CREATURES OF HABIT

Articles In This Section:

· Man is Mind - part 1

· Man is Mind - part 2

· MAN IS A MIND WITH A BODY

· CREATURES OF HABIT

· TEST YOURSELF FOR NEGATIVITY - part 1

· TEST YOURSELF FOR NEGATIVITY - part 2

· MAKE A GAME OF POSITIVE THINKING

· I CAN! I WILL! I AM!

This is a guess on my part, but I would say that at least 95 per cent of everything we do is guided by habit rather than intellect. When you awaken in the morning, do you dress consciously or subconsciously? The latter, of course. As you shave your face, you do not think about the manner in which you hold the razor; you do not think about it at all. Your mind may be on your business. As you eat your breakfast, you do not think about the way you use your knife and fork. You eat without thought of the mechanics of eating.

If you are a typist, you do not consciously pick out the keys. You keep your mind on the material you are putting on paper; your Creative Mind guides your fingers.

A good automobile driver does not drive consciously. The use of the steering wheel, brakes, accelerator and horn is all prompted by the Creative Mind.

When learning something new, we are slow because we must think as we act. When the Creative Mind takes over, we become faster and far more accurate in that which we are doing. In other words, we become good after the act becomes a habit. Now then, is it too premature to say that if you are not happy with your life as it is, all you have to do is to begin forming habit patterns which conform to the life to which you aspire? No, it is not, but only if you understand what you have already read. We have been talking about habit. Let's continue on this subject for a while, then you'll be given a routine to follow in developing habits to promote Health, Wealth and Happiness.

Habits are not formed instantaneously. Do you recall the old adage: Habit is a cable, we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it? This is true, only if we permit it to be true. Habits can be broken, if we set out, intentionally, to do so. If your body is below par physically, a physical culturist can show you, in a very short time, how you should exercise in order to build it up. But merely showing you how is not enough. You must follow his instructions for a period of time before a noticeable change takes place.

If you are not successful, if you are not happy, if you are always ailing and complaining, it is because you are being guided by the type of habit which makes these conditions a reality. You think of yourself as a failure, perhaps one not entitled to success. You believe it is your lot to be unhappy. The natural consequences of a mind of failure and gloom is a body reeking with aches and pains, which gives you more reason for your self-pity.

A friend of mine—a very successful man—told me a story which has a direct bearing on what I have been telling you. "A casual remark about me, which I should not have heard, changed my entire life," this friend remarked. "I had always been a ne'er-do-well, just getting by," he continued, "but I always bragged about the big things I was going to do. "One day I chanced to overhear a remark made by a man I thought to be a friend. He said to another, 'Joe is a nice enough fellow, but he is an idle dreamer, always going to do something, but never doing anything.' "It was that thought of being an idle dreamer which stiffened my spine. I decided then and there I'd prove I was not an idle dreamer." This man changed his thought pattern. The "idle dreamer" thought kept egging him on until he created a new picture of himself. He began to see himself as a doer instead of a mere "going to" talker. In time—not much—his new mental picture was complete and he became an outstanding success.