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How to Develop Good Habits

Doing well in school, being accepted to college, earning scholarships, becoming fit, eating healthy and getting enough sleep all have something in common. They will happen automatically for those who develop the right habits. I’ve read it takes 21 days to acquire or change a habit. Breaking this down into small steps makes doing so fairly easy.

I’ll use healthy eating as an example. The way I tackled this is the way I tackle anything I want to improve in my life. Biting off too much at once never works. So I take it slow. Several years ago I read an article about a study on the health benefit of eating nuts. I decided I wanted those benefits, so I made a plan to increase how many nuts I ate.

That is step one in creating a new habit, begin with the end in mind (like Stephen Covey recommends). The article ranked a large number of varieties of nuts by how many nutrients they contained. I started from the top, and wrote down five I enjoy eating. I didn’t bother writing down the ones I don’t like, since I know I won’t eat them anyway.

The article mentioned nuts stay fresh longer if refrigerated. I bought several glass Mason jars, and the five varieties of nuts I selected. I washed and dried the jars and filled each with one variety of nuts. I’ve refilled the jars many times since I made the decision to eat more nuts. I eat them on salads, cereal, and oatmeal and as a snack. Eating nuts is a habit now.

Let’s look at eliminating a bad habit. Many people are on their phones instead of chatting with family face to face, reading books, studying for a test, completing homework, applying for a college scholarship, etc. This is an easy habit to acquire, and some think it’s difficult to break. I disagree. Once you’ve made the decision, the rest is just details. Decide when you want to be on your phone, instead of everything else there is to do in the world.

Write those times down, take a look and reassess. Is this the best use of your time? If not, make changes to the schedule. If it is, then go on the next step. Let’s say you only want to be on your phone for two hours after coming home after work or school. When you enter the house, take out your phone and turn it off, not to mute or vibrate, but off. Put the phone on a table or in a drawer near the front door.

Now do whatever else you want to do. When the time you’ve allotted for phone use arrives, go to the table, take out your phone and turn it on. Then set an alarm for two hours. When the alarm sounds, turn the alarm and your phone off, and replace it where you’re keeping it. After a few days, this will become a habit. I keep my phone in a bowl on the table in my foyer. It’s there now, while I’m here, in my office, writing this blog post. It’s just what I do. It’s a habit.

Getting fit is simple too. This week someone I follow on Twitter posted a graphic of several ab exercises that won’t hurt your back. I printed it and will add one of these exercises to my already established workout routine. After about three weeks it will be a habit, so I’ll add another from the list. I’ll repeat this process until all the ones I want to do are part of my routine. Doing them will be habitual.

I look at goals like the old joke about eating an elephant. How do you eat one, or tackle acquiring good habits? Take one bite or one step at a time. You can do better in school, be accepted to college, earn scholarships, become fit, eat healthy and get enough sleep by making the decision and taking the first step. Repeat until what you need to do to reach your goal has become a habit.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Photo Credit: Google Images

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Summer Reading for Parents and Grandparents

This blog shares information which will help students earn more money from scholarships and grants in order to pay for college and graduate debt free. I think college should be tuition free, but I’m not in charge. I can only share information I've gathered that can help reduce or eliminate the cost or college for families. If they do what others do to earn full-ride scholarships, perhaps they too will pay nothing out of pocket for college.

This post title, however, doesn’t look like it applies. That’s an illusion. Anything parents or grandparents do can end up helping students graduate from college debt free. The three books I'm recommending can make a dramatic difference for parents and grandparents, and for the success of students in their lives.

The first book is Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Blue Zones. They're five areas in the world where people routinely live happy, healthy, fit lives well beyond 100. The National Geographic is behind this research into longevity. As the researchers isolated areas in the world where people live the longest lives, they circled them on a map with a blue marker, hence the name the Blue Zones.

I’ve read all of the books published by Dan Buettner in conjunction with the National Geographic. I give them as gifts to loved ones. I’ve signed up for their monthly newsletter and follow them on Twitter. I’m a fan. But the reason I’m suggesting you read Blue Zones Solution over summer is your children will benefit from your doing so. Too many children are eating junk. Too many are sedentary and unhappy. Following the suggestions in this book could reverse these negative trends. You, your children and grandchildren would benefit.

The second book you should check out from the library or buy is Factfulness by Hans Rosling. I don’t know how I ended up on Bill Gates’ email list, but I did. He recommended I read this book. I’m glad I did. It has helped me see the world as it is, and not as the network news tells me it is. I realized years ago that the news can only show a sliver of what happens in the world. It doesn’t show us a balanced view, but only what’s sensational. Good news is boring. Bad news gets our attention. Attention equals ratings. Ratings equal money. But it also makes us carry around a negative view of the world. This book gives us facts, real facts, about the world in which we live.

I think parents should read this book because their fears and negative feelings about the future rub off on their kids. It’s hard to motivate students to do well in school, if they think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I knew some of the information in this book, but not very much. Read Factfulness and you’ll feel better about the world, and so will your children.

The third book I suggest you read this summer is mine, Free College. It contains researched information as do the previous two. But the subject of my book is what parents of successful scholarship winners do while raising their children that results in them winning full-ride scholarships for college. It horrifies me that the cost of college tuition is so high, and that thousands of students end up with huge college loan debt. I know senior citizens who are still paying off college loans. My book provides a step-by-step guide, so your kids and grandkids can develop the habits of the ideal scholarship and grant applicants.

What better way to spend your summer than helping your children get ahead and live happier, healthier lives?

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Photo Credit: Google Images

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