Day 4: Practice Postponing | Tip #1 from Dad

Welcome to Day 4!

I thought I was going to leave you alone for a few days. But I was just reminded of some of the tips from my father.

If you've been following me for a while, you know my father is my inspiration. He's my life coach and mentor. He's the person who introduced me to personal development. I grew up reading books he read. He managed to transform his life from a poor young boy (whose parents were farmers), the eldest son of six, living in the countryside of Thailand, to a scholar, a national marathon runner, and a top performer who later on got asked to relocate to the US and was offered a green card; who, at the end of his career, moved back to Thailand and started his own company.

He started studying how his mind works from a young age because he wanted to accelerate his learning curve and be as intelligent as he could in the shortest amount of time. I saw him achieving one thing after another, becoming the best at whatever he set his mind to. His relentless passion for what he loves inspires me to persevere and become the best at what I do. I am going to come back to this pattern and mindset of his later in another email.

Even though he has mastered his mind, he has his shortcomings. His weakness is basically his strength. His strength is having tremendous passion and determination for whatever he does - to the point of obsession. His weakness is also that - not being able to enjoy things in moderation. Because of this, he's always had issues with overconsumption of his vices - from beer to cigarette and buying too many things of what he loves.

My dad was a serious smoker. He could not go a day without smoking a pack of cigarettes. He would tell me to step away though so that I didn't inhale it.

He tried quitting smoking so many times. From when I was a teenager to about 5 years ago. He never succeeded until 5 years ago. Last time I saw him, he also told me that he stopped drinking beer too. He used to drink so much beer after work. I couldn't believe he gave that up too. Needless to say, I am proud of him and I am inspired once again to conquer any vices I have ever let myself enjoy too much of.

(Guess I was a cheeky bugger who liked making faces when photographed lol)

Earlier this year when I started designing our new journal specifically designed for changing any addictive behaviors, I asked him about the process he had to go through.

One of his techniques was "postponing". 

We all postpone doing work and doing things we know we should be doing all the time.
But what about postponing doing bad habits? Have you ever tried that? 

Yup, that was his strategy. 

“Every day when I feel like smoking, I just tell myself 'Do it later. Do it another day.'
Then the next day comes and I just tell myself the same thing. I kept doing that until it became a habit to put off smoking.”

What do you think of the strategy? Shall we give it a try? 

Next time you feel like eating cookies or splurging money on unnecessary things, try putting it off to the next day and the next day. Buy yourself some time. At least putting it off doesn't make you feel as bad as feeling like you're cutting it off forever. It's a soft blow-out. 

If your goal is to stop worrying, you can also apply the same principle.
“I will think about it tomorrow. Today I am going to relax and not think!”.

Then try distracting yourself with something highly engaging and addictive that takes your mind off your worries like a really fun book or a good TV show before bed. 

Let me know how you go. I'd love to hear if this strategy works for you or not.