June 30, 2017　=========

☆  different　異なる

============================

If two things are different, they are not like each other in one or more ways. Do you have any habits that are different from your friends or family? I think my “last three digits” habit is different from what anyone else in my family does!

What about habits between different cultures? Do you think that there are habits in Japanese culture that are different from western culture? Obviously bowing as a greeting rather than shaking hands is a different habit. Anything else? One “habit” I thought of was the habit of slurping ramen noodles! Ha ha! This is a habit that is very different from western culture,Read more about Today’s Word: different[…]

June 29, 2017　=========

☆  frequently　頻繁に

============================

If you do something frequently, you do it often, habitually, and repeatedly. There is really no difference between “often” and “frequently”, however, in American English it is more common to say “often” whereas in British English, frequently is more commonly used.

As for habits, something that you do frequently is much more likely to become a habit, right? So, if you want the habit of learning new English words, then it’s a good idea to read this email magazine frequently, rather than just once a week. Ha ha 🙂 If you want to get fit, it is better to exercise frequently for short periods of time, than onceRead more about Today’s Word: frequently[…]

June 28, 2017　=========

☆  novel　今までにない

============================

A novel idea or thing is a new and different idea, different from anything that has been done or experienced up to now. Some other words you could use with a similar meaning are: new, fresh, different, innovative, original, strange, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual.

Have you ever thought about picking up some new and novel habits? I found a list of 203 habits that can help energize your day and some of them were quite novel. For example:

Ask someone for a hug – one person a day! (to be happier)
Sniff lavender essential oil (to destress)
Do a set of pushups every morning, and increase the number each week. (fitness)
Introduce yourselfRead more about Today’s Word: novel[…]

June 27, 2017　=========

☆  annoyed　イライラして

============================

If you feel annoyed, you feel irritated or angry about something. Have you ever wondered if you have habits that make others feel annoyed? I haven’t thought about this much, but there are definitely habits that other people have that irritate me, or make me feel annoyed.

This biggest one, is interrupting. I always feel so annoyed when people interrupt me when I’m talking. I have a friend who always talks over the top of me. I don’t even think she realizes she’s doing it, it’s just “her personality” and I don’t think she realizes I feel so annoyed about it. Maybe I should tell her?!

What habits orRead more about Today’s Word: annoyed[…]

June 26, 2017　=========

☆  rewarding　やりがいのある

============================

An experience or action that is rewarding gives you satisfaction, it is worthwhile, beneficial, and fulfilling. We usually talk about our work or career being rewarding. However, our habits can be rewarding too. Can you think of any?

Some that I thought of were things like getting a massage. Getting a regular massage is a great habit, and very rewarding. It feels great at the time, and it’s healthy for our body too. Another rewarding habit is saving money. Whenever my bank account has a number in it that isn’t an exact dollar, I transfer the extra to a savings account. I call it my “last three digits”Read more about Today’s Word: rewarding[…]

June 25, 2017　=========

☆  trigger　きっかけ

============================

If something acts as a trigger for another thing, it is the cause of that second thing. Charles Duhigg wrote the book The Power of Habit, and in it he talks about triggers being part of the Habit Loop that we can follow to create a new habit. First the trigger (the event that starts the habit), then the routine (the new habit) and then the reward (the benefit of the new habit.)

So what kinds of things can be triggers? Here are some common ones:

Time – for example, a “morning” habit
Location – for example, a bad habit of eating snacks, whenever you are in the kitchen (location)Read more about Today’s Word: trigger[…]

June 24, 2017　=========

☆  routine　日課

============================

In the useful phrase this week, it says, “Including them in your daily routine can really help with new habits.” In other words, if you make a new habit part of your daily routine, it’s much easier to integrate them. So, if you want to drink a glass of water when you wake up, then you can add this new habit to your morning routine, and that will make it easier to keep going with it.

In Australia, most schools don’t have a school lunch system, so all the kids bring their own lunches. So, every morning, part of my routine is to prepare lunches and snacks forRead more about Today’s Word: routine[…]

June 23, 2017　=========

☆  assumption　思い込み

============================

An assumption is an idea or a belief. When you “make an assumption about something” it means that you believe something is true or something will happen, usually without proof. Here are some example sentences:

She bought a new car on the assumption that she would get a pay raise soon.
Our boss made the assumption that we agreed with his suggestions.
I wish he’d stop making assumptions about me!
Your assumption that it was my fault is wrong.

Can you use assumption in a sentence? Try and connect it to a situation in your own life, where you or somebody else made an assumption. If you can personalize it, you’ll rememberRead more about Today’s Word: assumption[…]

June 22, 2017　=========

☆  patience　　我慢強さ

============================

The habit of patience is one that I would LOVE to develop more! Sometimes I have patience, but other times, nope! Not at all! Of course, I’m sure you can guess that the time when I have the least patience is when I have already told my kids to do something three times, and they still aren’t doing it!!

The good news is that I’m not the only one with not much patience, if you do a Google search for how to develop patience, there are more than 50 million results!! Wow! That’s a lot of people wanting to develop the habit of patience!

Do you have patience? HowRead more about Today’s Word: patience[…]

June 21, 2017　=========

☆  integrity 　正直

============================

Stephen Covey, who I mentioned the other day, talks about integrity, and says that integrity means being honest and living according to your principles. You are loyal to your own beliefs.

He believes that we lose integrity when we make a choice or decision because we start thinking about whether we are being loyal to a person, or to our company, instead of deciding whether we are being loyal to our beliefs and principles. We think that it is important to prioritize the relationship and therefore lose integrity. In fact, this loss of integrity eventually has a negative effect on that relationship anyway, so it is betterRead more about Today’s Word: integrity[…]

June 20, 2017　=========

☆  credit　信頼

============================

If someone has credit, it means that other have belief and confidence in them. They are trusted by others, and people are happy to rely on them. You’ll probably hear this word mostly used in verb form, as either “give credit” or “take credit.”

When you “take credit” for something, you allow people to have the belief that you did something, whether that is true or not. So you might take credit for a good result at work, and in this case, the good result might be because of your hard work (great!) or because of someone else’s hard work (which you are letting people believe is yourRead more about Today’s Word: credit[…]

June 19, 2017　=========

☆  wishful thinking　希望的観測

============================

If you say that an idea, wish, or hope is wishful thinking, you mean that it has failed to come true, or is unlikely to come true. You will find people using the term wishful thinking when they are talking about their lives, relationships, jobs, and even politics! Here are some example sentences:

She imagined her ex-boyfriend coming back to her, but she knew it was just wishful thinking.
You should have warned me of the dangers of wishful thinking!
It is wishful thinking to expect the government to make any real changes.
I’d love to get the promotion, but it’s really just wishful thinking.
He wanted to be a pro-basketballRead more about Today’s Word: wishful thinking[…]

June 18, 2017　=========

☆  congruent　一致した

============================

You may have heard this word in mathematics class, but the motivational speaker Tony Robbins, is most famous for using it to talk about self-development. The meaning of congruent is that things are in agreement. Someone who is congruent, acts and lives their life in direct accordance with their dreams, desires, beliefs and values.

Human beings naturally want to be congruent, and act in a way that is consistent with their actions and beliefs. However, many of us don’t know what our true beliefs and values are. Most people haven’t spent much time thinking about these things, and so it is a bit hard to live a congruentRead more about Today’s Word: congruent[…]

June 17, 2017　=========

☆  ineffective 　効果的でない

============================

As you may know, Stephen Covey wrote a book called the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Well, this is the exact opposite of that idea, not effective, but ineffective. And the funny thing is that you can find various different versions of this 7 Habits idea, based on “Ineffective People”!

Each of the 7 Habits of Ineffective people lists that I found was a little bit different, but one habit really struck me. It was the habit of finishing everything on your To Do list each day. This is an ineffective habit the article said. I was surprised at first. However, the writer’s reasoning was thatRead more about Today’s Word: ineffective[…]

June 16, 2017　=========

☆  superficial　表面的な

============================

A person or a thing can be superficial. If a person is superficial, it means that you disapprove of them because they do not think deeply, and have little understanding of anything serious or important. If a thing (such as an action, feeling, or relationship) is superficial, it means that it is simple and obvious, and doesn’t require much effort to understand. Here are some example sentences:

He is a superficial guy and doesn’t care about anyone else.
The book is negative and superficial; it doesn’t go into the real issues.
My roommate was pleasant on a superficial level, but we don’t keep in touch anymore.
I really only have aRead more about Today’s Word: superficial[…]

June 15, 2017　=========

☆  responsible　責任のある

============================

If someone or something is responsible for a particular event or situation, they are the cause of it or they can be blamed for it. I am currently reading a book about Rich Habits, by Tom Corley, he calls himself an expert on habits. He says our daily habits are responsible for our success or failure in life.

He says that there are 10 Keystone Habits that are responsible for creating a happy, successful life, and he calls these the Rich Habits. In his research, he also discovered Keystone Habits that are responsible for creating an unhappy, unsuccessful life, and he calls these the Poverty Habits. He believesRead more about Today’s Word: responsible[…]

June 13, 2017　=========

☆  addicted　中毒の

============================

Ha ha! Have you seen the second useful phrase for this week? It is, “I feel like I’m addicted to running!” Ha! I guess I thought that was a good phrase to show the usage of addicted! Of course, it is a good phrase – and you can alter it very easily; you don’t need to say that you are addicted to running, like me!

So, the base of the sentence is, “I feel like I’m addicted to …”

What else could you put in there? Here are some examples:

I feel like I’m addicted to him (For example, if you are in a relationship and you have very strongRead more about Today’s Word: addicted[…]

June 14, 2017　=========

☆  tremendous　とてつもない

============================

Tremendous is an informal word that you can use to emphasize how strong a feeling or quality is or how large an amount is. For example, “There was a tremendous amount of tension between my mother and father when I was growing up.” Or “The teacher gave us a tremendous amount of homework to do over the holidays.”

You can also tremendous to describe someone or something that you think is very good or very impressive. For example, “He was a tremendous person.” Or, “I thought the movie was tremendous!”

Can you use tremendous in a sentence?

Bye,

Chris

June 11, 2017　=========

☆  concentration　集中力

============================

Concentration on something means giving all your attention to it. When I watch my sons play soccer with their club teams, I am always amazed at their concentration. They are so young, but so focused on the game, and playing well. All the kids are the same; total concentration on the game. Whenever the parents say, “Did you hear me cheering you?” they usually answer no, because they say they can’t hear anything because they are just thinking about the game! I wish I could have that kind of concentration in my daily life!!

Are there times when you notice your concentration is really good, or not soRead more about Today’s Word: concentration[…]

June 10, 2017   　=========

☆  hindrance　　障害

============================

A hindrance is a person or a thing that makes it more difficult for you to do something. When you are building a new habit, what kinds of things might be a hindrance to you being successful? For me, I’m trying to wake up early, but the weather is a real hindrance!! I know it’s probably warm where you are, but it’s winter here and the mornings are soooo cold! It’s really hard to get up early.

And, we had friends come over for a “winter BBQ” yesterday, one of the guests brought a cheesecake with her for dessert – there was some left, so she leftRead more about Today’s Word: hindrance[…]

June 9, 2017   =========

☆  spontaneity　自発性

============================

Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough spontaneity in your life? A while ago, I discovered a habit that was good or spontaneity though! It’s the habit of saving money!

I saw a suggestion on the Internet, that you have a “spontaneity bank account.” The idea was that whenever you had some spare cash, you put it into this savings account, and let it build up. Then when you had an idea or wanted to do something suddenly, you used that money. Many times, when the idea of spontaneity hits us, we don’t follow that idea because we don’t have the time or the money.Read more about Today’s Word: spontaneity[…]

June 8, 2017      =========

☆  base　　基礎

============================

A base is like your starting point; your place to start building from. So, if you wanted to lose weight, you might set up some habits as your base to start from. If you have these habits as your base, then whenever you get off track – for example, if you’ve been away on holiday and eaten too much! – then you case use these as your base, to get back on track. Can you think of any habits that might be good to have as a base?

I’m not sure, but I think one habit that would be good would be making sure you are drinkingRead more about Today’s Word: base[…]

June 7, 2017 =========

☆  requirement　必要条件

============================

A requirement can be one of two things. Firstly, it can be the quality or qualification that you must have in order to be allowed to do something or to be suitable for something. It is common to talk about this kind of requirement when you are applying for a job. For example, “I have met all the legal requirements to qualify for the job.” Or, “Concentration and focus are the main requirements for learning.”

The other type of requirement is the things that you need. This is the formal use. For example, “This supplement provides 100 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin C.” Or, “OurRead more about Today’s Word: requirement[…]

June 6, 2017　=========

☆  paradigm　枠組み

============================

If you look in your dictionary, it will most likely tell you that a paradigm is a typical example or pattern of something. A good example of a paradigm would be a way of thinking, a method, or an idea that is generally accepted by society or a community.

You might not hear this word very often in everyday English, but it is often used to talk about a paradigm shift – in other words, not to talk about the actual idea or pattern, but a shift away from that idea or pattern.

If you’ve ever studied the PhotoReading system, there are a lot of paradigm shifts in thatRead more about Today’s Word: paradigm[…]

June 5, 2017　=========

☆  harm　害

============================

This week’s useful phrase is “There’s no harm in trying.” This is a common phrase to use when you are not sure if doing something will be helpful or not, but since it is not likely to cause problems or do “harm” then you might as well try it.

So, for example, you might decide that a good habit for you is getting up earlier. Even though you’re not confident that you can actually get up earlier each morning and continue the habit, there’s no harm in trying – because if you do manage to get up early, then you’ll get the benefits of getting up earlier, andRead more about Today’s Word: harm[…]

June 4, 2017　=========

☆  supersede　取って代わる

============================

If something is superseded by something newer, it is replaced because it has become old-fashioned or unacceptable. Usually this word is used to describe things like laws (a new law supersedes the old laws) or things that are no longer efficient, such as hand-built cars were superseded by machines and factories building cars.

However, you can also use it to describe a new habit that has superseded an old one. For example, you might usually get up at 7am in the morning, but your new habit of getting up at 6am will supersede that habit. This article (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287250) suggests 9 habits that will supersede any habits you alreadyRead more about Today’s Word: supersede[…]

June 3, 2017   =========

☆   nurture　育てる

============================

One of the useful phrases this week is, “It’s important to nurture new habits until they stick.” Do you agree with this? Do you think that some habits just stick automatically without needing to nurture them? What kind of habit would that be?

To be honest, I can’t actually think of one! I think all habits need to be nurtured and reinforced in some way, until they are automatic.

For me, one of the best ways I have found to nurture a habit is to keep a tally – each day I do the habit, I mark an “X” on my calendar, and so I continue to nurtureRead more about Today’s Word: nurture[…]

June 2, 2017      =========

☆  help　手伝う

============================

Do you think we should have the habit of helping others? I found an article online about a man who lost his job in his fifties and he was a bit confused and worried about the rest of his life. He realized that up until then he had placed too much emphasis on his career and had not spent enough time helping others. So, he decided to focus on helping other people, in order to gain more satisfaction with his life outside of his job/career.

He decided to do the following things:

Keep a journal of the small things he did to help other people (so thatRead more about Today’s Word: help[…]

June 1, 2017　    =========

☆  tell　話す

============================

This month our topic is Making a Habit. And our first quote is by Ralph Marston, an American writer, born in 1955. There is not enough space in the actual planner to include the full quote, so let me tell you it here, as it’s really worth thinking about.

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.”

What do you think of that? I think the habit of tellingRead more about Today’s Word: tell[…]