Goals are so different from habits.  Knowing the difference is the key to creating your ideal habits for a happy new year.  

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and yesterday we talked about identity habits and James Clear’s framework for creating identity habits.  He’s a genius.  But he also opines on goal setting, which makes so much sense, especially as we enter the new year.  

My identity habit is who I want to be.  I am going to use the example of getting healthy in the new year, since so many people think about that this time of year.  So the identity is I am a healthy person. 

The goal might be to lose weight or increase your strength or flexibility.  If you have a goal of going to the gym 4 times a week you can embody the person of not missing workouts.   Maybe the habit is showing up, even if it’s for 10 minutes.  You show up.  

You can even ask yourself, what choice would a healthy person make?  

James Clear says that you let the behavior lead the way and you will start to believe your aspiration for yourself that you are trying to achieve.  For example, start small.  Do one push up every day.  Do one minute of meditation every day.  It’s this idea that over time, you are a meditater.  You don’t need to start at 30 minutes a day.  Just start at a minute. Then, the more evidence you have, the more your mind will believe that you are the person you want to be.  

The reason habits matter is because it provides proof of how you want to think about yourself.  James Clear says “your life bends in the direction of your habits”.  Goal setting is a destination.  Habits are an identity.  

So, I invite you to think about your aspirations for 2022 and create your own identity habit.  

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