NEW HABITS FOR THE NEW YEAR From author’s December 26, 2014 column in Panay News BY HERBERT VEGO THE other day, I read the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It dawned on me that by adopting pointers from the book for readers of this column, these “new habits” could be forged into a workable New Year’s resolution. Whether we are healthy, happy or successful — so the author postulates — is a result of our habits. What we repeatedly do ultimately forms the person we are. To improve ourselves, we need to form new habits through only two steps: Step 1: Set a Reminder for Your New Habit. A good reminder makes it easy to start by encoding your new behavior in something that you already do. Brushing teeth, for example, is everybody’s ingrained habit already. If you want to always remember to floss as an added healthy habit after brushing, you may put a handful of pre-cut flossers in the same container where you store your toothbrush and toothpaste. A scary bill of health is a good habit changer. Anybody whose echocardiogram result reveals an onset of heart disease will be forced to adopt a healthier diet. I personally did it by minimizing meat and maximizing vegetables in my meals. If you want to feel happier, express gratitude. We often do it in prayers before meals when we recognize God as the source of our health-giving food. How lucky we are for having food on the table! It’s that type of small behavior that could blossom into a more grateful outlook on life in general. Incidentally, I used to curse while driving and the traffic light was turning red just when I was about to beat it. Now I welcome the “stop” as time to go over my text messages and answer as many of them before the green light flashes. A TV commercial could bore and irritate. Let it remind you that you have the power to shift channel. You could be rewarded with a better program. Step 2: Choose a Habit That’s Incredibly Easy to Start. It’s easy to get caught up in the desire to make massive changes in your life. We watch incredible weight loss transformations and think that we need to lose 30 pounds in the next four weeks. We see elite athletes on TV and wish that we could run faster and jump higher tomorrow. We want to earn more, do more, and be more. Wishing alone would not give us what we want. There has to be enthusiasm to work for it, knowing that lasting change is a product of daily habits, not once–in–a–lifetime transformations. Starting small is not bad. In the words of inspirational writer Leo Babauta, “Make it so easy that you can’t say no.” In the beginning, performance doesn’t matter. Become the type of person who always sticks to your new habit. You can build up to the level of performance that you want once the behavior becomes consistent. “Rome,” a maxim says, “was not built in a day.” A small job done each day eventually turns into a great temple. By deciding on new habits to acquire and doing them repeatedly, we eventually reap rewards for them. In my case, by habitually eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat, I have survived what could have been fatal pulmonary and heart diseases. *** Congratulations and best wishes to Rolando Dy-Buco Jr. and April Gellecanao on their wedding today at the San Agustin University Church at Sambag, Jaro, Iloilo City at 3 p.m. He is a computer programmer while she is chief operating officer of United Physicians International. Both are based in California, USA. Lando Jr. and April graduated together in 2001 as cum laude and summa cum laude (Computer Engineering), respectively, at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City. What an inseparable partnership of brain titans! The groom is son of our friends Rolando Sr. and the former Marikit Bolaño of Culasi and San Jose, Antique, respectively. Of course, no doubt the new man and new wife have proven themselves compatible in a decade already. Proof: their eight-year-old daughter Arwen./PN
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 22:37:40 +0000
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