How to Make the Transition From Want-to-Accomplish Goals to Life Changing Habits

A little soul searching over the past week led me to realize my goals are focused in the wrong areas. Instead of focusing on one project at a time I have spread myself too thin. And even if they were solid, concrete goals I wasn’t approaching them in the smartest way possible.

After rereading The Habit Factor I decided implementing the habit alignment practices suggested by Martin Grunburg.

The Difference Between Goals and Habits

Goals are simply dreams we are working to accomplish. Habits are the stepping stones to accomplishing those dreams. With every goal we are striving to accomplish there are many habits that we can develop that will take us further to accomplishing our dreams.

Defining Your Goals

The first step may seem very obvious, but defining your goals and figuring out the why is the most important step. Grunburg advises to state your goal and the reason behind them.

I had already told you that I am going to focus on two goals this month. Below are my goals and my reasons “why.”

1.)Become a Better Person: Focus on something bigger than myself. To help people in need and show a genuine interest in other people. Stop being selfish and know that I have it good compared to a lot of others. To be thankful for everything that I do have.

2.) Focus on Blogging/Writing: So far blogging has been the most profitable endeavor for me and I truly enjoy it. I want to spend more time writing so that I can become better at it.I would love to eventually be able to write a book. I also only want to post stuff that is beneficial to me or others. I want to go for quality rather than quanity.

Create Habits that Align With Your Goals

Once you have concrete goals laid out and strong reasons why these goals are important to you, it’s time to think of the habits you can develop to bring you closer to these goals.

Below are the habits I should develop to reach my goals.

1.)Become a Better Person

• Go to Church Every Sunday (Think of something bigger than myself.)
• Give Someone Different A Compliment Everyday (Genuine Interest in other People)
• Say Hi to Someone I Don’t Know (Genuine Interest In Other People)

2.) Focus on Blogging/ Writing

• Write for One Hour Five days a week
• Comment on 20 Blogs a Week
• Submit 1 Guest Post Per Week

If you want read more creating habits for success check out The Habit Factor: An Innovative Method to Align Habits with Goals to Achieve Success.

Tracking Your Habits

To make these habits for success stick they have to be tracked. Grunburg reccommends that you set your target time and days for doing each habit and track them for four weeks. After the four weeks you can see if the target habit times need to be adjusted up or down.

This is what may target habits look like:

1.)Become a Better Person

• Go to Church Every Sunday Once a Week, Every Sunday Morning
• Give Someone Different A Compliment Everyday One Time a Day, Every Day of the Week
• Say Hi to Someone I Don’t Know Three Times a Week Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday (These are the days I am more exposed to people I don’t know)

2.) Focus on Blogging/ Writing

• Write for One Hour Five days a week One hour on Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday and Friday(after the girls go to bed)
• Comment on 20 Blogs a Week 4 Comments a day on Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday, and Friday
• Submit 1 Guest Post Per Week Saturday Morning look at all the writing I have done througout the past week and make a selection and find a blog to submit to.

These habits can be tracked on paper, an excel sheet, or you can download The Habit Factor Lite (Daily Habits & Goals Tracker / Productivity) app which is free for download on Android devices. You can also get the free habit factor work sheets here.

Turning the Habits Into a Lifetime of Success

I think after tracking these habits for a month or two that they will become automatic. After that you can create new habits to develop that will bring you even further to your goals or help you surpass them.

I am going diligently track these habits and be intentional with everything I do for this next month. If anyone else would like to join me please let me know and we can use each other for support.