We’ve recently been talking about the habits of being proactive, reflecting on experience to produce insight, and suspecting yourself first. But we didn’t get into why building great habits is so important in the first place! I’ll lean on some successful authors on and around the topic of habits to make a case for why developing good habits is invaluable.
In the book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, author James Clear writes a line that has really stuck with me.
Winners and losers have the same goals.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
Think about that. For me, sports immediately come to mind. I imagine all or almost all football teams have the goal of winning the Super Bowl championship game. But only one team actually wins every year. Clearly just having the goal of winning the championship does not guarantee success.
Clear suggests we don’t focus on the goal, but rather on a system of habits. He says this about habits:
Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
John Maxwell, author and leadership expert puts it this way:
The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.
John Maxwell, “Making Today a Better Tomorrow” (audio lesson)
In the book The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success & Happiness, author Jeff Olson presents this formula:
consistently repeated daily action + time = inconquerable results
Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge
In the book The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win, author Jeff Haden says this about goals and process:
Dream big.
Jeff Haden, The Motivation Myth
Set a huge goal.
Commit to your huge goal.
Create a process that ensures you can reach your goal.
Then forget about your huge goal and work your process instead.
Process. System of habits. Daily agenda.
You already realize that just having a goal is not enough. We need to change what we do daily, what we do habitually, in order to succeed.
So, how can we apply this? Let’s say you want to become an expert on a product you are working on. You want to be the go-to engineer. You want to have answers for people when they have questions. You want to be the subject matter expert (SME).
Reaching this level of expertise won’t happen just because you want it to, or even because you set it as a goal. Figure out what habits you need to cultivate or change to get there. Maybe you set aside regular time to research the technology, design, or even (gasp!) to read the documentation.
Maybe you get in the habit of scheduling meetings once a week with different team members who know about the system to learn how it works from them.
Maybe your habit is to cultivate a more curious mind that questions and wants to know how each part works and fits into the whole.
My guess is you already know what you need to change in order to make progress on the journey to your big goal. And, if you don’t, ask a mentor or manager to help figure it out.
Personally, I didn’t have a specific goal in mind when many years ago I developed habits of self-improvement, which included reading in my free time, and attending workshops and conferences. I had no idea at the time that I would start a blog, give presentations, or coach. And, indeed, for many years I did none of those things. You might say the progress seemed invisible. But the more I consistently read and practiced various skills, the more people started coming to me with questions and issues looking for advice. When I noticed that happening I realized all the time I had put in was leading to a higher purpose – serving others to help them make their lives better by coming alongside them to explore their potential or helping to solve a problem.
Our daily habits that lead to big goals are generally small actions. The result of each day’s worth of practicing a habit may seem inconsequential. But when repeated over time, the accumulation can be enormous. Consider if you want to create a reading habit. If you made a daily habit reading 10 pages a day, in a month you’d be through an entire book (give or take). If you stick with your daily reading habit, you’ll have read 12 books in a year! (And, if these are all around the same subject, you’ve learned a lot!).
But if you set out to read 12 books as a goal, that may seem impossible. It’s starting with manageable, sustainable habits that get you to where you want to be, or even beyond. James Clear and others point out that if you work your system of habits, you’ll reach a place whether or not you set a goal to get there.
Similarly, spending a few minutes a day listening to a podcast or watching a video blog won’t change your world in a day. But, when done consistently over time, you’ll gain a lot of knowledge for a small price.
Employers pay for knowledge. They look for people who continuously improve. With tech today we always need to be learning, and putting in a little effort each day is a great way to accomplish that.
tl;dr
It’s not the setting of a goal that leads to success. Rather, our daily habits work for us or against us. Cultivate good habits and soar. Cultivate bad habits and sputter.
engineer your life
Think about one habit you could change or acquire in your professional life that would really make a big impact. Do the same for your personal life. (Then do it!)
For more on building good habits and breaking bad ones, read Atomic Habits by James Clear.