Excellence¹ is not an act, but a habit

Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny,” the maxim² goes.

Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness.

As Horace Mann, the great educator, once said, “habits are like a cable. We weave a strand³ of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken.” I personally do not agree with the last part of his expression. I know habits can be learned and unlearned. But is also know it isn’t a quick fix. It involves a process and a tremendous commitment.

Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 11 were transfixed as we saw the first men walk on the moon and return to earth. But to get there, those astronauts literally⁴ had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the first few miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half a million miles.

Habits, too, have tremendous gravity pull- more than most people realize or would admit. Breaking deeply imbedded habitual⁵ tendencies such as procrastination⁶, impatience⁷, criticalness, or selfishness that violate basic principles of human effectiveness involves more than a little willpower and a few minor⁸ changes in our lives. “Lift off” takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension.

Like any natural force, gravity pull can work with us or against us. The gravity pull of some of our habits may currently be keeping us from going where we want to go. But it is also gravity pull that keeps our world together, that keeps the planets in their orbits and our universe in order. It is a powerful force, and if we use it effectively, we can use the gravity pull of habit to create the cohesiveness⁹ and order necessary to establish effectiveness in our lives.

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卓越仅仅是一个习惯

人的品德基本上是又习惯组成的。 俗语说;思想决定行动，行动决定习惯，习惯决定品德，品德决定命运。

习惯对我们的生活有绝大的影响，因为他是一贯的。 在不知不觉中， 经年累月影响着我们的品德，暴露出我们的本性，左右着我们的成败。

美国著名教育家曼恩曾说：“习惯就仿佛是一条缆绳，我们每天为他缠上一股新索，不要多久就会变得牢不可破。”这句话的后半段我不敢苟同，我相信习惯可以养成，也可以打破，但绝不是一蹴而就，而是需要长期的努力和无比的毅力。