So many of us start out the year by setting big audacious goals, only to find ourselves falling off the change train a few weeks later.
Goals are great and I am so proud of you for having them. It gives us focus, direction and a sense of purpose.
We all have hopes and dreams or at least a general sense of where we want our lives to go, the type of body you want to have, the respect you want to receive from your peers, the type of relationships you desire or the importance of the work you want to create.
This is completely normal. After all, it is only human to want more for yourself out of life.
But why is this so difficult to maintain the change we want to create in our lives?
The answer is quite easy - Your goals are not your habits.
There is an important difference to understand here.
If your daily routine is surrounded by negative habits which aren’t in alignment with the goals you want to achieve, you are never going to get there.
When you find yourself falling back into an old habit and moving further and further away from your goal, it is time to reassess and adjust your current strategy.
Let's say your goal is to leave your 8-5 job and work from home running your own online business. What daily habits are you doing which are in alignment with making this transition happen?
Let’s say you want to lose weight and get in shape. What daily habits are you doing which are in alignment with achieving it?
Without getting to academic, habits are engrained in your brain and your behaviour patter. It isn’t easy to change and it won’t change overnight.
So here is a simple solution.
To change any habit you need at least one, if not all of the following:
Knowledge
Skill and
Desire
Let’s start with Knowledge
Knowing what to do and why you are doing it, is critical to change a habit.
Adopting a new habit fails for one of two reasons:
You are trying to change a habit with willpower, which is a very poor strategy for changing a bad habit.
You are attempting to change too much too soon and setting yourself up for failure.
If you are serious about making real change, in other words, if you are serious about doing things better than you are doing them now — then you need to start small.
Imagine the typical habits, good or bad: Brushing your teeth. Putting on your seatbelt, charging your phone the night before or biting your nails.
These actions are small enough that you don't even think about them. You simply do them automatically. They are tiny actions that become consistent patterns.
Wouldn't it make sense that if you wanted to form a new habits, the best way to start would be to make tiny changes that your brain could quickly learn and automatically repeat?
Now let’s focus on Skill
Mastering any new habit takes practice, and practice takes time.
Let’s use the same example of wanting to transition from your 8 - 5 job, into running your own successful business.
A tiny step could be to set out time in your current schedule and focus on your new business for an hour a day.
If you cannot implement this discipline in your current environment, the chances of you succeeding on your own will be challenging.
If you can achieve a small change once, you can do it again and again, each time adding a little more to it.
Eventually you will be in a completely different mindset and routine.
Let’s finish up with Desire
It is the desire to change, not the change itself, that leads to lasting success.
The benefit of achieving your goal must be greater than the status quo. If it doesn’t motivate you, you will not follow through.
It is not the quick fix tools, the productivity hacks, or the 6 week program to your ultimate self that will create growth and fulfilment.
It is your mind!
Just like you would train your body to get fit and strong, you need to train your mind to work for you - It is a muscle after all.
If you a ready and willing to create change in your life but don’t know exactly where to start - I am here to help!
My mission is simple – To Empower You!
Let’s talk…