I am most certain you must have heard it said that man is a creature of habit. This is because of the way we are built whereby most of our actions are carried out as automatic reflexes to stimuli from the environment. In these parts, we tend to think of habit from the negative point of view. But the Creative Intelligence that set up creation that made us predominantly habitual beings did so to aid our level of efficiency and effectiveness as volitional beings and co creative with Him.
It is also a proven fact that persons who develop good habits improve their lot in life in no small way. Take for instance, a classmate of mine when I was in secondary school had formed the habit of saving money and lending money to co students during the twenty hungry period (the last days of an academic session when most of the students must have exhausted their supply and pocket money). He will lend you 500 naira to pay 1000 naira. We were desperate and we would accept the Shylock deal. The next session he would come back early to school and ensure he accousts every one of us to pay back as we alighted from the vehicles that brought us back from holidays. Well, long story short, the young man is doing very well for himself now. He has several companies to his name and is living the dream. That is the power of habit for you.
I once watched a video during a leadership training session where one US military officer was teaching some recruits why they needed to form the habit of making their beds every morning before embarking on any other activity. He said, “If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.” “By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
That is the power of habit for you. Instead of allowing certain habits encroach on you, like peer binge drinking, peer cheating, gambling and the likes, why don’t you consciously and even collectively start forming habits that would enhance your sense of self worth, and health of mind and body? You can engage your peers to co develop such. I used to have a friend then that would always demand that we all show how much we made everyday to one another before we drink… This got every one of us on our toes to ensure we made money every day so as not to feel out of place during our evening rendezvous.
This is the third month of the year and I don’t know to what extent you have formed habits that would prepare you for achieving your lifegoals. Have you formed the habit of daily push ups? Have you formed the habit of writing down your income and expenditure? Have you formed the habit of keeping a prayer diary where you write your dreams, aspirations and ideas and how you intend to bring them into reality? Have you formed the habit of studying your account book and diary every other morning in preparation for the day as part of your daily meditation? Have you formed the habit of writing down your itinerary for the week and working towards meeting them. Have you started making your bed every morning? Have you?
It can start with you giving your self a 30 day challenge to develop these positive habits. You can do that as a group to ensure iron sharpening iron. You fail and you get up again and increase your resolve. That is how you can make this gift of habit work for you. See it as your pubic hairs. If you do not shave them regularly, you will have a bush and if you do not bath regularly, these bushes become breeding grounds for vermins. Hell is thus born. Happy weekend.
