Stop Setting Goals and Start Making Habits

Most of us this time of year are resolving and planning for a better year than the last.

If you have already made your list, there is a 91.3% chance it is nearly identical to last year. Why? Because making that list did nothing to change you.

For most of us, resolutions don’t work. So I want to ask you to consider something different this year.

Stop resolving. Stop setting goals. And start developing habits.

Why Resolutions Don’t Work

Resolutions are typically a list of the things that we all know we should be but aren’t. They are a list of all the things we know we should do but don’t.

Your list of resolutions is a way to define your dream. To remind yourself what you are not.

And your dream is powerless to change you for one simple reason.

You are what you do.

Resolves are an idea. A belief. The admission of not doing enough. They are not something we do.

The only way to become someone better, is to do something different. To do something better.

Why Habits Change our Lives

Why do leaky faucets run up the water bill? Why is credit card debt such a problem? Why is the national debt so high? Why are most of us overweight?

Because of habits.

It is the small things occuring on a regular basis, adding up over time, that define who we are. (Tweet that.)

photo by Maegan Tintari (creative commons)

Habits are something we actually do. And they are something we do repeatedly.

Which do you think is worse for you? Eating a 20 oz. ribeye once every two months, or eating half a bag of potato chips every day?

The power of habits lies in the repetition.

The act that you do repeatedly over time, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal really are. The little things that happen daily in your life define who you are more than the big things. The little choices you make over and over determine the direction your life heads more than the monumental decisions.

Over time our habits add up. For good or bad.

Live a Better Story by Changing the Little Things

When we think of habits, we typically think of bad ones. Smoking. Drinking too much. Biting fingernails. Playing Angry Birds.

But habits aren’t necessarily bad. Habits can be good.

The more good habits we have, the more likely we are to be the person we want to be for the same simple truth.

You are what you do.

The better your habits are, the better your story will be.

Have resolutions ever worked for you? Have you ever focused on developing better habits?

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