Information Related to "Creating Winning Habits"
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Have you ever pulled into your driveway and not remembered how you got there because you were deep in thought about something else or had been singing at the top of your lungs?
Our brain is an unbelievably complex and efficient organ. Though constantly changing and rewiring, it allows us to do routine things smoothly, almost effortlessly. (As King David said in Psalm 139:14, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made"!) The continuous, physical reengineering of our brain cells enables learning and multitasking. It also enables the formation of habits.
Habits can be awesome, powerful tools for our good, and they can be devastatingly destructive. What is a habit? What does it take to build a habit? Without becoming too technical, let's think about how our brain, nervous system and muscles learn habits-sometimes called muscle memory in sports. And let's consider how we develop habits.
Learning to properly shoot a basketball is a great example. It's not easy to learn proper shooting form. I remember my dad bought me a basketball when I was very young and could barely heave it over my head. As I grew older, we always had a basketball hoop in the driveway, and I spent countless hours working on shooting form.
Each passing year brought more strength and the ability to better execute a fundamentally sound shot: feet and shoulders square to the basket, elbow in, right arm extended toward the hoop, left hand coming off the ball an instant before the shot, releasing just before the peak of the jump, with the right wrist flicking the ball toward the basket, giving it a gentle backspin.
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