"Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window
by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."
-- Mark Twain
The way to lose a strong habit, is to attract a new one.
Well, that is easy to say for those who don't have a strong, undesirable habit hanging on to their lives like glue, isn't it? It reminds me of the phrase, "to become enthusiastic, act enthusiastically." But, no matter how you might feel about that phrase, it is absolutely true. It seems over simplified, but it is right on the money.
I can relate to how entrenched a strong habit can be since I smoked for 38 years. Having quite literally thousands of times, I knew how strong that habit was and that concept was reinforced by my desire to smoke being stronger than my desire not to and all the other cigarette addicts that said the same thing. It's too hard. It's so hard. We can't do it. . . Of course, it's all BS. I can, you can, we all can-if we want to can.
And here we go again with the simple method, "the way to lose a strong habit, it to attract a new one." Of course. I finally quit smoking by attracting a non-smoking habit. It wasn't really any harder than that. I just had to want to enough. If you don't want to, no matter who says it's bad for you or what evidence is presented, the change won't happen, and even if that worked, it would be so short lived. No, it requires a desire to change and then develop the habit that benefits.
"To change, you have to change." Vincent Roazzi said that and it is so true. Can you imagine an alcoholic getting a job as a bartender? I've known some who did. It's a no-brainer as they say--literally. Being a non-smoker and hanging around smokers is equally foolish and non-productive. We need to go where we want to go and go away from where we have been. To change, we have to change. Then, the new habit will be the change.
Think about this in your business too. How do you change the way you do things when you know you need to? Develop a new habit by the willingness to change and to go to the new place. For example, sometimes it is best to tear the building down and build something new. If that isn't in the budget, move to a new location. Consider other ways. The old habits and methods of doing things will surely keep you where you are until you decide to attract new habits and methods. You can only do that by changing. The only courage required is the firm decision from the desire, and the rest is really easy stuff. In order for the business to change, it has to change.
I know some businesses who are so stuck where they are, and they are poster-children for the Einstein quote about insanity: "the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result." Many I see change so little that in very short order it is back to business as usual. After watching that for so long, you just know the outcome. You can look around and see so many businesses in this mode of holding on to the past habit. K-Mart, Car dealers, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, Hair dressers, government, and this list goes on and on and on.
It's perhaps time to attract the new habit by expecting a different result by doing something different.
"Try Not. Do Or Do Not. There Is No Try." Yoda
Spread Some Joy Today--What you bring to what you do is up to you. See what a difference you can make when you become the real you.
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