Tag: habits

A daily walk. For many, a regular daily walk was essential to brain functioning. Soren Kierkegaard found his constitutionals so inspiring that he would often rush back to his desk and resume writing, still wearing his hat and carrying his walking stick or umbrella. Charles Dickens famously took three-hour walks every afternoon — and what he observed on them fed directly into his writing. Tchaikovsky made do with a two-hour walk, but wouldn’t return a moment early, convinced that cheating himself of the full 120 minutes would make him ill. Beethoven took lengthy strolls after lunch, carrying a pencil and paper with him in case inspiration struck. Erik Satie did the same on his long strolls from Paris to the working class suburb where he lived, stopping under streetlamps to jot down notions that arose on his journey; it’s rumored that when those lamps were turned off during the war years, his productivity declined too.

Not just geniuses, most people even half a century ago had routines and they were defined by their daily routines. Just recollect how your grandparents lived their life with routines. Their character and traits were defined by their habits. Its nothing new that our habits define who we are, where we end up. Having some routine that helps us accomplish our long term goals is definitely a no brainer. A Simple habit that adds value to a long term goal is the best way to start with habits if you don’t have a routine.