So, it’s February…did you know that most people have already given up their New Years resolutions by now? If you are among the ones still going strong then congrats to you for your discipline and consistency!! If you are already sliding, then it may be time to hop on the habit train!
Goals are a tricky thing sometimes. It’s great to have goals to focus your time and energy. But some goals make you feel like you’re accomplishing more while you’re actively working towards the goal and then cause you to feel disappointed once the goal has been achieved. Examine your goals closely! It may make more sense to reward your progress rather than shoot for the goal.
Make your habit the goal!
You do need some sense of what you want, but the daily actions are way more important than having a specific goal. By making the actual habit the goal, you can set a clear path to become a better version of yourself, or accomplish things you thought weren’t possible.
For example, you may have a goal of decluttering, let’s say! Maybe you want to keep the clutter off a certain counter or bench, or off the floor! So, you work your butt off until it’s actually all clear! Boom! Goal achieved! Big pat on the back for sure! BUT tomorrow, or next week, it looks like a tornado passed through that space and brought with it…all of the clutter from the entire house somehow! It’s a great goal to clear away the clutter, but the real achievement comes in having the space consistently cleared! Everyday!! The habit of spending as little as five minutes to keep an area clear daily, (or perhaps even every few hours!!), becomes more powerful than the one off goal of clearing off that same area.
Another example is a weight loss goal or other fitness goal. Its great to achieve the final goal, by lifting a certain amount of weight, or losing a certain amount of weight. But actually getting to your goal can feel a bit like a let down after some time. Working so hard towards the goal feels satisfying and like you’re truly achieving something great, then you reach your goal and think “ok, now what??” After you’ve reached the goal you need a new plan, so you may start all over, or spend a bunch of time figuring out what the next best goal is and creating a plan of attack for it…OR…you could consider the habit of working out being as much of a goal as the goal itself!
It’s easy to cut yourself some slack after achieving your goals, and it makes it so easy to slip back into having a messy counter, or packing on a few pounds, or even losing some of your built up muscle mass. If you can instead track a habit daily, you may just find more satisfaction in the grind of getting to your goal than in the actual achievement of it! You know that reaching the goal will make you feel great at first, but switching your brain to focus on the daily habit sets you up for real long term commitment, and reaching levels beyond your imaginable goals!!
So hop on the habit train!
Pick a few habits and put in a bit of time every day. Just that little bit of effort daily and consistently gives you the power and satisfaction to truly change your life!
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