| “How you spend your days is therefore how you will spend your life.” Annie Dillard
Happy New Year…
Goals are good. However, if you don’t have daily habits and disciplines, you will never reach your goals!
I love how Shane Parish says it:
“When we watch people make small choices, like order a salad at lunch instead of a burger, the difference of a few hundred calories doesn’t seem to matter much. In the moment that’s true. These small decisions don’t matter all that much. However, as days turn to weeks and weeks to months and months to years those tiny repeatable choices compound. Consider another example, saving a little money right now won’t make you a millionaire tomorrow. But starting to save today makes it more likely you will become a millionaire in the future.”
I am somewhat obsessed with the compound effect. I have seen it in my business as well as my health (both good and bad).
When we daily commit to small, healthy choices, those choices, over time, compound. Which then leads to achieving our goals.
Just simple, small decisions today.
Instead of focusing on losing 90 pounds…focus on having a salad at lunch. Instead of focusing on having the best recruiting class in your conference…obsessively focus on calling and writing letters to recruits today. Instead of focusing on having an elite culture in your organization, start building more meaningful relationships today.
Again, goals are good, they aim the arrow. Goals give us a target to shoot for. But if we don’t shift our focus from the goals to the habits that lead to those goals, we rarely if ever reach them. The key is small daily decisions!
Step 1: What are your goals? Professionally? Health? Relationships? etc.
Step 2: Evaluate your habits. What habits are healthy and lead to a better you or reaching your goals? What habits are hindering you or keeping you from reaching your goals? And be honest!
Step 3: Figure out the small habits/decisions you can implement that will lead to reaching your goals.
Step 4: Don’t negotiate with yourself. Stick to your habits. It will also help to create an environment where it is easier to stick to your new habits. For example: If trying to read more and spend less time on social media…set an alarm on your phone when you want to start reading and have the book close by (and again, don’t negotiate). Or have no sweets in the house if you are trying to eliminate sugary foods (in this case, you won’t even have to avoid negotiating).
***Why do we consistently do things that we know are not healthy or good for us? We often think that a hamburger or a prolonged time scrolling social media will give us the comfort and satisfaction we are craving…but it never does. It does however produce guilt and sometimes shame. The lie is “This is what I need right now. This will satisfy”. But that is a lie. It doesn’t help. It hurts. Don’t fall for the lie! |
