444 MAN BECOMES THE CONQUEROR OF THE WORLD 



Practical Exercise 6. For every good habit formed there is an opposite 

 bad habit. From the list of good habits named below name the opposite bad 

 habits. 



perseverance 



reliability 



neatness 



unselfishness 



obedience 



correct speech 



punctuality 



sociability 



orderliness 



conscientiousness 



courtesy 



modesty 



industriousness 



optimism 



observation 



poise 



habits of good posture 



cooperation 



inventiveness 



attentiveness 



regular toilet habits 



confidence 



classification 



enthusiasm 



honesty 



independence 



openmindedness 



self-reliance 



truthfulness 



diligence 



reasonableness 



frankness 



promptness 



accuracy 



alertness 



patience 



Which of the above-named habits do you 

 form? 



have ? What habits should you 



Habit formation. One object of education is the training of 

 the different areas in the cerebrum to do their work. When we 

 first tried to write, we had to exert conscious effort in order to 

 make the letters. Now the act of forming the letters is done 

 without our thought. By training, the act has become a habit. 

 The actual performance of the action is then taken up by the 

 cerebellum, medulla, and spinal ganglia. Thus the thinking 

 portion of the brain is relieved of this work. 



It is surprising how little real thinking we do during a day, for 

 most of our acts are habitual. Habit takes care of our dressing, 

 our bathing, our care of the body organs, our methods of eating. 

 Even our movements in walking and our style of handwriting 

 are matters of habit formation. We are bundles of habits, be they 

 good ones or bad ones. 



Different kinds of habits. Habits are of many kinds. They 

 may concern health and well-being, as proper tooth brushing, eat- 

 ing at regular times, maintaining a correct posture, and hundreds 

 of simple things we do automatically. Some concern our dress and 

 our actions in society. We walk, ride, dance, skate, or drive a car 

 without consciously thinking about what we are doing. Our habits 

 of disposition have become a very important part of our lives. We 

 may frequently be sad or be happy, sing or cry, or be kind, or be 

 cross. We may form our habits of thought, too : concentration 

 or scatter-brain methods, ability to think through our problems, 

 or inability to do any real thinking — it all depends upon ourselves. 

 Man has conquered many factors in his environment through 



