A client of mine wanted to establish some new habits. He was confused between what is a goal and what is a habit.
Habits are the repeatable actions we put in our life to work and play at our very best. According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, “Habits are the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day.” He goes on to say in the blog post The Habits Guide: How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones “Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits.” Once we establish a habit, we don’t have to think about it much. At least, until we get out of the habit.
While habits are things we repeat every day or every week, a goal is a clearly stated finish line that we want to achieve in a given time frame. For example, increase revenue by 5% by year end is a goal. At the end of the year, you will be able to clearly establish whether you achieved your goal or not.
Habits and goals may be intertwined. To achieve a 5% revenue increase in your revenue, you could choose to introduce a new habit “make five prospecting calls per day.” Your habit becomes an easy to measure number that will let you know whether you are on track every day or not. It may take you a week, month, or even a whole quarter to get into the new habit of five calls a day. Be curious about this new habit if you find yourself consistently missing it (hint a coach can help you with both accountability and to explore what is holding you back).
For me to achieve peak performance, I exercise at 6:00 am five days a week. Not only does it keep me fit, I get to enjoy views like the one above when I exercise outside on a nice fall morning.
Use habits to achieve the goals you want. By being 1% better every day you will be amazed at what you can achieve.
