The proper time to quit our bad habits is now. Why wait until the first
of the month or the first of the year? Every day that we harbor a bad
habit it grows greater and strikes deeper and stronger roots. A child
one year old can often be broken of a bad habit in a week; a child of
three, within a month; a child of six, within a few months; but let the
habit grow until the age of twenty, and it may take a year or more to
break the bonds. Let it continue until the age of thirty, and the victim
will say, "I can quit any time," but the chances are that the habit will
remain for life. After the individual is fifty or sixty years old, he is
rarely capable of changing. If he is the victim of a very bad habit, it
has generally so sapped his strength of body and mind that he is unable
to break away.
The right time to stop bad habits is now.
Some people have many pet bad habits. It is often the best policy to
attack them one at a time. Those who try to conquer all at once often
fail. They backslide, lose self-confidence, become discouraged, tell
themselves that it is no use, for it can not be done. Begin with the
habit that is least formidable.
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