the easiest way to get things done, stick to habits, and destroy your goals
The title sounds audacious, I know, but despite how audacious this is, there is one critical tip, you're likely missing. One small secret that, once you know, will transform the way you think about habits and goals.
Imagine yourself crushing your dietary goals, losing all the weight you've accumulated over all the years, learning the new language you always wanted to speak, and finally getting back to bench pressing the weight you've want to weight lift.
It doesn't take much time and it's not very expensive, but it makes a world of difference. It's one of the oldest tools people have been using to help them stay productive and get work done they otherwise wouldn't be able to do.
Any habit that you want to build needs a certain amount of time before becoming hardwired into your brain. Before a habit becomes automatic, it needs to marinate in your brain. While you're trying to actually rewire your brain, one of the key tools to use while keeping yourself accountable is the humble paper calendar.
If you're someone like me that has a hard time staying accountable to myself without external reinforcement, a calendar will work well for you. Here's how to do it:
Print out a paper calendar from Microsoft Word.
place your calendar in a place where you will it everyday
Decide which habit you want to track.
Determine what your minimum requirement for completion is.
if your goal is to work out, setting a minimum requirement of 10-15 minutes is a good place to start.
if your goal is to lose weight, writing down everything you eat will work as a good jumping off point.
once youve started towards your goal, start crossing off the days that you hav completed your task
once you start a long chain, watch as your motivation slowly transitions to keeping the streak alive and not breaking the chain of x's you make on your calendar
It's stupid to admit, but this is the low-tech version of how duolingo, the language learning app, gets people to stick with learning language. Show people a streak, keep reminding them to keep the streak alive, and before you know it you've strung together almost 500 days of learning... and I still can't really speak Arabic. That's a different problem though.
Forming the habit, whether it's a new workout routine or a new diet, is critical if you want long-lasting, changes that will spill over into other aspects of your life. Essentially we're creating a habit tracker in it's most basic form. There are productivity gurus that will make really fancy ones with apps and journals that cost >$20, but the simple, cheap version works just as well. Sometimes even better since this version is always open, the battery's charged, and is always there to keep you accountable.
Start this habit and you're well on your way to designing your life.
Consciously being able to pick and choose your habits and sticking to them will change your life. Full stop.
Disagree? Comment below.