20th March 2012
`Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity'
Augustine of Hippo
I mentor people on life skills and goal setting. I get a lot of students into my seminars. One question my participants ask relate to some habits such as: `Can I sleep in the afternoon? Can I have coffee too frequently? Can I smoke?' Etc. Many of them have got into some of the habits and they don't know if it is a good habit or not. For example, I come across people who have to take a nap in the afternoon and the problem is they feel guilty when they do so!
The question is not whether you can have a nap in the afternoon or not. What is more important is: does the habit help you or hinder you? Any habit which helps you should be encouraged and any habit which hinders you should be stopped. Simple common sense isn't it?
The problem is how to come out of a habit. The only way is to resist it and if you don't resist, it will become a necessity and you will rationalize the same by saying `unless I sleep for an hour in the afternoon, I cannot work till late in the night'!
Over this weekend you are going to list your `friendly habits' and not so friendly habits'. Friends do not harm you, do they?
N C Sridharan
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