The Key to the Future You WantSample

THE POWER OF HABITS

Today’s choices create tomorrow's future. Our lives are shaped more by our habits than our desires. I can wish for a really cool vacation trip, but I will have the trip I book and pay for, not the one I wish for. The problem with some of the coolest trips is the price. Many of us would love a luxury vacation, but we don’t want to pay the price for it. The price for the life we want is the habits it takes to get there.

We often think time will somehow bring us to our dreams. Time is not as magical as we would like it to be. Growing up, I thought that someday, when I was older, everything would fall into place. I wasn’t looking to get bit by a genetically enhanced spider, but I thought somehow that time or age would make something out of me. Time doesn’t change us; it simply takes us further down the path we’ve chosen. Aging is mandatory, but maturing is optional. Simply having years go by won't bring me to my dreams. Every choice we make takes us in a direction. Our lives will end up in the direction of the choices we keep making.

I heard my boys talking about what would be the best wish if they had a magical wish. They had just watched a show with a book that held all of the knowledge in the universe. One of them said he would wish for the book with all the knowledge in the universe so he could know everything. It struck me as funny because we have an endless supply of books full of things he could learn that he doesn’t want to read. The desire to know everything won’t change him. But daily taking time to read could change him.

Today’s habits are the building blocks of tomorrow. The habit of reading is part of learning for a wiser future. Our health is built out of the eating, exercise, and other daily habits that we have. How we handle money day to day will determine what our financial future looks like.

A choice becomes a habit when we stop realizing that we are making it. Coaches work to train athletes to create habits for success. They make them practice over and over until the desired actions become part of their default actions. They no longer have to think about it, they just do it. This isn’t just true in sports. We can make on-purpose choices in how we spend our time and money, how we talk, how we eat, how we respond to anger, and how we respond to our spouse. We can practice choosing on purpose until it becomes a habit, taking us in the direction we want to go. Our actions create neurological pathways in our brains that get stronger with each use. What we practice regularly actually becomes easier.

What habits are shaping your life right now? Are they leading you where you want to go?