Ex-chain smoker promotes how to improve habits

By Kang Seung-woo

A senior manager of Samsung SDI, who used to smoke 30 cigarettes a day for 25 years, recently published a self-improvement book to help smokers follow in his footsteps.

Lee Bum-young, a senior manager at Samsung SDI / Courtesy of Samsung SDI

Samsung Group’s battery affiliate said Monday that Lee Bum-young, a manager at the firm has written a book titled “Habit Home Training,” which proposes forming good habits by training at home.

Lee successfully broke his longstanding smoking habit in July after overcoming a slew of challenges for six months.

He took advice from authors of renowned self-improvement books to quit smoking.

While repeatedly failing to stay away from cigarettes, Lee sought tips from Stephen Guise, who wrote “Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results,” and Charles Duhigg, the author of the “Power of Habit,” through email.

The authors advised Lee to take note of the situation he was in before he smoked, which greatly helped him.

“When I simply attempted to stop smoking, it was difficult and distressing every day,” Lee said.

“But after analyzing the cause and introducing replacement behaviors, it was much easier to quit.”

On the back of his success, Lee established his own “10 Commandments,” aimed at making new habits, including writing at least two paragraphs on a daily basis.

Lee said the habit significantly contributed to publishing the book within 10 months even though he had to go to the office every day.

“If I had only been focused on writing a book, I would not have made it,” he said.

“However, I started with tiny habits that could be practiced with ease and consistency and it helped me achieve the goal.”

Recently, Lee has been running an online community and gives lectures to promote the significance of creating new habits and making them stick.

“A habit is a good tool that is essential for an ordinary person like me to reach a high goal,” Lee said.

“I plan to share knowhow to help many people practice habits and boost self-esteem.”