Small Habits To Success

Good habits build you up, while bad habits pull you down. The one thing to ensure is that your habits are putting you on the path towards success. So, focus on your current trajectory

- By LARISSA FERNAND, Behavioural Finance Expert

We often set goals in the new year. I do it and have always recommended it. James Clear's new book The Atomic Habits Workbook has changed my outlook on how I approach them.

The typical approach to self-improvement is to set a large goal, then try to take leaps in order to accomplish it in as little time as possible. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. But it often ends in frustration and failure. I believed it to be lack of motivation, but this book showed me that results have very little to do with goals, and everything to do with systems.

Here are some pointers on how to crack that.

Change The System And Change Your Life

Goals are good for direction and systems are necessary for making progress. Goals are the results you want to achieve, while systems are the processes that lead to those results. Focus on creating the right system, and it will bring you to your goal.

If you are having trouble with changing your habits, the problem isn't you, or your lack of motivation, or your goal. The problem is your system. When you fall in love with the process, you don't have to wait to be happy. You can be satisfied any time your system is running.

Stop Obsessing Over The Big, Start Focussing On The Small

All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a tiny decision.

When we try to change our behaviour, one of the common mistakes is trying to do too much in the beginning. It's easy to get excited and jump right into training for a marathon, meditating every day, or reading a book regularly. But they are difficult to maintain in the long term. And it results in abandoning the habit.