Introduction

It’s that time of year when we promise ourselves “this is my year” and give ourselves ambitious goals like “lose 20kgs” or “save up $10,000”. The problem with this type of goal-setting is that it often fails due to immense pressure and lack of structure. My thesis is that the development of habits is more sustainable than lofty goals.

The problem

Going from $0 to $10,000 or going from being heavily overweight to your ideal physique can feel overwhelming. Big and vague goals can lead to procrastination and burnout rather than ambition and energy. However, big goals aren’t the problem. Telling yourself that you will lose 20kgs feels unattainable because it does not provide any actionable steps or daily practices to achieve it. It’s a matter of rewiring one’s thinking from being destination-focused to journey-focused. Here’s a comparison:

Option 1: Destination-oriented goals

• Lose 20kgs.
• Save up $10,000.

Option 2: Journey-oriented goals

• Make the habit of leaving your gym bag in your car or somewhere accessible to remind you and get a gym buddy to hold you accountable daily/weekly.
• Learn about X type of low-risk investing, open an account at Y investing platform, and set up a monthly transfer of Z amount of money.

Why habits work

Momentum

You’ve probably heard of the compound effect mentioned in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. Or you’ve heard of the “get one percent better every day”. Every little action adds up and creates progress. It’s a bit like when I got a 200-day streak on Duolingo; the lessons compound and reinforce one’s willpower to keep going, which snowballs into more progress.

Consistency

It surprises no one that habits require consistency. Luckily, it doesn’t require perfection. I sure as hell don’t expect to remember stretching after every gym session (even though I should!), but I know as long as I keep showing up, I can not fail.

Identity

Habits are realistically and authentically you. What this means is that habits reinforce the identity you want to adopt. Not only that but turning your ideal identity into habits makes them realistic and more actionable: For example, “I’m someone who exercises four times a week” vs. “I want to lose 20kgs” or “I read 10 pages a day” vs. “I want to read 50 books this year.”

Practical steps from goals to habits

Anchoring

One anchoring habit I do is go to the gym after having my usual mid-day cup of coffee (or any other caffeinated drink). Knowing I have just secured myself energy for the next 2-3 hours, I have an instinctive urge to make use of it.

Also called habit stacking, anchoring can help trigger any kind of habit by another event or routine. Anchoring could be meditating 2 minutes after brushing your teeth, walking your dog after having dinner, working on your blog after eating kiwis (which is what I’m doing right now), and the list goes on.

Track your progress

Have your phone, sticky notes, or a friend to remind you, and track your habits! I could not function or live without my reminders app. It reminds me of important things like taking my supplements back when my knee was in bad shape from an accident, it reminds me yearly to ask for a raise, and it reminds me to work on my passion projects.

While writing this, I noticed these last few examples demonstrate how well habits work. If I were to have New Year's resolutions consisting of “fix my knee”, “earn more”, and “be more creative”, I would be working towards all of those using the actionable steps described - which are also put into my reminders app to help me stay consistent - instead of chasing the initial New Year's resolutions without direction like a headless chicken.

Conclusion

The idea isn’t to stop you from dreaming big. Keep doing that. However, when working towards those goals focus on small, meaningful, actionable habits rather than overwhelming goals.

Start small right now meal-prepping breakfast burritos every Sunday, or getting into reading more by bookmarking a cool blog (like mine), or drinking a liter of water every morning. And get someone to hold you accountable if you can!

Lastly, like most things, it’s easier said than done. I know I screw up my habits and grab that - almost family-size - bag of chips and eat them in one sitting watching Squid Game season 2. The important thing is not beating yourself up and doing better tomorrow.