1 Habit Worse Than Smoking...Quitting!

For the record, I think smoking is one of the most devastating human habits one could ever take up. It smells bad, infects others with the smell and puts both people at greater risk for some of the most serious and life threatening conditions known to man. Add to that the wasted expense of the smokes themselves and the waste of productive time to smoke them...plus the added health care burdens.

It's easy to see why I despise that nasty smoking habit so much.

Their sickening effects have touched my life personally through family members who have suffered after years of inhaling their toxic fumes. So for me to say there is a habit worse than smoking is no small ordeal. But I have seen the effects of this other habit, one practiced by far more participants than smokers.

Perhaps up to 90% of the population are afflicted by the ill effects of this other nasty habit. This 90% are the group that make the other 10% possible. The 10% I refer to are the wealthy. The top 10% of income earners in this country, and around the world.

You see, from all I have read and all I have observed personally, the ones who "Make It" in this world are the ones who never quit.

They have resigned themselves to the fact that success WILL be theirs.
Napoleon Hill wrote about it in "Think and Grow Rich". He called it Definiteness of Purpose". In other words the folks who get what they want in this life are the folks who KNOW WHAT THEY WANT and don't accept failure as an option. They just don't quit! Yes, they may suffer setbacks, frustration, and downright wipe-outs, but they just keep on keepin' on.

It became so clear to me last weekend. My daughter was attending a birthday party for a classmate. It was held at a nearby roller rink. Now my daughter, 8yrs old, had never really skated before, accept slowly on the cracked sidewalk near our home. She was so looking forward to getting out there and instantly taking on the graceful moves of the ice dancers she loves to watch on television. Needless to say, her images were quickly replaced when her roller skates came up from the floor as her butt went down.

As a parent it was painful to watch. I expected tears to be forthcoming. But they weren't. She got up quickly and with a look of determination I had seldom seen before. And off she went. Time and again she would try her move, and then go down. But she got back up every time, rubbed the sore spots a tad, and get back to her mission. I was so proud of her that day. And she was proud of her accomplishments too!

By days end, she could leap from the ground and stick her landing while remaining upright. She could twirl around and retain her balance. She had become a ballerina on wheels. And it reminded me of so many times in my own life when I had great dreams of doing something.

Getting the great job, car, house. It reminded me of a few home remodeling projects I had taken on. The ones that half way through became such nightmares of cost and labor commitments that I had so wanted to quit. But each time, somewhere from the depths of my brain came the voice that said "Finish what you start...don't quit now." And as I look back with 20/20 vision I can see clearly that NOT QUITTING is what made success possible.

But when I look around at the people I know who are down and out, miserable in their life and unsuccessful, I see quitters. Folks who may have tried and got knocked down, but never got back up.

Yet every successful person I have ever known or read about has had failure visit upon their life. But they did not quit. They just kept coming. They changed their course or tactics, learned from their mistakes and kept on coming.

This has been my personal formula for success as well. Many times I thought about quitting, but just kept moving on toward progress. And it came. It may have taken longer than I wanted, but it always came.

It's hard for me to quit. Not natural. NOT QUITTING is my habit and I think it's a good one.

NOT QUITTING makes it easier for me to NOT QUIT next time. That is the nature of a habit. However if you quit just this one time, it makes it easier to quit next time too. Next thing you know...you have become a quitter.

And that my friends bring me full circle to why QUITTING is the one habit worse than smoking.

Smoking will destroy your health, weaken your finances, and possible effect your relationships with others. But the habit of QUITTING will destroy your mind, your happiness and your will... in ADDITION to all the awful effects of smoking. "Winners never quit and quitters never win."
So if you've been guilty of quitting in the past and you can now see that it is keeping you from getting what you want...Quit one last time. Only this time you must QUIT QUITTING!

PS You may have noticed, if you were paying attention to the dates on these blogs,
that I had "quit" posting for some months. Well, I am happy to report that it was
because business had been very good...to almost overwhelming! Now, I have gotten
back to keeping on. We may be delayed...but never denied. The secret is to just
keep coming back for more! I hope you will come back here again...for more
inspiring news!