home to work really, but the traffic is such. It's a curse to some, but not for me. Those hours are used to listening to whatever is in my iPod, only 10% of which is music.

Listening to audiobooks gives me at least 1.5 hours of conversation time with the great minds of the world. I've read books by Stephen Covey and John Maxwell in the past, and somehow knew I better write down my long-term goals and form positive habits. Then I encountered Brian Tracy's Writing Your Goals and had more ideas how to go about it step by step.

Interestingly enough, like 95% of population, I never got to do it. I know I want to, but no action.

Fortunately, through Preston Ely's email, I learned about Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect. It has just enough practical instructions, and motivating energy, to have me get going. In its website, you can download some free resources you can use in further determining your values, assessing your habits, abreaking down your input influences, etc.

The pdf for designing your goals can be downloaded here as well, but do visit his website if you got time. It's http://thecompoundeffect.com/resources.php.

I've at least started mine. I'll post it here in the near future because I know some will appreciate the samples like I would. If you get to work on yours, maybe you could share it to me and the others as well. Send me the URL of your blog or we could post it here.

The Compound Effect

This book is a keeper. Even a wonderful gift to friends and relatives. I highly recommend you get it.

I've just finished Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect, and I have to say I'm really amazed by how this self-improvement book was done. It doesn't necessarily try to offer novel ideas to those who seek to better themselves; and it doesn't need to. What the author does is collate, digest, and summarize long-held truths and laws towards success. And what it further does is offer practical steps to applying these ideas "that we already know" but never found the strength or will to act on.



(There is a preview chapter in its download site. Go ahead and download the first chapter, and I guarantee you will like it. It comes in paperback, e-book, and audio formats.)