acheiving your goals

Achieving your goals: how do you do it, for real?

How do you achieve a meaningful life purpose?

When I say significant, it means a relatively complex and difficult goal to achieve, but which produces a noticeable change in your life, considerably improving your daily life, and which makes you happier.

For example: losing weight, learning a new language, mastering a new skill, and getting up early.

Should you:

a) Have an iron will be disciplined, and motivated. And stop messing around: start today, get into it, and practice as much as possible.

b) Read as many books, and articles, and watch YouTube videos as possible until you know everything there is to know, to start with the best possible foundation.

c) Never force yourself: you have to do it when you are inspired and when the motivation comes. This is the best time when we are most effective.

d) Do a little bit every day, without stopping. The secret is in the regularity.

So what's your answer? Answers a), b) and c) seem logical, yet d) is the only correct answer.

Completing any meaningful life goal requires repeating the same positive actions every day for a long time. It is not discipline, motivation, inspiration, or even knowledge that matters. What matters is regularity.

What we need, therefore, is not a method to "achieve your objectives", but a real guide to behavior change. That is to say, a guide to adopting good habits, and for good. This article is intended to be that guide.

Goodbye motivation and inspiration, hello habits

It is illusory to tell yourself that all you have to do is set a goal, and then show the will to achieve it. Oh no. Because the problem is that willpower, motivation, inspiration, and self-discipline are very scarce resources in human beings. That's a fact. Some have more than others, it's true. But there is a limit for everyone. And this limit is very quickly reached.

So if we can't rely on motivation or willpower, what do we do?

The key is our habits.

To achieve your goals, you have to think about adopting good habits. Or on the contrary, avoid the bad habits that lead us into a downward spiral.

Human beings are creatures of habit. Whatever the situation in which we find ourselves, we do not become what we are all of a sudden, overnight, but through time and repetition.

This is valid for everything, apart from accidents or other exceptional situations.

An obese person does not go from 70 kg to 140g in a few weeks, or even in a few months.

Conversely, a sports champion has not reached his level by making enormous efforts in a short period.

A virtuoso pianist doesn't play Chopin in a few weeks, just because he decided to take up the piano and it sounded cool.

No, it's through repetition and training (or letting go) over the years.

Rich people don't become rich overnight if you put aside the lottery winners. And again, actually, this is a very good example. Most of them end up losing everything, precisely because of their bad habits. Just do a little Google search to find out:

But rich people (and who remain so), like high-level athletes, and people who excel in their art (chef, artist, craftsman, musician) are where they are by the force of repetition over time. In other words, thanks to their habits.

Forget willpower, self-discipline, and motivation. It will only help you in the very short term. Focus on your habits.

Whatever the goal, do not focus on the mass of effort to provide, and especially not on the distance that separates you from your goal. Instead, ask yourself: what kind of person achieves this goal? It is not a question of what to do, but of who to become.

To use my examples from the beginning:

Instead of wanting to “lose weight”, ask yourself who are the people who do not need to lose weight? These are the athletic people. And what do athletic people do? She exercises regularly. She is not looking to lose weight. They play sports because it is an integral part of their life.

How to get up early? Just look at the people who get up early every day. What do these people do? They go to bed early. Getting up early in the morning, regularly, starts the night before. Organize your days so that you go to bed early.