Propensity Praxis
Propensity Praxis
Do you have an excuse for NOT doing something that could actually benefit you?I believe most people have… including me. For example. I know if I go to the gym, I feel good (and maybe even look better) I also know if I don't go, I feel like a slob! So why don't I go?Why is it sometimes I don't go for weeks? Why is it I barely walk 500 yards during those weeks? The answer is actually really very simple. My habitual weakness is my ongoing behavior or ... My propensity praxis.Praxis:. Habitual behavior Propensity:. Weakness Or ... Maybe this is an excuse?... Anyway ... You know breakfast time. OK, I admit I love at least 4 huge self cut slabs of toast dripping with honey. This is a habitual behavior of mine for at least 30 years minimum! I wake up, go downstairs, pull out a loaf of bread and cut 4 slices at least an inch thick. About 30 minutes later I feel like a slug! Yet my habit stops me from restraining myself to the power of hot toasted bread and inch thick dripping in honey.Now and then I go through fitness periods where I will get up, go downstairs and eat, fresh fruit, drink green tea, go for a walk and frankly for the next few hours, I feel amazing. And I even manage to keep it up for a period of time until... Praxis Propensity comes back and bites me on the backside! Back to toast and sluggish!So what's going on here then? The answer is really simple. My life has been set with a 30 year habit. That habit is totally ingrained into my person. You see it's not just the toast. It's the smell. It's the associations. It's the history of eating toast with granny. It's the memories.In fact, it's a dozen and one thing that are almost part of my DNA and are hard to shift like an ingrained stain. Can I share a thought with you? Not a big one but big enough to have an effect. You know this downturn all the media are ranting, raging and spoon feeding us with daily, hourly, minutely?Well, those that will curl up and almost die during this cataclysmic (so they say) period are those that are driven by their habitual behavior! But the good news is, behavior can be changed. And during this manufactured, crap management recession you might have been doing stuff in your business for years that has gotten you by. And you refuse to stop doing them because ... you have always have done them. And maybe even dad did them that way when he was in business. And maybe even you feel obliged to do them that way because the manual has instructed you to do them that way.Maybe you are so confident in the systems you have ran for years, that have made you money for years, that have given you a life for years, maybe, just maybe your arrogance feels they will help you survive.That's your Praxis:. Habitual behavior Propensity:. Weakness The downturn sucks...and even if I don't believe in it or allow my self to be immersed in it's negative force... there will be a stack of business casualties. You don't have to be one. But you do have to change your habits. You do have to see your weakness and accept, control or ... Recognize your excuses.Look the facts are we all like to use excuses. They are great for digging us out of a hole. Sometimes we don't even have to think about them ourselves because we have people around us that will say to us ... "don't worry, it isn't your fault" "Hey be easy on yourself, it's the economy" "It's not all your fault, its the banks" "we need a new president to make life better" OMG ... weak, lame and insidious thinking... but this is what happens.So the truth is an excuse is what it is ... an excuse. I'm broke because ... I could have made it but ... We could have survived but ... We just didn't have the right stuff ... We should have made it through ... The clients just seemed to stop coming ... Blah, blah, moaning blah! Do you recognize anything in this stuff in you, your life, your business? Can you hear or see yourself? Be honest can you? That's your Praxis:. Habitual behavior Propensity:. Weakness Or ... is it your excuse again? I have excuses for failure, we all do.But being able to recognize and identify the weakness and habits is a step that will help you to move through them and succeed. Do you know your own Praxis Propensity?If you can make sure from today you do, it could be the biggest step you make in your life!Has this helped you?Alan Forrest SmithModern Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy & 21st Century Observations.
