I’m reading a book by Og Mandino called The biggest secret in the world, which is about changing one habit at time for a total of 10 habits.
The uniqueness about this book is that you have to read a short scroll three times a day five days a week for each habit that you want to practice. It may feel overwhelming, but it’s worth it. All the habits are timeless and you can feel the difference day after day after you start the program.
Update: to avoid confusion, these scrolls are short 2-3 pages of content that the author wants you to read in order to change an habit. The same technique could be used by yourself to practice any habit you want on your own.
The book recommends practicing each scroll for five weeks, and then moving to the next one. I took a different approach, which is to practice each scroll for a week instead, and then moving to the next one. I do this for two reasons: first, I’ve already practiced some of those scrolls. Second, because I want to practice these habits all over again for multiple times, so it makes sense to me to keep each iteration short but to do it more often. In any case, if you decide to try the book, stick with the recommended program for at least the first scroll, it’ll help to build persistence and you may find out that it works better for you.
After following this program for a while, I’ve decided to start writing about it. I feel a lot of benefits and improvements and I want to share them with others.
This week I’m practicing the VIII scroll which is about multiplying your value a hundredfold every single day. That means that every morning I look at the things that I’ve accomplished the day before and then I commit to perform a hundredfold better.
The beauty of this program is that each scroll is so wonderfully written that it gives you a boost of motivation like few other books that I’ve read. Plus they’re short, and by reading them 3 times a day it’s easy to feel motivated all day long.
Returning to the scroll that I’m practicing, I find the idea of improving ourselves everyday innovative. Not that I’ve never heard about improving ourselves before, on the contrary it has been my way of thinking for the past few years, but what if we take this approach in the literal sense and we do it for real, every day?
If you follow this practice, even if you start aiming low, day after day your goals and accomplishments will inevitably grow, as well as your performance and your way of thinking. It’s very possible that in a few days you’ll already accomplish things that you never thought of before.
Here’s what I do to multiply my value a hundredfold. Every morning I write down in a small notebook a few things that I want to keep track of, along with the goals that I have for the day. I usually write about 2 or 3 goals, but that’s really up to you. Then the day after before writing my goals for the day, I look at what I’ve accomplished the day before, and I ask myself: “What can I do better today?”. It’s not a scientific formula but on a practical point of view it works. It’s certainly worth giving a try.
I recommend trying this approach even if you have no intention about buying the book. For those instead who are interested in it, there are chapters on love, procrastination, persistence, emotions, etc. The book is written in a beautiful way and it’s very easy to follow.