We love to indulge in things that we can feel/taste/see/enjoy now than things that may happen in the future. For most of us, we believe in theories such as “enjoy now, worry later” and “tomorrow may never come”. So why bother to work so hard to resist the temptations, right? Might as well enjoy now!

Hmm it depends. For me, enjoying now does not mean neglecting the future. You can live our life to the fullest and plan for your future at the same time. Nobody says this is impossible. But if your “enjoyment” somehow will bring you short term pleasure, but long term pain, perhaps it’s time to change. Because not only will you harm yourself in the long run, you might bring additional pain for your loved ones as well.

One example that I can give you is smoking. Nearly all the smokers know that smoking is bad for themselves, and it is bad for people around them including their loved ones. So seeing a father carrying his baby girl in one hand, and holding his cigarette in another hand, just does not seem right for me. Is his short-term pleasure so important that he can neglect the health and well-being of his baby girl? What about the father who refuses to stop smoking and only to die due to lung cancer, leaving his 4 young children and his wife to fend for themselves? His short term pleasure, their long term pain.

So, don’t give me shit like “it’s hard to resist the temptations”. I’ve heard that countless times before. For me, it’s just a lame excuse. If those people who have been drug addicts can give up on drugs, why can’t you? And if those people suffering from famine in South Africa do not want to give up on their life yet, how could you give up yours so early? So stop thinking so selfishly. It’s not just YOU we’re talking about here, your loved ones are involved as well.

Last but not least, all I want to say is that nothing is impossible in this world. Our willpower has proven to be 1 of the most powerful things in this whole wide world. So don’t say you can’t resist the temptation or you can’t quit. Because you DO have the power to resist and to quit. Just use your willpower. Think of your loved ones and the consequences in years to come if you don’t resist the temptation now. Start saying NO to short term pleasure and NO to long term pain.

To close things off, here are some articles which can help you to resist temptations and start a new and healthier habit.

The Habit Change Cheatsheet.

Resisting Temptation.

10 Tips for Quitting Smoking.

It’s a brand new year, and a brand new beginning for most people. For some of us, a brand new year also marks the beginning of new habits….habits that we love to have in our life. Perhaps it’s something to do with our health, like eating less fried food, or something that concerns other people around us such as quitting smoking.

Whatever the new habit is, it is crucial for you to find a habit which you plan to keep for long-term. In other words, it should be something which can help your life in many many years to come, not something which is only helpful for you in 2010 alone. It should also be something which is aligned with your life’s goals. Want your family to live healthily? Quitting smoking is a good habit to have.

Otherwise, there’s really no point for you to waste time developing new habits which are not going to be used in the future. You might as well use the time to do some other stuff.

For example, a habit to lose 2kg in 3 months and a habit to stay healthy by exercising regularly and eating healthily. Which one do you think is a long term habit? Probably the second one.

To close things off, here are few questions which you might want to ask when deciding on a new habit:

• How long do I need to take to fully realize this habit? 2 months? 3 months?
• Is this habit going to help me in the long run? This year, next year, and so on?
• Does this habit aligned with my life’s goals and the direction I want in life?
• Will my loved ones benefit from this habit?
• Is this habit more important than the other habits which I plan to change this year?
• Have I told people around me about my plan to have this new habit? If yes, what is their response?

Also, remember to focus on 1 and only 1 habit change at a time. Losing your focus means it’ll be harder for you to realize it.

Good luck.

Do you have something that you really want to do but have yet to do? Do you find it very difficult to take that first step? Do you believe that after taking the first step, the journey will be smooth and you will have no problem at all?

If you answered “yes” to all the above questions, maybe it’s time to change your mindset a little because the first step in doing something might not be as hard as it seems. It is relatively easier than the steps which would follow the first one.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ansdeblauwe/2335132102/

Why do I think so?

• It’s easy to force yourselves to make the first step especially if you can convince yourselves that you have nothing much to lose.
• After passing the first hurdle, your excitement will somehow “cool off”.
• And to reignite your excitement after the first hurdle can be very difficult, which means your 2nd, 3rd and n-th steps will be more difficult than your first step.
• That is the big problem because at the end of the day, without maintaining the momentum, it will be hard to achieve whatever you initially wanted to achieve.

That is why in order to be successful in something, taking the first step IS important but it will not be enough to make it successful. You will need to continue with the momentum, or better, increase it. But that requires one to have a very good discipline. If you do not have the will to keep doing it, then you might as well forget it. You will just give up after the first step.

So, think carefully what you want to achieve and plan ahead. And be sure to follow that plan of yours and not giving it up after the first hurdle unless you really feel it’s not meant for you. Also, don’t take the first step for the sake of taking it. Don’t waste your time.

Maybe that is why some people from the older generation often says “If you want to do it, then do it properly, don’t do it halfway!”

Ever have that feeling of doing something but your muscles and joints just refused to move an inch? Or ever have that feeling of NOT doing something but were forced to do that something over and over again?

Today, my brain was telling me “Alvin, you’re getting fatter, time to go to the gym and burn some calories!” and i recalled myself saying “I know i know, let’s go” ….but i didn’t move. I was still lying down on my sofa….aircond making me feel sleepy.

In life, there are always things which we don’t want or don’t like to do…even though we know it is for our own good – for example, gym workout or eat healthily. But there is always a way to do it. First step is always the most important part of a process. For example for gym…try to go once a week…then slowly make it a habit…before making it twice a week, and so on. If you continue to do the same thing again and again, you’ll make it a habit. You will start to feel uneasy and uncomfortable if you ever break the pattern/habit.

Same thing goes for doing something you don’t like. If you want to stop doing something you don’t like, then you have to stop doing the thing over n over again – break the pattern or it’ll become a habit which is hard to change.

p/s…. well, i went to the gym in the end….after staring at my big tummy for a while. hahahaha