Features

By Rania Sa’adi
Licensed Rapid Transformational Therapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist

We’ve started another year with a long list of goals and achievements to pursue. And although one’s motivation is on a high, we may lose most of it sooner than we would like! So, how can we keep our motivation going and move forward with our plans to avoid procrastination?

You may feel demotivated for the simple reason that you don’t know where to start from. Setting up specific achievable goals and breaking them into smaller ones is key. Taking one small step at a time towards that goal, will make achieving it more attainable, thus motivating you to achieve tasks at hand.

Enjoy the journey

Fixating on the end goal sometimes makes one feel demotivated and overwhelmed. The best way to achieve goals is to enjoy the journey of arriving there, with its ups and downs and arriving there without any expectations. The end goal can be changed and adjusted along the way.

Being fixated on the goal sometimes, without the necessary adjustments and changes, be it personal or circumstantial, may make you feel disappointed in yourself if whenever you don’t reach it. This may demotivate you and hinder you from achieving any future goals that you seek.

Moving on

When we feel failure and disappointment in ourselves, we put ourselves down quicker than anyone else does. Eventually, we may feel demotivated and lose interest in moving ahead.

One of the main reasons why people get demotivated even before they start a task, is the fear of failure. The worry of not getting it right from the first attempt keeps one from starting, and hence procrastinating. However, readiness is an illusion, because how can you be ready and sure that you will do it right, without even trying?

Allowing ourselves to make mistakes is the first step into learning; keeping in mind that any outcome may not be the desired one “yet”, but nevertheless is a result. We can thus learn from it and apply what we learnt the first time round into our next attempt. Remember, FAIL is an acronym for “First Attempt In Learning”. We need to fail, in order to succeed.

Finding motivation

One of the best ways to find motivation is through your own self-talk. Using what we call the “Thinking loop” is one of the best tools: thoughts lead to feelings, and feelings lead to behaviours.

So, when you change your thought, you feel better about the situation and therefore do better.

Thinking about any task that you want to achieve by saying to yourself “I can do it, I choose to do it, and I love doing it,” makes you feel motivated, excited and thrilled to go ahead and do it. And eventually the behaviour will be of you taking action towards achieving it. Looping back and confirming the same thought that you started off with “I can do it”.

Now use the same example to say to yourself “I don’t feel like doing it, but I have to” and experience what it feels like: pressured, discouraged and demotivated. The behaviour or action you take in this case is no action at all!

The more it becomes a belief

Because the mind learns by repetition, the more we repeat a positive thought, the more it becomes a belief. Remember that first we make our beliefs and then our beliefs make us.

One of the habits of successful people is that they do what they need to do in order to achieve their goals, and they do it first. There is a certain amount of energy associated with doing any given task, and when we spend the time thinking about that task, rather than doing it, we are already wasting some of this energy. Thus, the quality of our achievement is affected.

One thing to understand is that motivation comes from taking action, not from inaction. So, go on and start and you will become motivated. 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

WASHINGTON — Who were the first people to ride horses?

Researchers believe they have found the earliest evidence of horseback riding, by the ancient Yamnaya people in Europe some 5,000 years ago.

Their conclusions, based on an analysis of human skeletal remains found in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, were published on Friday in the journal Science Advances.

Domestication of horses for milk is widely accepted to have begun around 3500BC to 3000BC, the study said, but the “origins of horseback riding remain elusive”.

The researchers from the University of Helsinki and other European institutions date the earliest horsemanship to 3000BC to 2500BC among members of the Yamnaya culture.

“Our findings provide a strong argument that horseback riding was already a common activity for some Yamnaya individuals as early as 3000BC,” the researchers said.

Horse bones have been discovered in Yamnaya settlements but they are not as well preserved as human skeletons, which were given proper burials in earth-covered mounds known as “kurgans”.

The researchers said the human skeletons provided the best source of information about horse riding because any riding tack used by early riders would have been made using perishable materials.

The researchers said some of the human skeletons they analysed bore skeletal traits indicative of what they called “horsemanship syndrome”.

“A skeleton of a living person is reacting,” Martin Trautmann, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki and one of the authors of the study, told AFP.

“If you sit on horseback you need to balance with every step of your mount, you need to cling tightly with your legs.”

Doing that repeatedly leaves tell-tale changes in bone morphology, Trautmann said, including “stress-induced vertebral degeneration”, a common ailment among avid horse riders.

“We know that saddles and stirrups dated much later,” Trautmann said, and the early horse riders were probably riding bareback and gripping the mane of the horse.

‘Cowboys, not warriors’

Volker Heyd, a professor of archeology at the University of Helsinki, said the findings “fit very nicely into the overall picture” of Yamnaya culture.

“We were already suspecting them of using horses,” Heyd said, and it could help explain the “exceptional” geographic expansion of their society in a few generations.

“It is difficult to envision how this expansion could have taken place without improved means of transport,” the researchers said.

“Using horses for transport was a decisive step in human cultural development,” they said.

“Trade and cultural exchange as well as conflicts and migrations leapt with the increase in speed and range provided by horsemanship.”

The researchers said the Yamnaya were probably not initially using horses for warfare.

“They were cowboys, not warriors,” said Trautmann.

Heyd said the early horse riders “were probably helping the Yamnaya people in guarding their animals, their cattle and sheep mostly”.

According to the researchers, the earliest figurative evidence of horse riding comes from the Mesopotamian Ur III period shortly before 2000BC through depictions of a horse and rider.

Images and mentions in cuneiform texts of horseback riding are also found in the Old Babylonian period from around 1880BC to 1595BC.

CANNES, France — For now, Europe’s Euclid spacecraft sits quietly in a sterilised room in the south of France, its golden trim gleaming under the fluorescent light.

But in a few months the space telescope will blast off on history’s first mission to search for two of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.

Though together they make up 95 per cent of the universe, almost nothing is known about either — a glaring hole in scientific understanding that Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca dubbed a “cosmic embarrassment”.

Aiming to shed light on these dark secrets, the European Space Agency’s mission will chart a 3D map of the universe encompassing two billion galaxies across more than a third of the sky.

The third dimension of this map will be time — because Euclid’s gaze will stretch out to 10 billion light years away, it will offer new insight into how the 13.8-billion-year-old universe evolved.

The two-tonne spacecraft, which is 4.7 metres tall and 3.5 metres wide, was unveiled to the media for the first time this week in a clean room of the Thales Alenia Space company in the south-eastern French city of Cannes.

Only a few final tests remain before it heads to Cape Canaveral in the United States for a launch scheduled between July 1 and 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Euclid was originally planned to get a ride into space on a Russian Soyuz rocket, but last year Moscow withdrew its launchers in response to European sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, delaying the launch.

Taking a wider view

Euclid will join fellow space telescope James Webb at a stable hovering spot around 1.5 million kilometres from Earth called the second Lagrangian Point, where it can keep its solar panel-covered back permanently to the Sun. 

The first images are expected to roll in quickly once scientific operations start in October, but for larger discoveries it will likely take scientists months or years to sift through the “unprecedented amount of data”, Racca said.

The 1.4-billion-euro ($1.5 billion) European mission is planned to last until 2029, though “if nothing strange happens” it could be extended a couple more years, Racca told a press conference.

How will Euclid, which is named after the ancient Greek founder of the field of geometry, observe something that cannot be seen? By searching for its absence.

The light coming from billions of years in the past is slightly distorted by the mass of visible and dark matter along the way, a phenomenon known as weak gravitational lensing.

“By subtracting the visible matter, we can calculate the presence of the dark matter which is in between,” Racca said.

To do this, Euclid has two main instruments, a 1.2-metre diameter telescope and the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, which can split infrared wavelengths not visible to the eye. 

‘Unique tool’

Partly what sets Euclid apart from other space telescopes is its field of view, which takes in an area equivalent to “two full moons”, said David Elbaz, an astrophysicist at the French Atomic Energy Commission. 

This wide view will enable Euclid to locate massive structures like black holes that the Webb telescope cannot hope to find because its “field of view is too small”, Euclid’s project scientist Rene Laureijs told AFP.

But Euclid’s universe-spanning survey will be able to point Webb in the right direction for closer inspection, said Laureijs, who has been working on the project since the proposal stage in 2007.

The mission comes amid increasing signs that there are some serious inconsistencies in our understanding of how the universe works.

Two very precise measurements give two significantly different answers for the rate at which the universe is expanding — a problem called the Hubble tension in which dark energy is thought to play a major role.

And just this week, the Webb telescope spotted six galaxies in the early universe that seemingly defy cosmological theory because they are far too massive to have formed so quickly after the Big Bang.

Euclid will be a “unique tool” in the quest to find answers to such questions, Elbaz said.

SEOUL — The challenge is straight from Greek mythology: hold a boulder aloft as long as possible. Korean car dealer Jo Jin-hyeong lasted over two hours, captivating global audiences in a reality show that could signal a new K-culture export success.

After films such as Oscar-winning “Parasite” and TV series including Golden Globe-bedecked “Squid Game” helped popularise K-content overseas, industry figures have said South Korea’s high-quality reality shows may be next in line for domination.

“Physical: 100”, the new Netflix show that gym buff Jo competed in, featured 100 men and women in prime physical condition, including South Korea’s ex-Olympians and former special forces soldiers, performing absurdly difficult challenges.

It is the first unscripted series to top the streaming giant’s non-English chart, building on the popularity of “Singles Inferno”, a Korean dating show that became a sleeper hit worldwide last year.

Part of the charm of such shows is the contestants: Jo, who started hitting the gym as a weedy teenager and has never been a professional athlete, found he could hold his own against some of South Korea’s strongest people.

The 41-year-old won one of the show’s most brutal contests, the Greek myth-inspired “Punishment of Atlas” challenge, where contestants had to lift and hold a boulder that bodybuilder contestant Kim Kang-min estimated was at least 50 kilogrammes.

Jo managed two hours and 14 minutes.

“When I lifted it I thought it was going to end in about 30 minutes,” he told AFP, saying he kept telling himself: “Hang in there for just 10 more minutes, then 10 more minutes... .”

He came fourth overall in the show — an achievement he said was once unthinkable.

“I started exercising in middle school because I was too puny. I wanted to be stronger,” he said, getting emotional when he thought of his younger self, who he thanked “for not giving up”.

Over the last few years, South Korean content has taken the world by storm, with over 60 per cent of Netflix viewers watching a show from the East Asian country in 2022, company data showed.

Netflix, which spent more than 1 trillion won ($759 million) developing Korean content from 2015 to 2021, said it was expanding its South Korean reality show output this year.

“Korean nonfiction shows didn’t travel before Netflix started taking them global,” said Don Kang, the company’s vice president of Korean content.

“There are some things we did to make shows more easily understandable to the global audience,” he said, such as simplifying subtitles.

Car dealer Jo said he thought the show was proving a hit abroad due to the genuine sense of camaraderie in South Korea’s sports community.

“We cheered each other on in every contest, comforted each other when someone lost,” he told AFP.

The “relative wholesomeness” of South Korean reality shows is a core part of their appeal to foreign audiences, said Regina Kim, an entertainment writer and expert on K-content based in New York City.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air for American viewers who might be tired of watching reality stars hook up or fight all the time,” she told AFP.

“There could definitely be more Korean reality shows that become popular overseas, including in the US,” she said, pointing to successful Korean reality formats that have become global franchises.

“There are US remakes of Korean reality shows like ‘The Masked Singer’ and ‘I Can See Your Voice’ that have been super popular here,” she said, referring to the hit South Korean music shows later produced in English by Fox.

“Physical: 100” caused some controversy by pitting contestants of different genders against each other, prompting questions about whether it was fair. Ultimately, the top five contestants were men.

But Jang Eun-sil, one of 23 women competing in the show, told AFP she found the format “original and fresh”, and that it helped to motivate her throughout the challenges.

“I just gave my best every moment, so I have no regrets and never thought it was unfair,” said the 32-year-old wrestler, who was widely praised for the leadership she demonstrated on the show.

Although she didn’t win, she said competing allowed her to bring her beloved sport to a broader audience.

“To be honest, wrestling is an unpopular sport in South Korea,” she said, adding it was a “huge honour” that, thanks to her, more South Koreans had become aware that women wrestlers existed.

She’s also seen an influx of global fans flooding her social media accounts. “I now plan to add English subtitles [to my YouTube channel],” she said.

SAUSALITO, California — Appearing at a glance to be just a simple pleasure boat floating on the San Francisco Bay, as the hydrofoil-equipped vessel picks up speed it suddenly begins rising above the water, grabbing the attention of passengers on a nearby ferry.

But instead of a roaring engine thrusting the boat along, its electric motor barely makes a sound.

Such electric boats with computer-guided hydrofoils may soon supplant conventional ferries with combustion engines in harbours and bays around the world, if Swedish “flying boat” maker Candela has its way.

“It’s half plane and half boat; almost like riding a magic carpet,” French sailor Tanguy de Lamotte said from the helm of the 8.5-metre long C8.

De Lamotte, who has completed the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race in a sailboat twice as large as the C8, heads Candela’s US arm.

The Swedish company’s goal is to make the most energy-efficient electric boats “and get away from fossil fuels”, according to de Lamotte.

Hydrofoils that act as underwater wings lift the boat as it accelerates, leaving only the rotor and hydrofoils immersed and greatly reducing friction.

In addition to using some 80 per cent less energy to travel, the boat also avoids nausea-causing waves or swells, de Lamotte said.

And since the engine is electric, passengers are spared the noise and smell of gas-powered motors.

Drop in the ocean?

Candela has received some 150 orders for the C8, which has a starting price of $400,000. The first delivery is expected to arrive in Florida by the end of the month.

While the project may seem like a drop in the ocean when it comes to countering climate change-inducing fossil fuel emissions, it is at least an oar stroke in the right direction, Lamotte contended.

Even if the C8 is a hit, their environmental benefit would be limited since recreational boats tend to be used only a couple of days a week and when weather is pleasant.

So Candela wants to tackle ferries. Their next model is a catamaran with 25 seats to be tested as a shuttle in the Stockholm archipelago later this year, he said.

The service is expected to cut in half the amount of time it takes people using ferries or buses to get from the Ekero suburb to the city centre once it gets going.

The company also plans to test its P8 craft — a “limousine” version of the C8 — between the airport and hotels in Venice, Italy.

For now, electric motors combined with hydrofoils are far from being viable in massive container ships or cruise ships.

And, the issue of producing batteries and recycling the materials remains a hindrance in the industry.

“The solution of our environmental problem is going to come with technology,” de Lamotte told AFP aboard the C8.

“That is what we are trying to do; for sure the impact is way less than what we are using these days with internal combustion engines.”

Heading for Cannes

Candela touts the C8 as the “fastest” and “longest-range” electric boat on the market travelling as far as(about 100 kilometres on a single charge with an average speed of 22 knots and peak at 30 knots.

According to an Allied Market Research report published last year, the electric boat market was worth $5 billion in 2021 and will exceed $16 billion by 2031.

Candela seeks to differentiate itself with hydrofoils and an advanced computer that automatically adjusts them to keep voyages smooth and safe.

“Designing an electric boat is easy enough,” said de Lamotte, who was working on his own prototype when hired by the Swedish company.

“Making it fly by itself is more complicated.”

French entrepreneur Alexei Chemenda said he and his wife “fell in love” with the Candela flying boat after spotting an older model in the San Francisco Bay last year and giving one a try.

The couple plans to have a C8 delivered to Cannes, where they have a house, and where they plan to rent it.

“It’s magical. The boat rises, the wake disappears and you feel like you are floating.”

Often associated with big, brawny and brutal SUVs and pick-ups, off-road driving is often better served with a small package. Light, nimble and manoeuvrable over loose surfaces and along narrow inhospitable trails, small SUVs like the Lada Niva, Suzuki Jimny and Mahindra Thar can often go, and better manoeuvre, where larger and more powerful machines better adept for desert dunes, cannot. 

Light and small yet high riding also translates into more generous off-road angles. Meanwhile, lower purchase and running low costs, and simpler more rugged engineering allow more peace of mind during demanding off-road adventures. 

Lada Niva Bronto

An enduring Russian automotive icon since its 1977 introduction, the Lada Niva off-roader has served under numerous nameplates over the years including the penultimate “4x4” moniker. Readopting its most recognisable “Niva” name in its latest iteration since 2021 (one year ahead of its 45th anniversary), Lada’s slow paced and evolutionary development approach has been to not alter a winning formula of easy affordability, high off-road ability, fun on-road agility and surprising comfort. 

An unpretentious and undiluted off-roader built on a unibody frame with independent front and rugged live axle, coil spring rear suspension, the Niva’s off-road abilities can humble far more sophisticated and expensive SUVs. A jewel in the rough, since inception with scant creature comforts, it now boasts a better equipped and more modern and refined interior as the Niva Legend. Powered by a 1.7-litre petrol engine developing 82BHP at 5,000rpm and 95lb/ft at 4,000rpm, the Niva’s four-wheel-drive, low gear ratios and super angles make short work of demanding off-road conditions.

Best in Bronto specification, the Niva gains sculpted bumpers, bulging wheel-arches, chunky off-road tyres and revised grille, for a tougher and feistier look. The Niva Bronto, meanwhile, provides enhanced off-road abilities and comfort levels, over the standard variants, and includes front and rear locking differentials with a more aggressive 4.1:1 ratio, reinforced rear axle and modified dampers with longer wheel travel. Inside, the Bronto features better noise insulation, more comfortable heated seats, enhanced climate system, a revised dashboard and rear headrests. Not offered in Jordan in Bronto specification, conversion kits can, however, be independently sourced.

Specifications (Niva Legend)

• Engine: 1.7-litre, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 5-speed manual
• Driveline: four-wheel-drive low gear transfer, locking rear differential
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 82 (83) [61] @5,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 95 (129) @4,000rpm
• 0-100km/h: 17-seconds
• Top speed: 142km/h
• Length: 3,640mm
• Width: 1,680mm
• Height: 1,640mm
• Wheelbase: 2,200mm
• Ground clearance: 213mm
• Cargo volume, min/max: 263-/982-litres
• Water fording: 510-600mm (est.)
• Slope angle 58° (est.)
• Kerb weight: 1285kg
• Suspension, F/R: Independent, Double wishbones/live axle coil springs
• Turning circle: 11-meters
• Brakes, F/R: Discs/drums
• Tyres: 185/75R16

Suzuki Jimny

An honest, uncomplicated, efficient and thoroughly capable off-roader, the Suzuki Jimny is above all else a fun and upbeat mini-SUV that can out-do pricier and more complex vehicles. First launched in 1970 and in its third generation since 2018, the latest iteration of Japan’s definitive mechanical mountain goat is designed to live up to its feisty and upstart image with a squared and angular style playfully reminiscent of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class luxury off-roader

Powered by a tiny 0.65-litre turbocharged 3-cylinder engine for the Japanese “kei” car market, the export Jimny, however, receives a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox for the Middle East.  Driving the rear wheels for balanced and efficient on-road driving under normal conditions, the Jimny’s four-wheel-drive can be engaged to make short shrift of rugged off-road routes, and features a low gear ratio transfer for even more challenging conditions.

Sitting high off the ground and with a short wheelbase and tough front and coil sprung live axles, the Jimny’s extensive off-road credentials include 210mm ground clearance and generous 37° approach, 28° break-over and 49° departure angles. With a selective braking traction system assisting with off-road ability, the Jimny is meanwhile manoeuvrable, easy to place and engaging on-road, with terrific sightlines and tight 9.8-metre turning circle. Producing 101BHP at 6,000rpm and 96lb/ft torque at 4,000rpm, it meanwhile accelerates through 0-100km/h in around 14-second and onto 140km/h.

Specifications

• Engine: 1.5-litre, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 4-speed automatic
• Drive-line: four-wheel-drive, low ratio transfer
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 101 (102) [75] @6,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 96 (130) @4,000rpm
• 0-100km/h: approximately 14-seconds (estimate)
• Top speed: 140km/h
• Length: 3,480mm
• Width: 1,645mm
• Height: 1,705mm
• Wheelbase: 2,250mm
• Ground clearance: 210mm
• Approach/break-over/departure angles: 37°/28°/49°
• Kerb weight: 1,135kg
• Suspension: Live axle, trailing arms, coil springs
• Brakes, F/R: Discs/drums
• Tyres: 195/80R15

Mahindra Thar

A smaller more affordable and somewhat more analogue counterpoint to the iconic Jeep Wrangler, the Mahindra Thar in fact has a shared lineage, going back to the Indian automotive group’s 1940s origins as a licensed Willys Jeep manufacturer. Evocatively and unmistakably familiar with its flat upright panels and windows, broad wheel-arches, tapered bonnet, slotted grille and round headlights, the second generation, Thar, however, cuts a distinctly more assertive and statuesque figure than its more classically styled 2010 predecessor. 

Launched in 2020, the new Thar is modernised, yet, true to its roots. A big leap forward in terms of amenities, convenience, comfort, technology and infotainment features, the latest Thar moves decisively up the automotive ladder, but retains its rugged appearance, body-on-frame construction and extensive off-road capabilities and hardware. Riding on double wishbone front and live-axle rear suspension, the Thar is rugged and thoroughly capable off-roader with excellent 226mm ground clearance and 650mm water fording depth.

Sitting high with short wheelbase and overhangs, the Thar meanwhile delivers generous 41.2° approach, 26.2° break-over and 36° departure angles. Engine options include turbocharged diesel and petrol variants, with the latter 2-litre four-cylinder producing 150BHP at 5,000rpm and 221lb/ft at an accessibly broad 1,250-3,000rpm band. Driving rear wheels on-road, with four-wheel-drive, locking hubs and low gear ratios for off-road, the Thar is a convincing cut-price junior Wrangler alternative in India, and would surely be hit with Middle East drivers if a left-hand drive export version were available.

Specifications

• Engine: 2-litre, turbocharged, in-line 4-cylinders
• Gearbox: 6-speed manual
• Drive-line: Part-time four-wheel-drive, auto hub lock, low gear ratios
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 150 (152) [112] @5,000rpm
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 221 (300) @1,250-3,000rpm
• Length: 3,985mm
• Width: 1,820mm
• Height: 1,844mm
• Wheelbase: 2,450mm
• Ground clearance: 226mm
• Water fording: 650mm
• Approach/break-over/departure: 41.2°/26.2°/36°
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbone, independent/multi-link, solid axle, coil springs
• Brakes, F/R: discs/drums
• Tyres: 255/65R18

By Dina Halaseh
Educational Psychologist

Have you been setting your goals and failing at many of them year after year? Here are some tried and tested, ultimate habit building tricks for you!

According to author James Clear, atomic habits are small and easy to practice to become part of your routine these habits eventually turn into a source of power.

Change and growth

The main idea lies in the concept that doing a simple task regularly until it becomes systematic will result in compound growth. Even though a habit may seem small or insignificant, it will result in remarkable change over time and compounded growth. As you can probably tell by now, it’s not about the habit itself, rather about the systems built around it. If you wish to achieve growth, forget about setting goals and focus on building the right systems that help you focus on who you want to become. In the same way small habits build a growth system, bad habits build systems that unfortunately weigh you down. In order to break these bad habits, we need to change the system behind them.

There are four main laws of behavioural change. These are the main concepts we can focus on to build better systems and habits.

Making it obvious

In order to help you build better habits, make the chosen habit obvious around you. For example, if one of your new year’s goals this year is to focus on reading to help nourish your mind, you can do that by stacking habits one on top of the other. Think of the following rule: “After I… I will… “So, after I drink my coffee, I will read 2 pages.” 

For a bad habit, we would do the absolute opposite and make it invisible. If you wish to cut down on sugar to help maintain a healthier lifestyle, you can make sure to not buy any chocolate that might cause you to feel weak or test your ability to say no when confronted with it. 

The main idea is to try to avoid the temptation rather than resisting it.

Making it attractive

The second rule is easy; you need to ensure the new habit is attractive. A trick that can help you start a habit you might be dreading is to do something you enjoy just before attempting a difficult habit. Another trick is to surround yourself with an environment that supports building that habit. For example, to start reading, you can join a book club, connect with friends who read or join cultures that support reading.

For parents, helping your child see a habit as attractive would be to first model that behaviour and second, to offer options and choices to ensure autonomy.

Making it easy

An easy habit is more likely to be practiced than a hard one, so in order to make the system work, try to simplify the habit as much as you can so you don’t feel like it’s a lot of work. 

Author Clear explains the “law of least effort”; creating environmental changes that make that habit as easy as possible. You can start a new habit using the two-minute rule. Any new habit should only take two minutes to do. Do it daily and regularly until it becomes a regular habit then add another two-minute practice and build up the habit from small practices to a strong habit.

Technology plays a huge role here; if you can use technology to make a habit easier, then take advantage of it. This can be as simple as automating a bank operation to set a little bit of money aside as a savings account.

To break a bad habit, try to think of ways to make the habit seem difficult, the harder it is, the less likely you are to do it.

Making it satisfactory

Reward is something that motivates most of us; having that sense of achievement on its own might be the reward needed when focusing on a new habit. The change that happens automatically with time will be another reward as well. To do that, focus on small successes and praise yourself for your small accomplishments.

Focus on changing one per cent every day; this will ultimately result in atomic change. There is no need to change everything at once, or even be twice as better as yesterday. Only ensure you are changing 1 per cent at a time. If you change this one per cent every day, you will end up being better by 37 per cent by the end of the year! 

So, before you set your goals this year, consider what systems need to be in place and what can be changed to ensure building better habits.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

ACHILL, Ireland — Colin Farrell had many people to thank following his best actor win at the Golden Globes for “The Banshees of Inisherin”. He made a point of mentioning the locals of Achill Island and Inis Mor.

“We were just one big family,” the Irish actor told the Beverly Hills awards ceremony last month, before also name-checking his animal co-star in the critically acclaimed dark comedy, Jenny the miniature donkey.

Two weeks later the movie, filmed on location on the two remote islands off Ireland’s west coast, picked up nine Oscar nominations.

“Of course we have fingers crossed for a win,” Chris McCarthy, the manager of Achill Tourism, told AFP.

“And we’ll take any one of the nine nominations. We’re not choosy,” he quipped.

Between July and November 2021, Achill Island’s dramatic landscape of rugged cliffs, peat bogs and sandy beaches was transformed.

The island’s Purteen Harbour, usually a working fisherman’s wharf, became the location for a portside street scene with a 1920s shopfront.

And the pub where much of the film’s action takes place was built from scratch atop windswept cliffs on Achill’s southwest coast.

Atlantic atmosphere

McCarthy said the film’s director, Martin McDonagh, wanted the actors “to feel the atmosphere of the Atlantic” when they opened the door of the pub. 

“They couldn’t create this in the studio,” McCarthy explained, standing at the beauty spot as February winds whipped sea spray onto the cliffs. 

Filming was an economic boon for Achill, injecting 1.7 million euros ($1.8 million) into the area, home to fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.

Now it is looking to capitalise on a tourism bounce. Every time a clip from the film or an awards speech goes viral online, McCarthy and his team see a surge in bookings.

Mick Lynch, owner of Lynott’s Pub on Achill, explained over an evening pint that visitors had already begun inquiring about the film.

Among the souvenirs lining the pub’s walls are what Lynch calls the movie’s “infamous” shears, used by actor Brendan Gleeson’s character to chop off his own fingers.

Lynch said his tiny pub — a dry stone wall structure with a thatched roof built as a jail in the 16th century — is a true-to-life version of the pub created for “Banshees”.

“If these walls could talk, the stories they’d tell... this is the real thing,” he explained.

During filming, it served as a watering hole for Gleeson and fellow actor Pat Shortt, who runs the on-screen pub.

US singer Taylor Swift, a fan of the film, has asked for the pub from the movie set to be rebuilt so that she can visit.

“We don’t need to,” Lynch said. “She can come here.”

Alan Gielty, manager of Achill Coaches, has created a guided tour around the movie locations.

“For the last month an awful lot of people are travelling to the island just to see the sights of the movie,” he explained. 

“It’s already bringing in a lot of interest from outside and it’s going to be very, very busy.”

Madeline Condell, who was one of 120 extras in the film, said the island was in the grip of an Oscars buzz.

Condell owns two donkeys that missed out on appearing alongside Jenny. She said there would be more than a few parties planned for the night of the March 12 awards. 

“We almost feel like we deserve an Oscar as well because of the beauty of the area,” she said.

“It’s such a lovely place to visit and anyone that ever does visit always falls in love with the place.”