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Habits Create Events.

I’m not much on New Year’s Resolutions any more.  Mostly because the passing of a year doesn’t excite me much, as I’m on my 63rd lap around the sun.  I’m grateful and humbled to still be running laps, to be sure.

What I’m left with, then, is a bit banal and boring — and perhaps the essence of creating opportunities that are not boring, but inspiring and enriching.

HappyNewYear2016

So here are what I’m reminding myself about my habits this new year:

Habit #4:  Show up where you’re supposed to.

Woody Allen is credited with saying “80% of success is just showing up.”  Somewhere else he said it was just 70%.

James Caan said “Showing up every day isn’t enough. There are a lot of guys who show up every day who shouldn’t have showed up at all.”  I get his qualifying point — show up where you’re supposed to.

Habit #3: Get back up.  Just one more time than you fall.

That’s trite as well — trite and true.  I’m not saying we keep doing what doesn’t work — that’s stupid, but I am saying, “Never. Give. Up.”

Habit #2: Habits create events. so get your habits right, and expect good, meaningful, joyful events.

This is similar to #1, in that our habits create opportunities and exacerbate failures. Wealth comes from frugality, industry, and integrity, not lotteries.  Habits are the cement in our foundation’s concrete — what hardens us to handle our trials.  And ‘NO’, playing the lottery a lot — a habit, does not increase the odds of ever winning it.

Habit #1: Part of getting your habits right is avoiding a focus on your failures and the associated anxieties and deliberately remembering your successes and the sense of fulfillment and contentment they continue to give.  The former motivates you from fear; the latter motivates you from joy.

Like the joy waking up knowing my blog post needs polishing, to sharpen it.

Happy New Year