Habits vs goals

[jaludwick]

I was encouraged to start looking at habits, and not so much at goals. use targets instead of goals. cuz habits have to change prior to goals being completed.

any thoughts?

what do you do to focus on habits.
thanks

[justfiverules]

Which shoe do you normally put on first - left or right?

Your 30 day goal is to reverse that habit :-)

It can be as simple as that.

Commit to the 'low hanging fruit' and then reach higher....

[Nick Hansen]

That's a good point you have made there jaludwick about how habits have to be broken before goals can be achieved.

I work on a goal system. I aim my goals to fall just out of my comfort zone so that i have to change something in my life to achieve them.

I think the key to my success in making new good habits, and eliminating old ones has been only focusing on no more than 3 goals at a time. I have approximately 40 goals at the moment and if i focused on all of them at once i would never get any of them done!

Also, why were you encouraged to look at habits rather than goals?

Cheers

Nick

[openeyes]

I tend to focus on habits that aid me in the long term achievement of over-arching goals. Around age 11 I went on a veritable habit building spree, basically adopting whatever habits seemed most beneficial to my health and interaction with the world around me, which at the time meant sitting/standing up straight, making eye contact, smiling, lifting weights 2-3 times per week, stretching, eating lots of protein, drinking plenty of water, taking a book with me everywhere and reading whenever a spare moment presented itself.

More recent habits would be spending most of my time out among people (right now I'm sitting outside on the green space of the local grocery coop), riding my bicycle for most daily errands, reading at least 2-3 books per week in addition to whatever school work I have, practicing martial arts daily, and spending plenty of time out in the sun (this is generally satisfied by how I perform the above habits). A new habit will likely be to integrate Parkour into my weekly routine. Another is regular fasting. In my early teens I started fasting one day per week, and now that I'm done growing I fast 2 days per week. Fasting has many of the same benefits of Caloric Restriction (google intermittent fasting), without the drastic weight loss. Plus I enjoy the mental state that accompanies it.

[jaludwick]

It was a coach who mentioned it to me - and it became an AH-HA moment.

I set numerous goals, only to over goal, over todo lists ~ the pattern is always the same (habit) I need a gut check to make me move into changing these habits.

[Nick Hansen]

Something which i am doing at the moment jaludwick is a goal setting course. Making my goals more achievable, and structuring them properly. I find this guy really helpful, because included in it is several mp3's in which he talks you through the course.

The site i got it from was Mind Tools - Self-Study Management Training, Career Training, Leadership Skills and Career Coaching - Essential Skills for an Excellent Career. It is called 'Design Your Life.'

[n_vizion]

Habits focus on everyday.
Goals focus on someday.

Habits are always at work continuously with our without your conscious knowledge of what you are doing.

[Angela]

Hey, jaludwick, this past weekend Danger Man loaned me a book called The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, which talks a lot about the relationship between habits, goals and success. Maybe you would find it interesting.

From Amazon.com: "the book identifies the three most important fundamentals for consistent success: developing unusual clarity; understanding that habits determine your future; and using a "no exceptions policy" approach to focus on what you want."

-- It's sort of geared towards managers and salespeople; I'm neither but still found it useful and inspiring.

Canfield also has a newer book out, "Success Principles - How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be", which both Danger Man and I LOVE! It's a treasure chest of inspiration and guidance.

Best wishes to you.