Adopt Habits / Achieve Goals : January 12, 2024
Hello All,
Anyone who has glanced a non fiction bestseller list over the past few years has likely noticed a book called “Atomic Habits” . The thesis of the book is that small incremental changes to our habits (i.e. atomic units) can lead to significant changes in our lives, over time. He explains the behaviour that drives habits, provides strategies for forming good habits and helps to break bad ones.
I mention this as I was thinking about my goals recently (as one does in a new year) and realized that I had some work to do on defining and refining them. My starting point was an internet search on “how to set goals” which lead me to James Clear’s (author of “Atomic Habits” ) website and this post. He provides some great insight on how to set, attain and measure goals. However, the most interesting insight to me was that the systems (i.e. habits) are more important than the goals:
The goal in any sport is to finish with the best score, but it would be ridiculous to spend the whole game staring at the scoreboard. The only way to actually win is to get better each day. In the words of three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Walsh, “The score takes care of itself.” The same is true for other areas of life. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
This greatly simplifies the pressure that we put on ourselves to achieve the goals that we set and also gives us a tangible way to achieve them. Break down what you want to achieve and incorporate those habits into your life. Your goal could be as simple as wanting to drink more water every day. To do this, you would (according to Clear) need to set up a system. You could set an alarm at specific times and then ensure that you get up and drink a glass of water at that time. I imagine within a couple of weeks, you would no longer need the alarm. You would rewire your brain, in a sense, and it would simply be something that you begin to do automatically.
So, since it is a new year and many of us are in self improvement mode, now might be the time that we are motivated to implement one or two new financial habits into our daily routines. You could start tracking your personal income and expenses once a week or start posting on your business social media platform of choice regularly or start a task management system that you update daily. The options are numerous and simply require examination of areas in your life that you want to improve but currently lack structure. According to James Clear “If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
And if you’d like to share your achievement, don’t hesitate to email me at ronika@montrealfinancial.ca.
