Changing Habits Is More Important Than Achieving Specific Goals
When you want to make a difference in your life, you probably have a specific goal. However, if you adopt new habits just to achieve this goal, and then stop, you will return to where you started. Instead, focus on forming entirely new habits.
As the Make Smarter Decisions recommendation site explains, habits come with a whole new approach to life. The goals are milestones on this new path. Having a goal can be a good way to measure your progress, but the end result should be to maintain your new habits even when you achieve them.
I think a lot of people are very motivated when they set goals and are probably very successful when they start to achieve them. But Jim Ryun (three-time Olympic runner and first high school student to exceed 4 minutes per mile) has a great quote on this: “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what makes you move on. ” I like it.
Focusing on habit also emphasizes that the changes we want to make are permanent. Going on a temporary weight loss diet or saving money to achieve a specific goal is something you can stop when you’re done. The best goal, however, is to completely switch to the new habit system. This is scary. We don’t want to leave behind our old ways of eating, spending, or doing what we want. Yet the best way forward is not temporarily focusing on a secondary goal, but a complete lifestyle change.
Abandoning Your Goals to Focus on Habits | Make Smarter Decisions with Rockstar Finance