We all have habits. Some are good habits and some are bad habits.
One thing all habits have in common is that they take many years to form. Only through repetition, does any behavior become a habit.
Eventually, your habits will impact your life. How they impact your life, very much depends on whether they are Rich Habits or Poor Habits.
For example, saving 20% or more of your income every year and investing those savings prudently, is a Rich Habit. It takes, on average, thirty-two years for this savings and investment habit to pay off in the form of significant wealth accumulation.
Poor Habits also take many years before they impact your life.
For example, recently numerous celebrities, media personalities and politicians have been accused or admitted to sexually harassing women in the workplace. Sexual harassment is never a one-off, isolated incident of bad behavior. It is almost always a pattern of behavior. It is a pattern because it is a habit.
Eventually, like all bad habits, sexual harassment destroys the lives of those who have this Poor Habit.
Think about your habits as apple seeds. You plant the seeds and nurture them until they take root and an apple tree begins to grow. Each year, your apple tree gets bigger until one day it produces fruit.
Well habits are a lot like an apple tree. You plant a seed when you begin a habit. You nurture the habit by repetitively engaging in the habit. After many years your habit will produce fruit.
If the habit is a good Rich Habit, the fruit that results is good luck that manifests itself in your life. This might be a promotion, new job, bonus, raise, higher profits, good health, long life, solid marriage, etc.
But if the habit is a bad Poor Habit, the fruit that results is bad luck. This bad luck might be a destroyed reputation or career, divorce, a job loss, a business that goes bankrupt, diabetes, etc.
All bad habits eventually come home to roost, wreaking havoc with your life.
The seemingly never ending parade of celebrities accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace is a perfect example of how one bad habit, sexual harassment, eventually took its toll, destroying the careers and personal lives of those celebrities.
As President Obama famously once said, this is a teachable moment.
Learn from these celebrities. Self-assess your habits, now. What Poor Habits do you have? Then work hard to get rid of them before they bear fruit and destroy your life.
About Thomas C. Corley
I think the tone of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior is finally changing. To say that sexual harassment of any kind is a bad habit seems demeaning to me. However the more I thought about it, it’s correct. Our habits dictate our behavior. However, there is another side of that coin called accountability. Making people accountable for their words and actions is imparative to change, real change, of any kind. If they choose to make changes once confronted, that’s on them, but you can’t ignore what’s been acknowledged.