Turning Goals Into Habits

By Author: Lawrence Korbus
Total Articles: 159
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A man was traveling in Canada one springtime when frost and melting snow made it nearly impossible to drive farther. He came to a crossroads and saw a sign that said, Take care which rut you choose. You will be in it for the next 25 miles. That's a wise warning for all of us—and not just when we're driving in rough road conditions. Article by Vernon C. Grounds, Our Daily Bread, February 2006.

Are the ruts you have established for yourself working for your or against you? For instance if one has established an exercise routine or a mental/emotional/spiritual growth routine that is providing physical and emotional support and health, then that is a pretty good rut to be stuck in. However if your habit/rut is to come home from work, eat dinner and turn on the T.V. and you do this year after year, that might be a rut you want to crawl out of.

As a Business Coach, the ruts we must concern ourselves with are the ones that make us weaker, like lack of exercise or mental stimulation. They keep us from achieving our potential and keep us from even caring if we achieve ...
... anything at all in life.

So how do we cultivate the right ruts for our lives? I am a great proponent of creating habits or ruts that actually keep us on track with the goals we are trying to achieve. If your goals and your habits become synchronous, we have a far better chance of achieving our goals. A good example of that type of synchronous relationship would be establishing a health goal of working out daily and then looking for a way to build exercise into your daily rut. The idea of getting up every morning and going for a walk not only establishes a habit, but the establishment of the habit moves you toward the goal of working out daily and the ultimate goal of better health and longevity.

Let's take that one step further and move it into the realm of business. Let's say you would like to write a book to help promote your business. Wow writing a book, huge goal with long term implications. If you are anything like me, writing a book is not the only thing you have to do in a day (unless you write for a living), so how do you fit writing a book into an already busy schedule. Let's think about that, shall we?

The first thing to do is to determine that you will make writing a book a goal. So write the goal down. Next you would determine the length of the book, create your outline and then give your goal a time line for completion. Make sure that you give yourself sufficient time to ensure that you don't have to spend hours a day writing the book. After determining the timeline for completion, you can figure out just how much you would have to write everyday to finish the book on time. The next step is the habit forming part. Look at your current schedule, and think about where you could fit in a few minutes of writing each day. Perhaps when you are starting your day, or maybe you could write at the end of the day, but it should be a time that fits naturally into your life and it should not be a large amount of time. If you can write for 15 or 30 minutes each day, and put that time slot into a block of time that you are normally doing some other type of writing project, you will be able to create a habit/rut, that synchronizes well with your goal.

Life on purpose is about creating ruts or habits for ourselves that lead us to setting and achieving worthy goals. Life on purpose makes getting up in the morning exciting and helps us to look forward to the day. Living a life on purpose helps us to get through those times in our life that are difficult and challenge what we believe is possible. Creating goals that turn into habits definitely goes a long way in building purpose into our lives. So what goals can you incorporate into your daily habits? Make sure your ruts are all good ones.

Sharon Schierling MBA - Business Coach
Refined Perspectives/Coaching the Owner, the phone number is: 214-264-7146. If you like more information, please visit: http://www.coachingtheowner.com.