The key to success in adult life stems from habitually choosing lawful and productive behavior over unlawful and unproductive behavior. Character, those success or failure habits, begins incredibly small, like a tiny stream at a river's source, but grows increasingly defined and often uncontrollable as it flows toward the ocean. We make daily choices, some leading to character development and success, others to character destruction and failure. The ability to make the wrong decision but willingly choose the right one develops the habit cluster we call character. The habits we form as teenagers determine success or failure in adulthood. Weaknesses in adult character can be directly connected to habits formed in teen or pre-teen years. Habit formation is synonymous with character development. Good habits carry you to success, while bad habits ruin you, formed little by little, with good habits building up and bad habits tearing down. The time to control our future by forming good habits is now, while our lifestream is a small trickle or gentle brook. The best time to develop habit clusters for success is during youth, at the headwaters of a person's development, when habits are easily formed or destroyed. In the teenage years, we have the priceless opportunity to develop success habits such as dependability, reliability, and consistency. Teens can use chores and responsibilities to prepare for adult duties. Good habits are the building blocks for success and righteous character, while bad habits are satan's wrecking ball. Society's losers did not reach that state overnight; growth and decay occur over time. Clutter, chaos, or squalor begins as an inner state of mind, learned and cumulative. Success goals, or character development, cannot emerge from crash programs. Long-term, positive habits form the mainstream of good character. The place to begin developing habits that lead to success is near the headwaters, during youth, rather than midstream or downstream when we are older and more set in our ways.

Wealthy individuals often share certain habits that enhance productivity and prosperity. These habits, as identified by Tom Corley in his work on financial success, include practices that are generally commonsense and can help a person maximize their time, energy, and skills. For instance, 70% of wealthy people eat less than 300 junk food calories per day, while 97% of poor people consume more. Additionally, 76% of the wealthy exercise aerobically four days a week, compared to only 23% of the poor. Other habits include listening to audiobooks during commutes, with 63% of wealthy individuals doing so versus 5% of the poor, and reading for education or career reasons for at least 30 minutes daily, practiced by 88% of the wealthy compared to just 2% of the poor. Furthermore, 67% of wealthy people limit their TV watching to one hour or less per day, while only 23% of the poor do the same, and 86% of the wealthy believe in lifelong educational self-improvement, contrasted with only 5% of the poor. The underlying premise is that some people set themselves up for success through daily habits that promote a healthy body and mind, while others hinder their progress with unproductive lifestyles. In essence, the wealthy work at doing advantageous things and avoid detriments and distractions, accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative. Evaluating our daily routines to adopt more profitable habits is well worth the effort to improve financially, relationally, and spiritually.

Habits play a significant role in the challenge of personal change. From the time we are born, our experiences shape and mold our hearts and minds, gradually forming our personalities and habits. These behavior patterns, performed so often, become almost involuntary responses, deeply entrenched and difficult to break. Like a strip of rubber tire, they can be stretched or twisted, but they snap back to their original shape when released, creating discomfort and resistance when we attempt to alter them. This internal resistance often stems from our human nature, which prefers to remain the same, undermining our efforts to establish new ways of doing things. The power of longstanding habits can be overwhelming, as our automatic cognitive processes work behind the scenes to promote familiar, undesired behaviors. The only way to escape this trap is to consciously retrain our minds and develop new habits and behaviors gradually, just as they were formed over time. Research suggests it takes an average of 21 days to create or change habits, emphasizing that change is hard work with no shortcuts. Realizing that it takes time, we must stay the course, enduring and committing to the process of change to overcome our weaknesses and transform our inward selves day by day.