The Goal is to Create Habits That Accomplish Your Goals Automatically

Today we're talking about the Power of Habits.Approximate read time: 2 minutes 10 seconds

We're keeping it short and sweet.You might want to lose weight, build muscle, or just live a healthy, active lifestyle well into your golden years, but that's not the goal.None of those things can be the goal.Why?They're all moving goalposts, and they're "destinations."

Destination Goals

What are destination goals?Exactly what they sound like.They're goals that have an endpoint with no regard to the process of getting to that point. Fad diets and 6-week challenges are perfect examples of destination goals.Do something crazy and unsustainable for a short amount of time, and you see big results.What happens 30 days later for 99% of the people who participate?They end up gaining most of the weight back, and many of them end up even heavier than they started.

Process Goals

Process goals are exactly the opposite of destination goals. Instead of focusing on the destination, lose 20 pounds, they focus on the process.Focusing on the process is what makes it possible to keep the 20 pounds off rather than rebounding back to where they started. This is where habits come into the equation.Instead of thinking about the "destination," think about the trajectory necessary to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Once you know which direction you need to be facing, you can start building your habit bridge. Why habits?They're the things you do day in and day out.They're the things that either deposit or withdraw from your metaphorical bank account. Your habits construct your lifestyle, and if you do it right, you end up accomplishing your "destination goals" by default. The cool thing is that they're no longer destinations; they're just landmarks along your way to bigger and better things.

How to apply it

Let's work through a simple example together for someone who wants to lose some weight. What are the necessary ingredients for weight loss?

• Calorie deficit

• Increased energy expenditure

• Adequate hydration

• Sufficient sleep

To be honest you really only need the first two but staying hydrated and rested makes the process 1000X easier.

Now you just set up habits that make those things happen by default.Set a specific feeding window and prep your meals, calorie deficit-CHECKBudget daily time to exercise; you can start small like taking a walk around the block at lunch and build from there, increased energy expenditure-CHECKBuy a snazzy water bottle that's expensive enough to be irritating and commit to drinking X amount of water each day, adequate hydration-CHECKSet your sleep schedule in stone and refuse to budge from it, especially in the name of entertainment, sufficient sleep-CHECKIt's not easy, but it is simple, and you CAN do it!

That's all for today!

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