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Good graduation advice: Watch your habits!

June 16, 2008 on 10:59 am | In etiquette/habits, inspiration | No Comments

I haven’t heard many snippets from commencement speeches this year that wowed me (like my favorite from Mr. Rogers, posted earlier), but here’s a goodie from author James Fallows at Ursinus College. Check out this excerpt and others in yesterdays’ summary in the New York Times.

“In the end, we are our habits, so take time developing good ones. … Some of these are obvious. No joke, don’t smoke! Also, don’t type I.M.’s while you drive. Get in the habit of sports and exercise — by your 10th reunion, you’ll know who has and hasn’t, and you’ll know even more each subsequent one.

“Get in the habit of being happy. We all have problems which we can’t control; what we can control is how we look at them. Get in the habit of being excited. It’s a great big world, with no excuse for being bored. It’s fun to have feuds and enemies — I’ve had my share — but break the habit of nursing grudges.”

Good habits, like the ones he suggests, will also pay big dividends over the life of your career.