Like most people, I tend to be a creature of habit. A perfect example is my latest “bad habit” of downloading television programs and watching back-to-back episodes over long trips.
While I am a believer in the importance of taking time to decompress, I often give into my desire to continue watching these programs when I know I could be spending my valuable time on other, more important things. Fortunately, this can be somewhat balanced by the development of what I feel is a very “good” habit. I now spend my Sunday afternoons caring for a very dear friend who happens to be very ill.
My point? It is just as easy to develop a good habit as a bad one, and vice versa. It all boils down to choice.
Throughout my 30 year career, I’ve learned quite a bit about the benefits and setbacks caused by my own behavior. On the one hand, my good habits have helped me to achieve my goals and realize many of my dreams. On the other, bad ones have gone so far as to effect the very soul of my company.
Looking back, I recognize that habits are really cause-and-effect in its most basic form and they offer a fantastic ruler by which to measure our own success and happiness. Even more wonderful is the fact that we are given so many “new day’s” which gift us with the opportunity to make lasting change. By tweaking our thought patterns, we can decide to modify our behavior. This is not always easy (trust me, I know) but if we do it for a period of time (90 days, according to experts) we can develop a new (read: more productive) habit.
As we move into the second half of summer, I’d like to encourage all of you to join me in a small self-assessment. Let’s all think about the habits we engage and how they impact our lives, our relationships and our business.
Think of the bad habits to give up and the good ones that will help you progress in a healthy and productive way. I suspect that, like me, you have certain habits you’ve always wanted to have but never got around to establishing. Let’s work to establish them together, shall we?
Today, I’d like all of you to join me in making a written agreement to start to develop one good habit that will help you to reinvent yourself and become the successful and fulfilled artist you deserve to be. After all, there is truth in one of my favorite Yiddish proverbs, “Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.”
Blessings,
Preston
(Photo Courtesy of Angel Wallpapers)
Categories: bad habits, cause-and-effect, creature of habits, giving back, good habits, helping others, Preston Bailey, reinventing yourself, spending valuable time, success and happiness