I read book after book but the advice seemed awful. And even the advice that was clearly good (“eat better”) there was almost zero chance I would follow. I don’t know how to take good advice. I don’t know how to give it. And all of this talk about “habits” seems beyond me.
I was all alone with no one around to police the spill of my primitive desires.
Trapped in that nightmare world between: “If only this had happened” and “if this happens, I will be a success” without thinking that right now is when things can be different.
The negative things I was doing were weighing on me, causing me anxiety, stress, darkness, draining me of energy, and I refused to take responsibility for them.
So I tried something. Happiness is when you do good things for yourself, but do them just a little each day – else disappointment and failure.
Every day I’d take a random habit that I knew was good and I’d try to improve it a little. Just “1%”.
Following these habits was not about me. I didn’t see success in me. I noticed I was impacting others when I followed good habits. A good habit is the pebble dropped in the ocean that ripples out to every shore. Each habit compounds over time. Each habit is a super power.
Self-worth is a myth. We’re in this together. Our actions are the impact everyone else feels.
Be the person that everyone remembers.
These 20 habits are the seeds. You plant them, you water them, some grow, you grow, everyone grows. I only know this because I had to do it.
P.S. About habit number 6, “Stand next to the smartest person in the room”…I find my best ideas this way. I make the best friends this way. And I make money only when I do this.
[This post by James Altucher first appeared on LinkedIn and has been reproduced with permission.]
