Habit: It'll Make Ya or Break Ya

My mother passed along an email from a painter/writer she greatly admires(http://www.painterskeys.com/). While I’m not a painter, part of his email really spoke to me. Below is a quote from John Di Lemme, a business coach, that was included in the email:

"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 the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed--you must merely 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 all great men, 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 all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for a 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 a habit!"

I have never thought about habits like this. I used to think of habits just as little things, like biting your nails. But I guess you can think of almost everything you do as a habit: How you act at work, how you act at home; How you treat yourself, how you treat others. It can be a little overwhelming to think this way, but what is nice about this train of thought is that it means you can change everything you want in your life! Whatever you wish for yourself, you can make happen.

If you don't like the way you feel about yourself, imagine your low self confidence as a habit. A habit that you can change. Not something you can change over night, but change none the less. Or maybe the change you want is more tangible. Maybe your house is a mess and it drives you crazy. You are just in the habit of being messy. If you can be in the habit of being messy, then you can be in the habit of being clean.

Sometimes change requires a simple shift in the way you think. As Di Lemme said, "You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin." Shift your bad habits into good ones and see new profit throughout your life.

Today's song was a request. When was the last time you heard Inner Circle's Sweat!?