July is fast approaching and we’re midway into the new year!
Except that… it’s not that new a year anymore!
2019 turns out a beautiful, bountiful year — but having only 6 more months before we turn into another new year? — I’d like to crush more goals and tick off more chores, please.
But the clock keeps ticking, and I keep canvassing the calendar, circling the dates.
How do I do more out of the time I have?
How do I finish all that I set out to do while still becoming the person I want to be, living life intentionally and learning continuously?
A year can feel so fast, and yourself going so slow.
You can read so much on time productivity and goal setting and still find that internally? — your habits, values, and systems are not yet syncing.
I came across what Jeff Goins wrote about this topic.
On’Why You Failed At The Last Goal You Set (And How The Rule of The Quick Win Can Save You’ I am reminded:
- The goal is always to learn, not to succeed.
Many times we are guilty of measuring our progress through what we produce while dismissing the slow and hidden process where all the learning actually takes place.
We want shortcuts.
We want the numbers or the stats, or anything we can numerically count to show others how much we’ve actually done while forgetting that the results don’t necessarily reflect the growth.
Chasing numbers is a sure way for our souls to atrophy.
Jeff wrote that when we measure our gap and not our gain, we can quickly fall into the self-defeating mentality that consequently produces inactivity that then sets us off further from our goal.
He reminds us that as long as we are learning, we are succeeding.
2. Aim at creating habits, not goals.
When we aim at starting a habit rather than setting goals, we break the power of inertia and create momentum.
Goals can be intimidating and overwhelming. But habits can be fun and easy and something we can look forward every day.
Our goal shouldn’t be to master a new skill or become prolific in a new field overnight, but simply, just to become a little better every day.
This small stepping forward in the right direction daily create momentum that produces massive results over time.
3. Habit formation needs to start small and simple.
James Clear of Atomic Habits highlights the three keys to simple habit formation:
- Make it easy, so we’re not intimidated to start.
- Gradually increase the intensity a little every day
- Keep the gradual increase easy as the goal is to motivate ourselves to keep going.
This creates quick wins that will help us unlock the power to the big wins.
Especially when we’re in a rut, or feel stuck or stagnant, Jeff says that having quick wins — easy, sudden move in the right direction — will keep us going, doing and working and producing confidence and energy to our otherwise defeated soul.
These daily habits are much easier to maintain, and doing something small every day, whilst scoring some quick wins on a regular, repeatable basis will eventually set you to crush bigger, loftier goals!
So our warmest wishes to you and we’d love to hear some of your thoughts on this!