Chapter 1 – The Right Habits
Let’s look a little closer at the meaning of the word habit. Random House dictionary defines habit in this way:
Habit: An acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it becomes almost involuntary.
The important words in this definition are acquired and almost involuntary. Let me ask you a question. When is the last time you sat down and said to yourself?
“Today I am going to add a new habit to my life?”
I guess that you have probably never said those words.
So what is a positive habit?
A positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make part of your life. Why is there such great power in positive habits to effect change? Because habits; by their very nature, are automatic. After a period of time they can become permanent.
So how do we go about adding new positive habit’s to our life? It’s really quite simple.
You simply begin repeating an action, attitude or thought process every day for at least 21 days.
Research has shown that an action that is repeated for a minimum of 21 days is likely to become a habit.
Remember that positive habits have positive benefits and you will reap those benefits for as long as you maintain that habit.
Brian Tracy states the Law of Habit as: -
“In the absence of a specific decision on your part to change some aspect of your life, the natural tendency will be to go on the same way indefinitely. Ninety-five percent of what we do is habit.”
You can create a new habit by just repeating an activity over and over again for approximately 21 days