Habits vs. Goals: A Look at the Benefits of a Systematic Approach to Life
Habits are algorithms operating in the background that power our lives. Good habits help us reach our goals more effectively and efficiently. Bad habits make things harder or prevent success entirely. Nothing will change your future trajectory like your habits. Habits powerfully influence our automatic behavior. Here’s how:
Habit is persistence in practice
Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not
- The difference between habits and goals is not semantic
- Each requires different forms of action
- For example, if you want to learn a new language, you could decide to be fluent in six months (goal) or commit to 30 minutes of practice each day (habit)
- You want to read more books, you can set a goal to read 50 books by the end of the year, or you can decide to always carry a book with you
- Spend more time with your families, plan to spend seven hours a week with them, or choose to eat dinner with them each night
Why a Systematic Approach Works
By switching our focus from achieving specific goals to creating positive long-term habits, we can make continuous improvement a way of life
- While goals rely on extrinsic motivation, habits are automatic
- When seeking to attain something in our lives, we would do well to invest our time in forming positive habits, rather than a specific goal
Problems with Goals
Goals have an endpoint
- They rely on factors which we do not always have control over
- Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.
- Keeping a goal in mind and using it to direct our actions requires constant willpower
- Unrealistic goals can lead to dangerous or unethical behavior
Benefits of Habits
Once formed, habits operate automatically
- They take otherwise difficult tasks-like saving money-and make them easy
- Habits can mean we overshoot our goals
- Easy to complete
- Habit can be as small as necessary
- It can last for life
- These often minuscule actions add up to make us who we are
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