The Life Hack You’ll Ever Need

“Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are.” – Mason Cooley

Nowadays, it’s pretty easy to scour the internet for habits and interests that you could dig in just to break away from the banal work routine and de-stress your life. The net is really wicked! It can readily offer you tons of tips on how to balance work and life or ─ give you pieces of advice to simplify your life perhaps even way better than your best friend’s. Ask Google anything and it always has an answer. Even libraries are going online where you can even rent an e-book in just a click. Just recently, Google realized one of the biggest dreams of a Harry Potter’s fan which is turning your Android phone into a magic wand. Crazy, isn’t it?

But even though it can enumerate in detail what you might probably need to do in order to avoid stress and squash the hefty pressures of life, you know too well that growing a habit depends on whether or not you’re up or apt to do so.

Tell me, what prods you to nurture a habit? The real question is not what to do; it is how and when to start doing the thing you have a knack for.

Let me tell you a story. Before I hit the keyboard again, I spent a long hiatus from writing. I let this envy inside of me grow as I watch my old friends pursue the dreams we love ─ that is to write. I spent time reading their works and felt satisfied of their accomplishments ─ the dream we all together once dreamt. Truly, I feel happy for them. I even convinced myself that as I grew accustomed to doing office work, the passion would subdue, somewhat.

Until reality hits me. I almost completely deceive myself that office work is good enough. I, in some way, ended up losing confidence in writing. That opportunity revived my buried passion.  The beauty of doing what you do love is the true value of living. Mother Teresa’s words ring true, ‘Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.’ And by doing untiringly what we love that we become great.  

Writing is expensive. In fact, all worthwhile activities are expensive because you need time to spare. Time, which the busy city life steals from you. Every. Single. Day. Now, with a very limited time, how do you start?

FIND TIME.

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

• Mark Twain

It is one way of managing your time wisely. Doing the easier tasks first will save you a lot of time. If you’re having problems with managing your tasks, have a to-do-list and identify which of the items are easier. When you are caught up in a deadline of a difficult task, still, deal with the easier ones. Sometimes, the easier tasks can help you come to grips with the difficult ones. Remember, easier tasks that pile up are worth one difficult task. Save time to earn time for learning. Always find time to learn new things for even torn pages of a book reveal many. Because life is a cobweb, all our stories are intertwined.    

FIND A MOTIVATION.  

In High School, I started to hit the books and fell in love with them. But since I was still studying and I cannot enjoy the luxury of having to spend money for books, I’ve been contented with just borrowing them from my classmates. One time, a typhoon caused a power outage that I had to light a candle so I could start reading the Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, which I needed to return the other week. When I had to look up for the dictionary and leave it for a moment beside my bag, I found out the candle singed my bag straps.  Good Heavens, it was just the straps! But, no. From then on, aside from the ‘sermon’ I received from my mother, she advised me to recoil from reading especially at night. But I’m stubborn, so you get the idea.

Before you can nurture a habit, you must develop an affinity towards a particular interest. Let it grow. Better if you have to print it out and post it somewhere you can see every day. This way, it will bother you. And if you feel that way, let it bug you. It’s a good thing; it only means you care whether or not you’ll be able to do it.

READ.

I would not care if it were an advertisement or your favorite manga. But. Read. Do not let a day pass without reading a page. Just be selective, not all that you read especially in social networking sites are true. Be vigilant. If you’re in a cost-cut mode, you can try to look for free e-books. Try www.bookzz.org and www.libgen.io. It can search for thousands of books you might want to read. Do not add up to the increasing number of non-reading adults.

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) in the country conducts Book Readership Survey every four (4) years. In 2012, the survey was administered to 1,200 respondents nationwide with ages 18 years old and above.  A total of 6% decline on the number of Filipino adult readers was recorded from 94% in 2003 to 92% in 2007, and 88% (44.2M) in 2012. It is really saddening that more and more Filipinos are becoming uninterested in reading. The report also reveals that ages between 18-24 (94%) read the most while ages between 35-44 (85%) read the least. It also shows that the working group (89%) read more than the non-working group (87%).  

It is not only in the Philippines which readership has declined. In fact, lessening number of readership is a challenge faced globally. Perhaps, people are wired to social media rather than in thumbing a book especially now that smartphones are becoming affordable.

Reading ─ the only activity, which takes you to, places for free. Plan your next journey, now. You’ll surely get one or two tips on how to cultivate a habit or interests you’ve been hankering to do so.

START NOW.

Find time, find a motivation, and read. You’ll get everything you need to do by flipping a page. Don’t forget to post your interest, let it bug you every day. And every day, you must do it. Every day, you must find time to do it. Because there is no better time than now.

Here are two books I personally recommend for you that you might want to dig in:

1. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

– It’s a great read. It explains thoroughly how habits are formed and how they can be gradually changed. It’s very substantive.

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

– If you’re looking for something influential. This one’s for you. I would want to share to you the 7 habits, but…I remember the third tip ─ read.