Focus on habits over goals

Happy New Year, everyone! As always, the start of the new year is an opportunity to re-evaluate and refocus. It’s a great time to think about what you want for the next twelve months after reflecting on how the past twelve months have gone. Obviously, we are living through a period of time where it is more difficult to make future plans, but this makes it even more import to envision a more hopeful future. It is important to consider what is in your control to change and perhaps now is a time to think more long term. Regardless of your current conditions, it is important to consider a vision for your life in the future.

Having a vision for your future is like choosing a destination for a journey. It gives you direction even if you don’t know exactly how you are going to get there. I know of no one who sets sail in a boat without someplace they want to get to and you will probably plot a course which may change based on weather conditions or unexpected circumstances. All these things are true of goal setting too. You choose a destination and map out the steps to get there. But what determines your level of success? If we take the sailing analogy, success depends on how good you have become at sailing. Similarly, in life, success depends on the habits and skills you have developed. These will dictate how you respond to the challenges you face and the choices you will need to make.

If you find yourself setting goals every year only to come up short or find yourself not following through, it is likely because you have not developed the habits that will support your success. Habits are those behaviours you do without thinking. When you do things unconsciously, there is no internal negotiation, whether you will do them or not. Sometimes old habits will override the new habits you are trying to develop, so notice the triggers or cues that lead you to default to old habits and use those triggers to lead to new habits.

Especially when your goals are ambitious, achieving them or even reaching milestones along the way can cause people to put a lot of pressure on themselves. If you try to measure your results too soon, you will get discouraged. This is why I encourage people to shift focus from the goal or milestone to recognising the daily habits they want to commit to. The things that will help you achieve the life you want are those little things you do daily or weekly. So get clear on the habits that will lead to your success. I had set some writing goals for myself last year that I didn’t achieve despite having some really good writing sessions from time to time. One habit that I am committing to this year is to write for at least one hour daily, and by doing so, I will have another book finished this year. For the year ahead choose a few little things that will contribute to what you want to achieve or who you want to become and if you commit to them then this time next year you will be amazed by your progress.