‘Tis the season for many of us to consider settings goals for 2024. Here are three reasons you may want to commit to habits, instead:
1. Goals can reduce the happiness you feel right now.
When you’re working toward a goal, you’re essentially saying: “I’ll be happy as soon as I achieve X."
Focusing on smaller habits, rather than the goal itself, will help you to enjoy the day-to-day process of working toward a goal. It will also keep you grounded in the present, instead of focusing all your energy on the future.
2. When we fail to achieve a certain goal, we often feel bad about ourselves, even if we’ve made immense progress.
Focusing on daily habits instead of on a particular outcome lets you notice and appreciate small wins: incremental steps toward achieving your bigger goal. This way, even if you don’t achieve your ultimate outcome, you can still appreciate your progress.
3. Goals can be overwhelming.
“Write a book” or “lose 30 pounds” can seem too daunting to even begin. When we do try to work toward a lofty goal, we often start out working so hard and so intensely that we give up within a few weeks.
“Write one page a day” or “walk 15 minutes per day” sounds (and is) much more manageable than “write a book” or “lose 30 pounds.” You’ll still get results – probably even better ones than if you’d committed to an abstract goal instead of a habit or process – minus the stress and overwhelm.
Karina Inkster is a qathet region health and fitness coach, author of five books, and host of the No-B.S. Vegan podcast.
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