QUESTION: HOW do you cook a frog? Answer: Gradually.
Drop the unsuspecting amphibian into a bucket of hot water and it will, not surprisingly, hop out again. But it will paddle happily in cold water, even when placed on a stove and slowly heated - and stay there until well and truly cooked.
It sounds like a cruel joke, but it serves merely to outline a key point in the philosophy of life, according to Andrew Matthews. The 'frog principle', as the author calls his idea, graphically illustrates the fate of people who slip into bad habits or stressful situations over time.
'When changes happen very quickly, we notice it and we do something about it. But when changes happen very slowly - the way they usually do in life - we often don't take any action,' he says. It may only be a little bit extra that big spenders throw away on meals and clothes each time. It may just be half-an-hour's work that lazy students leave aside every day. But when the debt accumulates over time, they wake up and find themselves in big trouble.
Despite the load of emotional and behavioural problems that today's young generation have, Mr Matthews believes that the power to make changes and lead a happy life is in people's own hands.
Known for penning five big-selling books on personal development, the Queensland-based author was in Hong Kong earlier this month to spread the word that happiness is a conscious choice.
