#55, Habits vs Goals

I use both habit change and goal setting in my life. I truly believe that both provide guidance and help me understand the processes that work or don’t work. Today we are going to break down goal setting and habit building and then I’ll leave you with one of my juiciest pieces life coaching advice. 

First, let's look at goal setting. For most women this is the only tool in their tool box. They set the goal of reaching their ideal weight or completing a 5k race. Awesome. 

Pros:

• Goals can be very motivating. A properly set up goal has an easy to see finish line. You know when you have crossed over into success. 
• It is easy to include others in goals. They can understand what you are working toward and it is simple to say that you have or have not accomplished it. 
• Goals are easy to tie to a reward and the reward is often built in. For example, if you have the goal of getting a job with your dream company, the reward is the job and the position you have been fighting for. 

Con:

• Results are often black and white. You either succeed or fail. Positive changes are often overlooked if they were only a by-product of the journey. For example, if you get down to your goal weight, you might feel successful, but the focus has been on the scale, not your habits or mindset and you might not keep that success long at all. 
• The motivation ends when the finish line is crossed. You need a new goal in order to maintain the healthy changes you instilled to get you where you are. The void of energy and time will be filled with something. 

Habits

Pros:

• Create sustainable change. Developing a habit requires you to do something consistently over time and creates true lifestyle change. 
• Develop self-esteem. A goal can create self-esteem, but that can fade pretty quickly after the goal has been passed. However, seeing yourself follow-through day after day makes you feel like you can weather life’s storms and still show up for yourself. 
• Habit changes can metamorph into more habit changes, spreading your growth outwardly. 

Con:

• Habits are more difficult to tie to a reward. For example, you have to dig deep to feel rewarded for drinking eight cups of water every day for the last thirty days. 
• You can feel unseen as you fight to change something and instill a new habit. Afterall, we don’t wear a sign on our body showing our streak tracker. 

So, there you have it and you might see where I’m headed with this juicy piece of advice: Set up a goal with habit change. Essentially, marry the two tactics. 

Okay, so, let's say that someone wants to be able to run a 5K race. I would suggest that they write down the date of their race then pick two new habits they would like to instill as they work toward their goal. This might mean that they run/walk daily and drink their weight in ounces daily. They could set up a streak tracker for these two goals and consider what makes them successful to complete it and how it makes them feel physically and mentally. After the race is run, the streak tracking continues, creating the bridge between their goal and their lifestyle. The reward is completely the race with careful attention paid to how the new habits affect their life. 

This is the work I do in my weight loss group. We build habits and practices my ladies can use for the rest of their lives while they work toward their weight loss goals. It is the work I had to do to stop the cycle of binge and restrict and get in control around food. With God’s grace I brought down a stronghold I had around emotional eating and developing incredible self-care habits in its place. 

Today, I want you to take a good look at the goals you have in your life. What are you trying to change in your marriage, health, faith, parenting, finances, or career? Consider setting a goal today and couple it with two new habits that would support that change. Watch yourself cross a finish line with new practices that continue to support that beautiful life. 

Many blessings to you, my dear.

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