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Unstuck 2.7: The 8th Habit

marymeng
Whatever seven habits I might train into myself, it seems I need an eighth; one reserved to break out of the seven habit trance. The chief difficulty with habituating anything comes from the blinders habits bring. Sometimes even the otherwise best habit needs breaking to get myself unstuck.

The 8th Habit might be called the habit-breaking habit. The first time, I struggled to escape a habitual. The second time, I perhaps struggled a little bit less. The third time, the effort was still great, but my experience informed my escape. Now, with decades of experience, I have a bit of a clue about what to do. Something different helps, and the difference need not seem particularly significant at the start. A 1% shift, persisted over time, can make a huge difference.

The 8th Habit, unlike the other seven, observes rather than simply engaging. It holds a perspective in reserve to judge whether the rut’s working this time, like it seemed to work every habitual time before. The 8th Habit reveres difference. It injects a spitball into play. Not everyday, but when necessary.

Without an active 8th Habit, all the others seem wooden, non-resilient, stuck.

©2012 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved












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