Our habits make or break us, they define us and reform us. Just as good habits lead to progress and results, bad habits can lead to disappointment, unproductivity and the feeling of failure. No one likes to fail, therefore the best way to set yourself up to achieve your goals is to take consistent action towards them.
Over the past few years, I’ve worked towards a few goals and had many setbacks, yet each day I take some action towards my goals. I have found for me to create the consistency I need to achieve some of my long term goals requires me to keep my goals in my mind. I have my goals displayed on a vision board to help me stay focused. By seeing the goals in front of me daily helps me take the consistent action required to get me closer to goal success.
When you have a goal, you need to take action to get there and the best way is to create habits that help you achieve that particular goal. You can design and create your life by breaking habits and forming new habits. As habits are behavioural actions repeated consistently.
It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.
Anthony Robbins
Some mornings I want to turn over and hit the snooze button but I don’t. The reason why is I have a health goal and I know that consistency is key to success. Just one or two days lapse may see me slip back into bad habits. Furthermore, I may find myself going backwards instead of forwards.
Track your habits for success.
Are you like me and have a lot of goals you’d like to achieve? Each goal needs individual attention to achieve it, and with every goal, there will be new steps to be taken. Something new to learn, something new to do or simply an activity that will help you achieve the goal.
If the goal is something you have never achieved before then you may need to change some things that you are doing. As if you stay doing what you are doing you will end up with the same results you currently have.
I’m certainly finding that I need to change habits to get the results I want.
As I change my ways, I also track. I find tracking habits a useful tool to keep me on course for goal achievement.
As consistency is key to success, a tracker gives a visual view of the action you are taking towards your goals. You can see if you are creating the habits you need to change as to become the person you know you can be. When you use a habit tracker you can see the patterns of your daily actions and make adjustments to reach your goals.
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments
Jim Rohn
Not all habits are equal. Yet, all habits are powerful.
I once read a story in The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, about three men whose lives changed over the period of a year. The three men were friends. The first man decided he wanted to improve his health and wellbeing so every morning he got up and went for a morning walk and read a chapter of a book.
The second man, he decided he was happy the way things were in his life and he did not change his ways. And, the third man he started eating a little more than he usually did, not much just a little. He also had an extra snack with his morning coffee and he chose to start relaxing more in life.
As the story goes after a year, the first man was happier, slimmer, fitter and got a promotion at work. Personal development was helping him reach his goals. The second man had not changed and the third man had put on weight, he was more tired than he used to be and unhappy with many things in his life.
It is the cumulative effect of the habits that created the changes in these men. The first man’s success came about because of the small positive changes he made.
It’s habits that lead to success.
To start achieving goals, you need to change your habits. However, changing a habit does not happen overnight. Just as, goals are not achieved overnight. New habits are formed and the results may take time to show. They are not instant. It takes time to create momentum.
To reach a life goal it can take a year, two years, even three years or more depending on what you are aiming for and the amount of time you are putting in. However, over time positive habits do lead to success.
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Consistency is key to success
Most success stories told all over the world are as a result of consistency. Gretchen Rubin, Rachel Hollis, and Marc and Angel Chernoff are a few people who never gave up. They focused on changing their lives and never gave up. They were consistent until they obtain the desired outcome, even when they didn’t know for sure what the outcome was. The took steps to change.
Achieving a goal is about having determination, believing in yourself and working towards your goal. One day you will achieve your desired outcome.
As my mentor says ‘just don’t give up.’
Consistent action.
You must take consistent action towards achieving a certain goal. Without action, your wishes and goals will only be dreams. Consistent action may be learning new things, research, testing and repeating. As the saying goes ‘consistency is key.‘
I remember as a child hearing my sister practice the violin. At first, it didn’t sound good. In fact, I didn’t like her practising it as it was not pleasant to listen to. With practice she became good and it was a pleasure to hear her play.
When you encounter difficulty, look at it as a challenge and push through. Remember your dreams and why you are changing or creating habits to reach your goals. The only way to prevent yourself from fulfiling your dreams is if you quit.
Never give up on your goal
There is no shortcut to success; you must put in the effort, determination, consistency and never give up. Failures, drawbacks, and discouragements are a normal part of any success story.
However, what differentiates winners from losers is the spirit of never giving up no matter the situation or outcome.
You need to always stay focused on your goal, concentrate all your energy on ensuring that your goal becomes a reality. Whenever you get a drawback, recollect yourself and try to find out what happened and learn from your mistakes. Learn from the mistake and move forward. Today many people call this motion ‘failing forward‘.
While at a business meet up with mentors and entrepreneurs a challenge was set. The challenge was to track daily for 90 days. One of the tasks was a weekly task, it was to fail at something weekly. Why fail? Fail because when we fail we are progressing and we learn from our mistakes. The more we fail the more we are taking consistent action towards our desired outcomes. It is only by implementing, learning and developing consistent habits that will we reach our goals.
Success is achieved through failing.
Aim for success.
Give yourself the best chance to reach your goals. Take consistent action and never give up on your goals. Consistency is the key to success.
Therefore, To give yourself the best chance of achieving your goals take consistent action, never give up and track your habits. Get your free 90 day success planner and habit tracker.
Angie blogs about setting goals and mastering habits as well as productivity and living abroad. She started blogging while learning the skills to start an online business. Her goal to work online came about due to wanting to see overseas family and travel around Australia. Her mission is to help others succeed with their goals. Angie often shares tips and tricks while walking the beaches or near the lake on the Central Coast NSW Australia.
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It’s definitely good to be consistent and as specific as possible. And I love how you talk about never giving up! Most goals are a long game and not a short game, and I think people tend to give up way too easily.
Thank you Jen, yes most people give up too easily because it’s so hard to see the end line with long term goals. That’s the importance of breaking the goals down and celebrating along the way.