Do you have these good habits?

Introduction: “We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” said John Dryden. He was very apt. Our habits (what we repeatedly do every moment of our lives) go on to build our destinies. So if you want to be a successful, happy, healthy and wealthy person you simply need to change some of your habits and you will be a brand new person. Check out some of the below listed habits, try to inculcate them and you will be more than glad to receive what life has to offer to you.

Habit of being proactive: Be a man or woman of action. Don’t wait for things to happen, make things happen. Choose your response; don’t react to the pressures of circumstances. Rule over your circumstances by choosing your response wisely. If you find yourself not loving your job, quit it and do what you love. If you need to approach that customer, take the bold step. Make that phone call you’ve been dreading to make. Run, play and exercise your body, don’t wait for the doctor to tell you that. Create your opportunities as you go by.

Habit of smile: Smile and the world smiles back at you. Don’t forget to wear the world’s best cosmetic, your smile. It comes free of cost without much effort (psychologists tell us that it takes just 7 muscles to smile and more than 43 to frown). Smile makes your personality more attractive. People would love to be around you. You will attract more clients, customer and business partners with a smile than a serious, graveyard face.

Habit of reading: Read every day to increase your knowledge. Many people stop education after they graduate and get a job. But education is a continuous process. Learn more about your art. Read inspirational books, articles and biographies of successful people. Invest in books and develop your own library, you will never regret this habit in your life.

Habit of using positive words: Words have power to make or break. Watch your words, what do you say to yourself and people around you? Are your words speaking of gloom, doom, and failure? Or are your words speaking of health, happiness, prosperity and success? Do you discourage or encourage people with the words you use? Do you uplift yourself and others or put down? Our words come back either to haunt us or heal us. So have the habit of using words that bless.

Habit of saving: Tiny droplets of water go on to make a vast ocean. Inculcate the habit of saving small amount of money from your paycheck every month. It may seem to be trifle in the beginning but will go on to make a great rippling effect in the long run. Invest your savings in systematic investment plan, gold, silver, or land. What we save today will save us in the future!

Habit of fitness: Imagine that you have all the money in the world but you cannot lift yourself from your bed. What’s the use of possessing all, at the cost of our health? Good health is primary to enjoying your world. So hit the treading mill, jog, walk and swim. Take a yoga course, do what you are comfortable with. Fitness also involves eating the right kind of food. Eat fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat. Know that moderation is the key when it comes to eating. Always stop four morsels prior to filled stomach. Drink plenty of water. Give up alcohol, smoking and other abusing substances.

Habit of making friends out of strangers: Today’s friends were strangers once. The world out there is to help, if your attitude is right. Don’t step out thinking that the world and the people are out to get you. Step out with love and you will receive love. Make friends out of strangers, don’t cower when you meet a new person who knows that the person may be apt business partner, friend, client, mediator or life partner. Business skills are all about people skills. The way you handle people would go on a long way to make a success or failure out of your profession and business.

Conclusion: Friends, psychologists tell us that it requires approximately 3 weeks to form a new habit. Remember your habits bad or good are creating your future. If you want your future to be better, you need to have better habits. Make the above mentioned habits part of your life and you will realize your dreams. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle.

Joy be all yours.
Sohan.

Welcoming the New Year

Welcoming the New Year

Introduction: The cycle goes on! An old year comes to an end and the new approaches. Very soon the world will step out into the New Year, waving a good-bye to 2010. How can one welcome the New Year and make the most of it? This article will help you to celebrate the New Year in a true sense of the term, ‘New’.

Look back with gratitude: The primary thing we got to do to welcome the New Year is not to forget the blessings that the past year has bestowed on us. Look back and think how God or Providence has brought you through the past year. Recount your good times and bad times and be grateful for them. Yes, you read it right! Be grateful even for your bad times for if you have the right attitude, you will know that even what was unpleasant had a purpose in your life. It was probably a lesson to teach you valuable things. So enter the New Year with a heart of gratitude towards God, people, the Universe and everything.

Set Goals: Well I don’t need to say this. Do I? We all do set goals at the start of the New Year. But don’t set vague goals. Divide your life in different stages like Professional, Family, Social, and Health etc. Set yearly goals for all these areas. For example, your professional goal could be to be promoted to the next level, for that you may need the step to go to the Management class you’ve been procrastinating. You may want to spend some days of the year exclusively for your family members; you got to do some saving, planning and set aside time for your dear ones and their needs. Your social goal may be to contribute to some charity or your church, decide the amount or value you want to contribute this year. Your goal for your health may be to get slimmer and cut on the red meat or go for a jog. Then just start doing it. Remember, if you don’t plan your year, someone or something else will plan it for you and you will run for things that you won’t be pleased doing and reaching.

Give joy: One worthwhile goal to make your life fruitful in this New Year would be to decide to give joy to others. Make it a point that the persons you encounter in the New Year would leave your presence feeling brighter, happier and encouraged. Smile and people will smile back to you. Love and you will receive love. Give and you will be given. To give joy it is primary that you yourself remain happy and joyful. You cannot give what you don’t possess. So be filled with joy and laughter. The Universe gives back what you send to it. Remember this principle, if you have this goal of giving joy, you will end up in the New Year getting joy in abundance.

Be Proactive: Proactiveness is aptly described in the quote, “If your ship doesn’t come to the shore, swim out to meet it.” It means taking appropriate action beforehand to manipulate the outcome of your desire. Before I see the consequences that would be unpleasant, I take action and control the outcome. Before the doctor shows me a red signal for my health condition, I start jogging. Before the semester marks show poor performance, I start studying daily. Before my customers look for the second option, I make them feel at home in my organization. Before the emergency sets in, I save enough money in my saving account. Proactiveness will give me a sense of control over events in the New Year. At the end, I would look back and say, ‘I came, I saw and I conquered.’ Have a blessed year! (Sohan)