My phone home screen says I have 508 unread messages across my 4 email accounts. Actually that’s not as bad as it sounds, just to calm those of you who are even now striking me off their list of correspondents. Often the unread ones are things I’m saving for later like newsletters or links to podcasts or they are things like shipment notifications that haven’t yet been deleted.

But I was thinking that 508 is not very memorable number unlike 1001. That is a memorable number to me – mainly from 1001 Arabian Nights, deeply embedded in my childhood experiences. As are many other things – such as needing Heinz Tomato Soup on cold and snowy days, always eating pancakes with squeezed orange juice and saying “good morning Mr Magpie” to random magpies. A lot of things that we are exposed to as kids stay with us for life. Health warning for parents there, I think.

So, there are probably lots of things that you do and ways that you think that have been with you for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 or more years. Are these habits, these patterns of behaviour and thinking, helpful to you? Are they positive ways to react to the world? They can be the things that trip you up when you least expect it. If they aren’t helpful then you can make a positive decision to change them. Its not going to happen overnight, as they are deeply ingrained. However you can start to affect your reactions and thoughts. And please do give yourself some slack – if you tip back over and relapse then don’t beat yourself up. You can start again tomorrow. Slow and steady, small steps are what changes lifetime patterns. You can do it and feel the benefits. Start now.