Are You Ready to Improve Habits?

By Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita, PhD

This book is inspirationally empathetic because it describes the author’s experience in improving his health through the joy of physical exercising simultaneously witnessing the benefits in his muscles, successfully avoiding falls, and protecting his brain and heart. The author can be in the reader’s shoes because in the last two decades he successfully recovered from a heart attack, and two heart operations. At 81 years of age, he can walk briskly with his cane and frequently travels abroad, across challenging kilometers and miles of uneven terrains in countries like Jordan, Israel, Greece, and Turkey.

He also performs daily exercises related to improving balance and is able to rapidly stand up from being seated on a chair, and even from the floor.

The book exemplifies that the habit of systematic exercising turns out into a pleasant and healthy activity that also contributes to a reduction in weight and nurtures happiness and the joy of being alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685629700

Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita, PhD

Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita, PhD has worked as a university professor for fifty-six years in Cuba, Mexico, and the USA, where he has been the recipient of numerous national awards. He has written and published sixteen books. In the US, he self-published Havana-Merida-Chicago (A Journey to Freedom), 2500 sold copies, and Gladys, My Unforgettable Love. Austin Macauley has published: Is It Possible to Inspire Anyone? Is It Always Fun to Travel Abroad? Grit + Tenacity + Proactiveness: Pulling the Bull by the Horns, Havana-Merida-Chicago 2nd edition, Are You Ready to Improve Habits, May Empathy Lead to Sense of Purpose through Tenacity?, May Anyone Become a Better Human Being by Adopting the Hero Code? and Tenacity + Passion + Patience +Self-Rejection to Failure. Antonio is an inspirational speaker, promoting his books in colleges, universities, factories, and business firms. He has been an official contributor to newspapers, and journals. Antonio can speak, write, and read in Spanish, English, Russian, Italian and French.

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About the Author

Dr. Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita has worked as a university professor for 56 years in Cuba, Mexico, and the USA, where he has been the recipient of numerous national awards. He has written and published ten books. In the US he self-published Havana-Merida-Chicago (A Journey to Freedom), 2500 sold copies, and Gladys, my unforgettable love Austin Macauley has published Is It Possible to Inspire Anyone? and Is It Always Fun to Travel Abroad? He is an inspirational speaker promoting his books in colleges, universities, factories, and business firms. He has been an official contributor in newspapers, and journals. He can speak, write, and read in Spanish, English, Russian, Italian, and French.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to:

My mother, Siria, who grew many positive seeds in my life, especially a tenacious passion for learning.

My extraordinary wife, who – despite her death – is still my first source of inspiration and reason to be happy and grateful for giving so much meaning to my existence.

To my children, Rosita, Tonito and Gaby, who have allowed me to be duplicated and enhanced as a father and grandfather.

Copyright Information ©

Antonio Evaristo Morales-Pita, PhD 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Morales-Pita, PhD, Antonio Evaristo

Are You Ready to Improve Habits?

ISBN 9781685629694 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781685629700 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904283

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I need to express my acknowledgment and thankfulness to Jesus Christ, whose help has been always present in my life as a child, a young man, and a senior.

In memory of my mother, who has been an inspiration as a tenacious person.

In memory to Gladys, whom I would be eternally grateful for dedicating part of her life to transform me into a better man.

To my children, Rosita and Tonito, whom I would love and admire for making me feel realized as a father.

To the United States of America, that opened its door to Gladys and to me, escaping from Communism and allowed us to realize our American dreams.

Introduction

Your beliefs become your thoughts; Your thoughts become your words; Your words become your actions; Your actions become your habits; Your habits become your values; Your values become your destiny.

Gandhi

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

Samuel Johnson

If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real.

Charles Duhigg

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.

William James

This author took the decision to cite four famous phrases related to 2 topics concomitant to the crux of this introduction, namely habit and procrastination. Normally, he cites only one phrase for each chapter. Curiously if the readers compare all of them as a whole, they will see that there are two words implied in all of them: tenacity as a sign of accomplishment and procrastination hidden as a ghost through indecision and defeat.

This morning a thought was rumbling in my head. For fifty-four years, I worked as a professor in universities of three countries: Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. I also am a successful writer by means of books published in the three countries mentioned above. I am in an incredibly passionate process of confronting and defeating procrastination as an important barrier to conceive, to develop, to put in writing, and successfully to deliver achievements, accomplishments, or fulfillment. The stories of successful human beings in whatever sphere they can be classified show that all of them were gritty, courageous, able to overcome obstacles, to stand up after a fall, in one word: to be tenacious. If any of them had not been able to defeat procrastination, he/she won’t have received the prize, the medal, or whatever recognition of success they have been recipient of.

The content of this manuscript is to try to supply ideas to the readers about improving their habits regardless of their age, sex, and race. According to my experience living in Right and Left Winged countries of all economic, political, and social categories, in different positions as student, professor, inspirational speaker, and singer or visiting tourist, I have looked for and found ways to improve my habits. It goes without saying that Gladys’ presence and human dimension in my life have provided me with additional approaches to improve my habits. Gladys transformed a selfish ladies’ man into a loyal and empathetic human being. She was admirable, and I happen to be the most direct recipient, next in line, inheritor of her outstanding approaches for the sake of helping human beings. In other words, I am paying homage to her when my purpose in writing is to benefit the readers. After retiring, my inborn love for teaching continues present through my books.

One of the most inspirational books I read back in 1975 was, and still is Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, conceived and published in 1862 in Paris. In conclusion, I do continue teaching through my books. Death doesn’t preclude writers to help the readers to overcome obstacles, to grow as human beings, to be encouraged to succeed. As a professor, I could only inspire part of my physical students; but, as a writer, I can help the readers around the world.

After 2016 (when I officially retired as Assistant professor of International Political Economy at DePaul University in Chicago), I wrote and self-published Gladys, My Unforgettable Love, in 2017.

My success in promoting the book on my own in Chicago, other American cities, and around the world as a tourist generated, strengthened and supported my passion for writing about social and human issues. As a result, I wrote the book Is It Possible to Inspire Anyone? (That was published on June 30th by Austin Macaulay Publisher). I have continued my business relationship with Austin Macaulay (AM) with the book Is It Always Fun to Travel Abroad? which has already started the process of being published and should be off the press either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2022. Today (June 17th, 2021), I signed the contract of Grit + Tenacity + Pro activism. Also, today I submitted, and AM accepted to analyze the manuscript Can a Senior Become a Better Human Being? On top of that, I am in the initial process of writing this manuscript, Willing to Improve Your Habits?

In this intensive and prolific writing passion, the common thread is to emphasize courage, tenacity, determination, and defeating procrastination in many spheres. While I was going through this inspirational process, I had time to read The Hero Code by Admiral William, which contributed to my learning about the need to reinforce my own hero code based on my tenacious attitude to force myself never to give up, to enjoy strengthening, and to realize the benefit I am perceiving in the improvement in my muscles, intelligence, and health in the creation of a habit. For example, while I interiorize the results of physical exercising, I was feeling the birth of a stronger iron will, the strength in my muscles, the reduction of tiredness, the increase in the spontaneous speed in finishing the standard exercises, even the spontaneous creation of new exercises, and the conviction that I was in the right track of improving my health despite becoming 80 years old. In other words, the systematic application of courage and tenacity led to increased satisfaction and the creation of a habit. I didn’t have to re-read a list of exercises. They became automatic to me.

I also read the book Reading Keep Sharp, which led me to the ten secrets to slumber, such as to stick to a schedule to sleep, to avoid being a night owl, to wake up to early morning light, to get moving, to watch what to eat and drink, to mind your medicines, to sleep in a cool, quiet and dark room, to eliminate electronics, to establish bedtime rituals, and to be aware of the warning signs of disruption. All of them require tenacity and may lead to the creation of habits, which do help one’s brain to remember the different steps of these secrets and even automatize the steps.

. McRav, and Keep Ah

Whenever a new