Catching up on what the world has to offer. I’ve been in a whirlwind lately, trying to catch up with people in my life – family and friends, reading, growing, figuring out who and what I really am.

I just finished “The Habit Factor” on my iPad. First off, I never thought I would like reading electronic books. Yet, this is my third book on the iPad and I have to say, I actually like it. It’s nice to have my email and my reading material in one place. Score one for Steve Jobs, wherever he is.

The Habit Factor is all about Goals and Habits and, as you might have heard previously, I like both of those things. Well, Goals. I actually thought that habits were something to be abhorred. I didn’t ever want to be someone stuck in a rut, habitual, predictable. I shudder at the thought. Well, come to find out, I actually am more ‘ritualized’ than I thought and, shock of shocks, habits aren’t bad. In fact, they are the stuff of character and virtue (sayeth Benjamin Franklin.) After playing through all the exercises in the book, I was left with some good, life-prodding bits. My thought processes were habitual but not in a good way and habits in and of themselves are the foundation by which we build our lives. Goals, by the same token, are simply the larger milestones in life’s journey. Maybe big milestones with neon and music, but still milestones. It really is about the journey.

I think my favorite quote and reminder from the book is that “there are no failures, only experiences.” It breathes new life into how I begin and end each day. Having and retaining hope is success. Hopelessness, now that is failure. I think my next favorite quote, which is also up on my wall as a reminder, is this: “We are adapted by Nature to receive virtues and are made perfect by Habit.” Aristotle was a right on dude.

If you need a little beginning of the year reading, the book is a good way to figure out where you are and where you want to be, and what is achievable with a little daily habit or two. Amazing things could happen. I plan on finding out. Stay tuned!

-TDD