Imagine . . .<\/p>\n
It\u2019s your summer holiday, and you\u2019re walking along a beautiful, deserted beach. The wet sand oozes between your toes. The salt breeze blows in your hair. The seabirds run up and down as the waves roll in, then recede.<\/p>\n
In the water up ahead, a strange shape catches your eye. As you approach, the waves wash it onshore. When you get close enough, you see that it\u2019s some kind of old jar. No, wait\u2014it\u2019s a bottle, the glass so dark it\u2019s almost black. And sure enough, it\u2019s sealed with a cork that is covered with red wax.<\/p>\n
\u201cCool!\u201d you exclaim.<\/p>\n
The wax is old and brittle, and with a bit of effort you are able to pry it loose. After some tugging, you succeed in pulling out the cork.<\/p>\n
If there was ever something inside that bottle, it evaporated long ago. You turn it upside down and shake it, but nothing falls out and nothing rattles.<\/p>\n
Oh well, you think. At least it\u2019s a cool old bottle.<\/p>\n
Then a thin trail of mist begins wafting up out of the bottle, growing into a cloud that hangs in the air just in front of you. Suddenly\u2014\u009dbang!\u2014a genie appears where the cloud had been. A genie! Just like in the old stories, dressed like someone out of The Arabian Nights<\/em>, with one ring through his nose and another in his left ear.<\/p>\n \u201cGreetings, my friend,\u201d says the genie, bowing slightly. \u201cA thousand thanks for freeing me from my imprisonment. I am ready to grant your wish.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhoa!\u201d you say. \u201cThis is so cool! What\u2019ll I wish for? Hmm . . .\u00a0 I could wish to be the richest person on the planet, or an Olympic athlete, or a famous singer, or\u2014\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHold it!\u201d cries the genie. \u201cLet me explain. I\u2019m not like those genies in the stories. I\u2019m an Education Genie, and I only grant wishes that have to do with education.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat?! You mean, out of all the genies in the world trapped in bottles, I have the rotten luck of freeing an Education Genie?\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re that disappointed,\u201d says the genie, \u201cwe can forget the whole thing, and I\u2019ll just be on my way.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo, no,\u201d you say. \u201cWait, I\u2019ll think of something.\u201d Then, an idea. \u201cCould I wish for my math teacher to take early retirement?\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d says the genie. \u201cI\u2019m not a School Genie. I\u2019m an Education Genie. It has to be something about education.\u201d Seeing the puzzled look on your face, he adds, \u201cAbout learning.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d you say, unable to conceal your disappointment. \u201cOkay, let\u2019s see, three wishes about learning . . . .\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n The genie clears his throat. \u201cWho said anything about three wishes?\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get three wishes?\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been reading too many old stories,\u201d says the genie. \u201cYou get one wish.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne wish?\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n Oh boy. So you start thinking. You could wish to be a genius. But Melvin, the guy in your class who\u2019s closest to being a genius, isn\u2019t the most popular kid around… and he doesn\u2019t even get the best grades. He always seems to be thinking about something totally different when the teacher calls on him. So maybe being a genius isn\u2019t the best idea.<\/p>\n You ask yourself: what\u2019s the one thing you don\u2019t have, that you really need to help you do better in school? Hmm . . . No idea.<\/p>\n That\u2019s it! Ideas! Wouldn\u2019t it be great to be one of those students who\u2019s always got an idea, or even several ideas? Like Lucy Dobner. She\u2019s got ideas and inspiration to burn. Maybe you should wish for inspiration.<\/p>\n But then you remember that Lucy Dobner, for all her great ideas, is the most disorganized person on Earth. She forgets stuff all the time, her homework is always late . . . and she doesn\u2019t get the best marks, either. Maybe inspiration isn\u2019t the best thing to wish for.<\/p>\n Who does get the best grades? It\u2019s usually either Janice or Chris. They\u2019re not the smartest in the class, so what do they do that\u2019s so successful? Well . . . they always pay attention, they write down all the assignments, they turn in their homework on time, and they never seem to have to cram for tests. They just have really good work habits.<\/p>\n That\u2019s it! Habits! You start thinking about your own habits and realize that they could certainly stand some improvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d you say. \u201cI\u2019m ready. My wish is to have great habits.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAre you sure?\u201d asks the genie. \u201cI\u2019ve had many unhappy experiences with people making wishes and then wishing they\u2019d wished for something else.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure,\u201d you say, \u201cI\u2019ve thought it all through carefully. The best thing to improve my grades would be if I had better habits. That\u2019s my wish.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid you consider other alternatives?\u201d asks the genie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d you say, growing impatient. \u201cI thought about being a genius, but that\u2019s no guarantee of success. And I thought about being inspired with great ideas, but I don\u2019t want to risk having great ideas without being able to follow through on them. So the best thing to have is good habits. Let\u2019s get on with it. I should have been back an hour ago, and I\u2019m getting hungry.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll right,\u201d the genie sighs. \u201cYour wish is granted. From now on you will have excellent habits, and as a result you will earn much better grades.\u201d\u009d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t seem very happy about it,\u201d you say.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou made the wrong choice.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat!?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cYou made the wrong choice,\u201d he repeats.<\/p>\n \u201cBut why? I reasoned it all out very carefully!\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cIf a genie offers to make your wish come true,\u201d he explains, \u201cyou should wish for something you couldn\u2019t possibly get on your own. You can improve your habits, if you really want to. You can even do things to become more inspired. But no matter what you do, you can\u2019t turn yourself into a genius. You should have wished to be a genius.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n With a groan, you plop down onto the sand. \u201cI\u2019m such a loser!\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d says the genie, \u201cI must be off now. Good luck!\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cWait,\u201d you say. \u201cI have one more question.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cMake it quick.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n \u201cYou say anyone can improve his habits. How?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n The genie seems a bit offended by such an easy question.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nothing difficult,\u201d he replies. \u201cRead this book.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Imagine . . . It\u2019s your summer holiday, and you\u2019re walking along a beautiful, deserted beach. The wet sand oozes between your toes. The salt breeze blows in your hair. The seabirds run up and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-excerpt","category-general","category-the-book"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericmacknight.com\/goodhabits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}