Bad Habits Bad Life – Good Habits Good Life

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Tom Corley boats - crop

Habits have a purpose.

They save the brain from work.

It’s really quite a feat of evolution that the brain created habits. Habits are, in a very real sense, the reason humans are at the top of the food chain.

By isolating certain repetitive functions to a very small, almost fractional area, the brain freed itself to expand and perform higher level functions. This expansion gave birth to tool-making, then speech and finally cooperation; humans working together for a single purpose.

Physiologically, habits are a series of neural pathways interconnected along the neural fibers underneath the neocortex, to a central neural hub within the center of the brain called the Basal Ganglia.

When a synapse repetitively fires up, day after day, it gets the attention of the Basal Ganglia. The Basal Ganglia then sends long, spindly dendrites into close proximity of the synapse, to monitor it as a potential habit candidate. At some point, the Basal Ganglia makes a decision.

If the decision is that the synapse meets the criteria as a good habit candidate (frequency dictates this decision), the Basal Ganglia permanently anchors its long dendrites into the cavity of this repetitively firing synapse, forever stamping it as a permanent habit.

According to a famous London study performed on 89 people, this habit creation process can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days, depending on the complexity of the behavior forming the habit. The more complex the behavior, such as brushing your teeth verses mastering certain complex piano strokes, the more time it takes for the habit to form.

Depending on the study, 40-60% of all daily activities are habits. These daily habits unconsciously control your life.

Your daily habits, as boring as they may seem, are the secret to success, failure or mediocrity. Your behaviors, decision-making, emotional responses and your thoughts are the cause of wealth and poverty. And, to a large extent, they are habits.

Those who learned good daily habits from their parents, a mentor or through the school of hard knocks, excel in life. Their lives are outstanding. They rule the world. They command respect, make more money, and exert control over the lives of millions who have bad habits.

From the research I gathered since 2004, I can say unequivocally that your daily habits define the circumstances of your life.

Your daily habits are the reason you live in a beach house or a slum.

Your daily habits are the reason you make millions of dollars a year or eek out a living.

Your daily habits are the reason you are overweight or lean and muscular.

Your daily habits are the reason you are happy or unhappy.

Your daily habits are the reason your children go to the finest colleges or fail to graduate high school.

The very blueprint of your life and the lives of your children are determined by daily habits.

That’s how important habits are. They are the fountainhead of success, wealth, good health and happiness.

If you are unhappy with the circumstances of your life and want to change your life, you must first start by changing your habits.

Bad Habits – Bad Life

Good Habits – Good Life.

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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Comments

  1. Not really. Someone flabby may have been in a coma.
    Someone poor may have a mental disorder. Or have been victim of systemic discrimination. You are leaving out important but relevant societal factors.

  2. From the point of view of efforts that depend only on us, the formula of happiness is very simple. It is necessary to get rid of the maximum number of bad habits that lead us away from happiness and to cultivate-form in ourselves the largest possible number of good habits that make our happiness closer. For example, read more literature, study as much as possible, save money for travel!

    Since my student years, I realized that if you learn to manage your habits, you will learn to manage your life!

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