HABITS MAKE A SHIFT IN LIFE

015 Ways To Make Reading A Habit

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An average person reads less than four books a year while an avid one (like Barack Obama or Bill Gates) reads 50. I read around 10 books from cover to cover every year while skimming through around 50. I only read an entire book when I need to know much more than the summary, where there's something deeper that I find enriching.

The question is: How can you read more? Here are some techniques to make reading a habit:

1.     Start reading from your topic of interest: If you’re a non-reader your first hurdle would be how to start reading. The best way is to read books on topics that you are interested in (football, gardening or cooking, for example) and then look for recommendations, which you can easily get through a Google search. Start with a simple and easy to read book — The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy is a wonderful example. Some books start slow. Don't give up reading after the first few pages; get to the end of the chapter. If the writer's style isn't great but there’s something about the book that engages you, like a gripping plot, keep going; you can always skip paragraphs! And it is okay to quit half way through if you don’t like it. The bottom line: it is never too late to start reading. As Mortimer J. Adler said, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”

2.     Keep aside some time every day for reading: Set aside an hour every day for immersion in a book of substance. Some would argue that you don't have an hour. But then, if you have an hour for maintaining your physical health — going for a run or to the gym — surely you should spend at least as much protecting your emotional, intellectual and spiritual health, which is much more essential for your well-being. You can even consider reading as a form of meditation, training in attentiveness. Attending book readings/discussions at a bookstore near you is a good way to get into the habit.

3.     Avoid distraction by reading physical books: Our biggest challenge is to find the time and attention span to not get distracted. Physical books are helpful in keeping us focused. While e-books have their value, physical books can help reduce our screen time and refresh our brain in a unique way. Reading physical books helps you slow down and get perspective.

4.     When short of time, use Apps like Audible and Blinkist: While there is no substitute for reading, there are some good apps for maximizing the time you have at hand. Listening to audio books while driving is a good technique. Another is my current favorite: an app called Blinkist, a platform for summaries of nonfiction books. I believe most economics, management and how-to books can be summarized very easily. Since I read mostly non-fiction books, Blink provides me a quick gist and key message of each. While purists may object to such shortcuts, I like to compare the methods to two kinds of cricket matches. Reading a full- length book is like playing a Test match while reading a summary on Blink is like a T20 match or watching the highlights! Each has its own value and audience. 

5.     Read for the Style and Content: If you are a fan of style, then you need to savor every line — for example The Gene by Siddharth Mukherjee, which has his personal story as well as striking imagery when explaining scientific concepts in a simple, relatable manner. Similarly, you might read just for the language, the lucidity with which the argument is presented, and sometimes the inter-disciplinary connections that give you a glimpse into the mind of the writer. This can help you in your own writing and in how your present your thoughts. Similarly, books of opinions and essays by people whose intellect you respect or whose views you may be interested in whether you agree with them or not — for example, Noam Chomsky or George Orwell — need to be read in full.

Reading is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. Put away your devices, try to be where no one will disturb you, tell yourself that this is your sacred time, for expanding your imagination, your attention, your sense of possibility, and for drawing up from some deep well whatever is best in you. I can almost guarantee that if you choose your books well (I gravitate towards biographies, books on ideas and leadership — anything that is not just about diversion), at the end of an hour you will be a more nuanced and far truer version of yourself. Do this often enough and you'll wonder how you ever survived without it.

As my friend and author Pico Iyer says, “Nearly all of us are happiest (inspired, productive and engaged) when we are most profoundly absorbed, least happy when we're all over the place and distracted. So, write yourself a prescription for happiness through one of the best methods of deepening attention — and joy — that man has discovered. And that is reading!”

02

How to Master Proper Running Form

If you want to elevate your running, it’s important to take a look at your running form and make any necessary adjustments and improvements. This will help reduce chance of injury, increase speed, and boost efficiency.

Your running gait plays a vital role in the many health benefits of running. It enables you to run longer distances at a greater intensity with less pain and discomfort.

There are specific form techniques to follow that may differ slightly due to variations in body mechanics. Take into account the distance and speed you want to run, as well as any relevant injuries or physical areas of concern.

Bear in mind that you may have picked up bad habits along the way that may be difficult to break because they feel familiar. That’s OK! It’s worth it to go through a bit of discomfort or unfamiliarity to get your form down and enhance your running experience.

Below are a few suggestions for improving your running form to boost your running economy, improve performance, and lower your risk for injury.

Jogging

Jogging may have a slower pace than running, but it still boasts a range of health benefits. Here’s how to maximize your jogging workouts:

While jogging, maintain good posture, engage your core, and gaze forward.

Avoid tilting your head down and slumping your shoulders.

Broaden your chest, and keep it lifted as you draw your shoulders down and back.

Keep your hands loose, and use a relaxed arm swing. Avoid crossing your arms in front of your body.

To prevent injuries to your lower body, use a midfoot strike, and avoid hitting the ground with your heel. This allows your foot to land directly under your hip as you drive your body forward. A heel strike may cause your leg to slow down your stride and stress your knees.

Sprinting

The high intensity action of sprinting requires a lot of muscle activation and explosive force as you develop a powerful stride. Consider these tips:

Slightly lean forward from your waist while engaging your core.

Lift your chest, soften your shoulders, and draw them away from your ears.

Use short, fast strides to conserve energy.

To reduce your chance of injury, land softly and quietly with minimal impact.

Use a forefoot strike, and propel yourself forward from your toes. With each step, lift your thigh so it’s parallel to the ground.

Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and draw them straight back and forth, using an exaggerated movement and moving them through a wider range of motion than when you jog.

Raise your hands as high as your chin and back toward your low back.

Avoid rotating your torso and bringing your arms across the midline of your body.

On a treadmill

Running on a treadmill is an option if you want to reduce the impact on your joints and prevent overuse injuries.

A treadmill allows you to run at a smooth, steady pace without any hinderances or necessary stops. This allows you to focus solely on your form.

Consider these tips:

Draw your shoulders back and engage your core as you slightly lean forward.

Maintain an erect spine. Keep your shoulders directly above your hips.

Relax your arms, gaze straight ahead, and avoid looking down or at the monitor.

Use a short stride, and take small steps.

Running on a treadmill will force you to shorten your stride since overstriding will cause you to kick the front of the treadmill.

Unless you have concerns with balance, avoid hanging on to the rails as you run.

Use an appropriate stride for your running speed. Land gently; avoid pounding your foot as you land, which helps prevent injuries.

The correct foot strike will also help improve your running economy so you’re using less energy while enhancing your speed.

Here’s how to look after your feet:

Land with control, using a smooth, even foot strike.

To avoid lower extremity injuries, use a forefoot strike, which utilizes more muscle activation when you land.

A midfoot strike helps propel your body forward.

Avoid striking with your heels. This can slow you down and stress your knees.

Maintain normal or neutral pronation of your feet by rolling your feet inward slightly. This allows your feet to properly absorb the shock of landing while keeping your lower body in alignment.

Improve your form by doing key exercises to lengthen and strengthen the muscles involved in running:

Include core exercises, such as glute bridges and side planks, to improve strength, balance, and stability while lowering your chance of injury and overuse.

To protect your knees from injury, strike your foot directly under your knee instead of in front of it, which can also be the result of overstriding. This is particularly important when running downhill.

Maintain a tall, erect spine, and lengthen out through the crown of your head. Do head and neck exercises to build the strength necessary to maintain good posture and a forward gaze.

Coordinate your breathing to align with the rhythm of your feet. This helps maintain a relaxed posture, reduce muscle tension, and efficiently use energy.

Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle, and swing your arms from your shoulders forward and backward while keeping your hands relaxed.

Avoid crossing your arms across your torso or twisting your upper body.

Slightly lean your chest forward to help propel your body forward.

Press up and forward from the ground behind you with each step.

Here are a few more tips to help you avoid injury as you work on your form:

Improve mobility and flexibility in your hips and ankles to reduce injuries in your low back and knees.

Increase your number of steps per minute to put less stress on your body.

Gradually increase the duration, intensity, and frequency of your runs. Build up your speed and mileage over time. Remember, results take time.

Take a break for an appropriate length of time if you have muscle pain or injuries, especially if they’re recurring or long lasting.

See a physical therapist if you have any injuries. They can treat your injury, identify the cause of it, and help you make the necessary corrections to prevent it from recurring.

Talk to your doctor if you’re new to exercise, have any physical concerns, or take medications that could interfere with your running program.

Wear appropriate running shoes. Avoid shoes that are too cushioned. Replace your shoes often.

Working one-on-one with a fitness expert offers many benefits. Everyone from recreational to professional runners can benefit from working with a running pro for at least a few sessions.

A dedicated professional can help you create an individualized routine to achieve your goals while helping you establish consistency, motivation, and accountability.

Plus, a running professional will be on your side, rooting you on and helping you celebrate your success.

It’s especially beneficial if you’re new to fitness or running or have any concerns with your body, especially in terms of alignment, body mechanics, or previous injury.

Research from 2015 points to the effectiveness of receiving visual or auditory feedback to improve running gait to minimize your risk for injury.

Whether you’re looking in a mirror, watching a video, or receiving verbal cues, feedback is key to enhancing your form.

An exercise professional can support the development and maintenance of correct form and break any bad habits you may have developed. They can help you improve your endurance and reduce your risk for injury.

A fitness pro can ensure you’re staying safe by helping you properly warm up and cool down and avoid pushing yourself too much. They can also help you develop a healthy eating plan and figure out what to eat before and after you run.

Improving your running form is one of the best ways to take your running to the next level.

Stick to your running program to see the best results. Bring awareness to your posture throughout the day as you move through all of your activities. Work on developing core strength to support your running form.

03

Shaping Your Habits for Success

You may not think of habits and continuous improvement (CI) as being intertwined, but they are. The ability to form and sustain good habits is central to perpetuating continuous improvement. Organizing team meetings, coordinating gemba walks, updating dashboards, and putting items in their assigned spots are habits practiced by CI-oriented firms.

Conversely, the inability to be aware of and change bad habits — leaving the workplace a mess, ignoring employee ideas, and not digging into the root cause of problems, for example — makes companies vulnerable to competitors and changing customer requirements.

Good habits are what allow companies to make small improvements on a daily basis. The difference tiny improvements can make over time is astounding. One company scheduled to present a case study at next year’s Continuous Improvement Conference developed a habit of routinely asking employees for improvement ideas. By the time the company received The Shingo Prize for operational excellence, it was implementing an average of over 30 ideas per employee per year. The pace of improvement might have been invisible from the outside, but over several years the compounding effect of those improvements led the company to significant market share gains.

If you want to learn how to build good habits and break bad ones, the recent book Atomic Habits by James Clear should be on your reading list. The book provides readers with Four Laws of Behavior Change: a set of strategies and techniques for starting a positive habit and repeating it until it’s ingrained. The book draws on biology, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology to make its points.

A core tenet of the book is that to achieve results, individuals and companies should focus less on goals and more on systems that foster good habits. Bad habits repeat themselves, Clear says, not because you are necessarily lacking motivation, but because you have the wrong system for change.

While those may sound simple, the book offers detailed instruction and multiple chapters for how to put each law to work. Each of the laws also has an inverse for ridding yourself of bad habits. The first step is making your habits obvious by writing down your daily habits, which is more difficult than it seems since habits are often automatic and out of mind. Then rate each habit as effective, neutral, or ineffective in helping you reach your desired company identity. You have to acknowledge your habits before you can change them. Clear posits that 40% to 50% of everything we do is driven by our habits.

A strategy to ensure that a new habit gets started is to make it attractive to do (second law) by performing the new habit immediately before a pleasurable habit you already engage in. This might translate to reviewing sales figures (an established habit that you look forward to doing) only after walking the production floor and talking with associates (desired habit) … or checking your ESPN app (established habit) only after updating and posting performance metrics. The expectation of a reward is a powerful motivator.

In terms of making habits easy to start, the book promotes the two-second rule — any new habit should take less than two minutes to do. Repetition is far more important that duration at first.

While the book delves into advanced strategies as well, its primary value is in showing readers and companies how to use the four laws to start and maintain habits (Atomic Habits will be sent free to all early-bird registrations of the CI Conference).

2020 Continuous Improvement Conference

The 2020 Continuous Improvement Conference (April 5–8 in Columbus, Ohio) is the only industry event focused on helping printing and converting companies achieve operational excellence and Lean leadership. Attendees directly link reduced costs, lowered waste, and increased profit margins to ideas gained from conference presentations and networking. The conference is presented by PIA and SGIA, with association support from FPA, FTA, and TLMI. To learn more about the event, visit ci.printing.org. Click here to register to attend.