Habits vs. Goals: A Look at the Benefits of a Systematic Approach to Life

Habits vs. Goals: A Look at the Benefits of a Systematic Approach to Life

Have a goal in the process = how you live & what you want to be = life mission & vision. This is what I learned from my past failures and that's why my life mission (how I want to dedicate my life to) is what to be (being), not what to achieve (goal).

Habits can compound and make a huge achievement looking backward in the future. James Clear mentioned the same thing in his work, "Atomic Habits." Nothing will change your future trajectory like your habits. When we begin to chase a vague concept (success, wealth, health, happiness), making a tangible goal is often the first step.

Habits are algorithms operating in the background that power our lives. Good habits help us reach our goals more effectively and efficiently. Bad ones make things harder or prevent success entirely. Habits powerfully influence our automatic behavior.

“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit is persistence in practice.” — Octavia Butler

First off, goals have an endpoint. This is why many people revert to their previous state after achieving a certain goal. Second, goals rely on factors that we do not always have control over. Habits are better algorithms and therefore more reliable in terms of getting us to where we want to go.

The third problem with goals is keeping a goal in mind and using it to direct our actions requires a lot of thinking and effort to evaluate different options. Unrealistic goals can lead to dangerous or unethical behavior because we make compromises to meet our stated objective.

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).” — Stephen Covey

The purpose of a well-crafted set of habits is to ensure that we reach our goals with incremental steps. Habits are easy to complete. Once we develop a habit, our brains actually change to make the behavior easier to complete. Habits are for life.

According to Duhigg’s research, habits make up 40% of our waking hours. Habits can compound.

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.“

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.” — Charles C. Nobel

With consistency, the benefits of non-negotiable actions compound and lead to extraordinary achievements. When seeking to attain success in our lives, rather than concentrating on a specific goal, we would do well to invest our time in forming positive habits.

7 Ways to Retain More of Every Book You Read

Reading can change how you interpret the past. That's the intelligence that can change your values. Read great books twice or more. Leave notes as searchable ideas. Try to summarize what you learn, how to apply, and how to explain it to friends.

A good book can give you a new way to interpret your past experiences. As Patrick O'Shaughnessy says, “Reading changes the past.”

Knowledge will only compound if it is retained. In other words, what matters is not simply reading more books but getting more out of each book you read.

Patrick Collison, the founder of Stripe, put it nicely when he said, “Life is too short to not read the very best book you know of right now.”

Start more books. Quit most of them. Read the great ones twice. One way to