Comments | kettunainen: On the cultivation of habits

kettunainen

On the cultivation of habits

May 15, 2006 14:41

I am learning the intricacies about how best to cultivate habits. You must first give them the best possible soil in which to grow. If the conditions are less than fertile, it will be all the more difficult for your habits to grow strong and flourish. You must nourish them with attention and respect; attend to them with diligence. Newly-formed ( Read more... )

observations, skills, philosophy

Comments 8

eumelosdrizzle May 15 2006, 19:09:07 UTC

Interesting philosophy. So what you are saying is that we have to let habits that we wish to engrain germinate for a period before exposing them to the outside world?

kettunainen May 15 2006, 19:32:13 UTC

I believe so, yes ( ... )

kuaimao May 15 2006, 19:34:05 UTC

I had honestly never thought of habits like that before, but now that you mention it, you're right. Keep them just for you at first: external pressure on your own habits can crush them.

(also, hi! it was great to meet you at spice's shower!)

kettunainen May 15 2006, 23:23:15 UTC

external pressure on your own habits can crush them.

precisely!

and hi back! :D

friedtoast May 15 2006, 21:37:46 UTC

Interestingly enough, I just read something somewhat related yesterday or the day before (I just woke up about 2 min ago, so my head's still full o' the Fog of War). The guy whose stuff I was reading posited that treating new habits (exercising, quitting smoking/drinking, etc.) like shareware or software demos was the way to go. Tell yourself that you're going to do something for 30 days. That's the goal. Not permanently- just 30 days. So that way you've got a concrete goal that doesn't seem necessarily impossible. He figures that at the end of the 30 days, it'll have become habit, so harder to stop. Or at least, easier to continue on if you give yourself another block of time ( ... )

kettunainen May 15 2006, 23:27:12 UTC

That's also another good method to try to instill new habits. You've got to find what works best for you, really. And I think I may have found what works best for me, but I'm still in the preliminary, experimental stages. *grins*

And good on ya for wanting to try out vegetarianism on a trial basis. I think being more mindful about food and nutrition in general is something more people should do.

Lemme know if you want any pointers -- I was veg for nearly 8 years and have put a massive amount of energy in learning about nutrition in the past year. I'm all too happy to share :)

Good luck!

kaleekolai May 16 2006, 16:00:30 UTC

That is probably the best analogy that I've ever seen. It makes a lot of sense to me and I think that I'm going to give it a try. The main part that really resonated with me is the part about outside exposure. You're absolutely right and I've noticed that's where I often lose my little seedling.

Thank you for sharing this!

sgeimh_solais May 18 2006, 16:51:42 UTC

Wisdom we know but all too often forget. Witness the lack of use of the treadmill since the beginning of March...witness the constant dietary struggles (though they're better now than they were a number of months ago!)...yet we have no problem conforming to exactly the same regimine of morning toiletry care to be sure our teeth are flossed and brushed and our medicine taken....

Definitely need to cultivate that soil better ourself!!