Good Habits Are Gifts That Keep on Giving

Once a habit is formed, it’s hard to break. If you forge good habits, those good habits will become harder and harder to break over time.And they will pay dividends your entire life.

Where did you pick up most of your habits in life? I’ll bet you never gave it much thought. Your habits did not just manifest out of thin air. They came from some source. Each source, good or bad, inspired you to adopt certain habits. The habits we adopt in life primarily come through associations we make in life, our education, our experiences and our environment.

Parents, teachers, supervisors, coaches, family, friends, spouses and teammates have the most influence over the habits we forge in life. Because good habits pay dividends throughout your lifetime, they are perhaps the best gift mentors can give to their mentees.. What are some of the best habit gifts mentors can give?

• The Habit of Reading – Reading opens up your mind. It can take you to exotic places, acquire unique knowledge or help set you on the right path in life. One book can alter someone’s life, so giving books will pay dividends that are hard to put a value on.
• The Habit of Exercise – Exercise is not jut good for the body, it’s good for the brain. And there are many recent studies which provide evidence that exercise increases your life span. Offer your kids, friends or a work colleague to become your gym partner. In a few months, the gym habit will form and will pay dividends for the rest of their lives.
• The Habit of Building Rich Relationships – Teaching others relationship-building habits such as making happy birthday calls, life event calls and hello calls helps them to build strong, lifetime relationships. Equally important is teaching others the habit of focusing their relationship-building efforts on the people who will help improve their lives, or Rich Relationships. Rich Relationships are relationships you build with other positive, success-minded people. Because birds of a feather like to flock together, when you forge one relationship with a positive, success-minded individual you tap into their network of positive, success-minded relationships. These Rich Relationships pay dividends throughout your life by opening doors for you. They also help guide you in life in taking action and making decisions that will help improve your life.
• The Habit of Saving – When you learn the importance of saving early in your life, this habit pays dividends down the road in the form of financial independence. Thanks for modern medicine, individuals can now look forward to living into the eighties and nineties. That one habit gift of saving can therefore pay dividends that last throughout your retirement years.
• The Habit of Being Frugal – Being frugal is not the same as being cheap. Frugal means spending your money on quality. Quality purchases last for many years and that means you can enjoy that car, furniture or dress for a long time. When you give the habit gift of frugality, you are giving that person a period of extended enjoyment in the purchases they make during their lifetime.

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