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Developing Habits - Beneficial For One and All

September 4th, 2008 by sanchitam

Aristotle Says:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Habits are not very hard to develop and not very easy to leave. Habits are usually developed in two ways – one, those you pick up as a child or what you inherit from your elders like parents, grandparents and family, while the other is what you imbibe from your peers and external inputs as you grow into adulthood and beyond. Certainly, a very big influence is your own family and teachers and the way you are taught, or shown how to live life and learn from it.

Looking at myself, I realized recently that I have one habit that has benefited me – and I’m happy to share that with everyone – my friends, family, colleagues and readers. I have been writing blog posts and small articles and often feel like sharing the same with others. I want to share the gist of the same so that my family, friends and colleagues can also benefit from my learning. As part of the Roving Writers team, I have been able to revisit my writing and proofing talents. As the world has changed dramatically, so have the tools of writing and editing (especially with online tools) and it is impossible for an individual to know everything. Hence, whenever I hit a hurdle during the proofing/writing, I talk to my colleagues about it and invariably with collective efforts, have been able to solve the problem. I would therefore think that my habit of not shying away from asking for help or inputs to solve problems has enhanced my learning of words, use of English as a language, and usage of latest tools.

As children, we learn more from seeing what our elders do and follow the same. So, if we are encouraged to experiment and try out things, we will grow up to be open to ideas and community thinking. Unfortunately, our society believes in providing all theory and no practice - which is why we can get 98-99% marks in exams but fare poorly in the practical aspects like presentation, lateral thinking and problem solving in practice.

Take the case of sports, we all cribbed that India has come back only with one gold medal from the Olympics 2008, but how many of us encourage the habit of playing in our children? Have we ever said, “Enough of studying, it is your time to play now?” Unless it is inculcated as a discipline and habit, we will continue to perform as we do now. When I had to proof read the book `Roots & Wings’ by Raksha Bharadia (soon to be published), I felt as if she was echoing my thoughts – in ways to deal with children, problems, inculcating good habits by following the same and rediscovering the part of us which is getting lost in the busy schedule of today… It is a must read for all parents and is sure to invite a wide audience.

To end, I would quote that “a good habit is known to be the best when it is developed in the best ever possible manner”.