THIS week, we pick a book that has been described as “No matter where you are in life, this book will guide you to success.” It is the Myanmar translation of Tom Corley’s original book, Change Your Habits – Change Your Life, translated by U Myo Lwin (MBA), a regular writer for Thar Nge Publishing, under the title ‘Akyint Twae Pyaung Yin Bawa Lae Pyaung Mal’ (Change Your Habits, Change Your Life).
The original author, Tom Corley, firmly believes that success is not something reserved only for the wealthy or privileged. Through years of dedicated research on self-made millionaires, he identified the good habits that enable ordinary people to achieve extraordinary success and become millionaires.
Translator Saya Myo Lwin (MBA) writes… each individual has their own specific bad habits, which are also poor. If you can replace them with good habits, in other words, the rich habits, you can transform your own life. It also urges eliminating the poor habits and adopting the rich habits. It needs to know what the good habits are before changing them. Daily habits drive over 40 per cent of our activities, thoughts, and decisions. Habits put you on autopilot. It can reduce the workload on the brain, and the brain naturally favours them. When we try to break a habit, the brain resists. Therefore, the book provides fascinating insights into how we can outsmart our brains and successfully change our habits.
The author Tom Corley says… No matter what you may believe, you can change the circumstances of your life. You can go from average to success, from mediocrity to wealth. Your past and present circumstances do not define you. Circumstances can be changed. But to change your circumstances, you need three things:
1. Daily growth (in skills and knowledge)
2. Focus
3. Persistence
By using the habit-change strategies in this book, you will automatically acquire these three characteristics of success. Habits, by their very definition, are persistent routines. When you adopt good habits, they help you grow your skills and knowledge. They put success on autopilot. Each good habit you add to your life has a cumulative effect. They are like an investment in your individual success. The key is to get your personal Habit Seesaw tipping in the right direction, with your Rich Habits outweighing your Poor Habits.
The author presents his research data collected on the daily habits of 233 wealthy individuals and 128 poor individuals over five years. He also provides practical frameworks to help readers adapt.
The book carries five chapters: 1. Understanding Habits, 2. Types of Habits, 3. Creating Habits around Dreams and Goals, 4. Changing Your Habits, and 5. Case Studies.