Not Goals, Habits

In the previous post I wrote about dreaming.  Simply just dreaming!  I see so many people that have given up and feel that they're dreams just don't matter anymore - what nonsense!  But that was last week and you are welcome to read more about that right here.



It does all start with dreams but my question is what follows next?  Set those big goals and hit it as hard as you possibly can?  Rev it up and see where it ends? Man O Man!  I am simply tired of all the rushing and pushing for bigger and badder every year by the "leaders" in society.  I do believe that we have to look at our behaviour and change, transform, grow and simply be amazing.  ...But how?

Just to recap: I have been working with people development and in business now for about 11 years within different fields and what strikes me every day is how simple it is to fail.  There are endless resources that are really excellent out there yet it is still so easy to fail.  It is simply about the behaviour that is so deeply rooted.  I think it is because we have faith in our behaviour; faith in our habits.  ...Faith that it will bring us comfort, security and protection against the thing we don't want - failure.  It is a little like believing that brushing your teeth will save your life.

What I am getting at here is that our habits shape us because they are rooted in our beliefs.  I am also challenging the approach that you need to change your beliefs before you change your behaviour.  I am not saying that your beliefs are not important but sometimes seeing is believing.  If you can see the effect that changed habits have on your life you will perhaps be persuaded to believe that you can.

I have gone through periods that I have had to choose to change habits (perhaps pressured to a certain extent) and through this have been able to see what I am capable of.  The reality is that when I change a habit my behaviour changes and I am made aware of what I believed about myself previously.  So here is the great epiphany: focus your focus and passion on habits rather than goals as an alternative approach. I guess it does relate to the principle of ensue that has this habit of popping up every time.  The point is that if you are doing something because you feel called to do it and make time in every day to pursue it there should be a breakthrough.  Focus on the outcome and it has a way of causing stress.  Be in the moment and find the intrinsic value of your activities, build habits (e.g. playing a guitar for an hour a day, every day between 8 and 9pm) around these activities and see real growth occur.