Getting in the habit of something is a challenging step toward achieving our goals. So often, we make up reasons (or excuses) for not doing something routinely when we know we should. For example, I try to make it a habit of either reading or writing daily (mostly reading, since when I edit, I’m not technically writing anything new, but mostly correcting or changing things in the draft). There are days when I’m tired, when I’m not in the mood, but I convince myself to read/write anyway, since I know that if I don’t, I’ll be behind in reaching my goals.
Getting in the habit of something new is especially hard, since it is not the short term habit that is difficult, but the long term. For example, when we first take an interest in something (let’s say painting), it can be exciting and fun. But overtime, we realize that it takes a lot of work and practice, and that we need to continue doing it each day. But there are days where we don’t feel like painting, or days where we doubt ourselves. We might look at our painting and think: am I making any progress? Am I any good?
Thus, if we put off painting day after day, we’ll eventually stop painting altogether. And if we stop, it’s guaranteed that we won’t improve at all.
Any skill or endeavor that we pursue takes practice, and the dividends pay off not in the short term, since we can have our ups and downs, but in the long term–when we can see how far we’ve come from where we began. But to get there, we must get in the habit first.
Fallton Havenstonne 