to increased good health and prosperity.
Here’s how to do it.
Most people find it helpful to set goals. The reason that they find goal-setting helpful is because… {drumroll, please}… it works. Goals work, because they help us to improve our daily habits.
Everyone has a daily ritual, whether they realize it or not. Of course, there are good habits and bad habits, and what makes a daily habit “good” is that it aligns us toward the life we most want to live.
Daily Habits Lead to Realized Goals
When you look back on an old list of goals you wrote, the chances are that you will see (believe it or not) that many of your goals have been realized — even though you forgot to think about your goal list every day and, in fact, forgot that you even made the list in the first place!
When you carefully and passionately create a list of new goals, you are engaging your unconscious. And, let’s face it, daily habits mostly come from a very unconscious place. When we do something almost as if on autopilot — as if our muscles have memorized the particular activity — then we can say that activity has been habituated.
The very process of crafting a goal list causes you to visualize the goals as having been attained already — and this places positive images into your psyche. And your unconscious loves images even more than words!
What Is a New Years Resolution?
The annual phenomena of New Years Resolutions means that, sometime between December 26th (the day after Christmas) and January 1st (New Years Day), millions of human beings over the planet take the opportunity to reflect on their lives — to celebrate their successes, to feel grateful for their abundance, and to focus on what else it is that they want from their lives, and from themselves.
everyone has a daily ritual, whether they realize it or not. The trick to increased success in life, is to periodically look at your daily ritual with objectivity, as if you’re watching how someone else spends their time, studying those habits so you can fine-tune them”
New Years Resolutions:
The Perfect Time to Evaluate Previous Habits
Of course, you don’t need a holiday in order to update your list of new goals. You can do it any time that you want to, and needn’t be constrained by dates. However, the fourth quarter of each calendar year seems to be an ideal time for this process.
It turns out that I have a slightly different view on setting goals. I believe a very wise place to start your goal-setting process, is by looking at your daily rituals. And determining what specific habits need changing.
Each good daily habit is a helping hand that helps you to steady your bow, so that you can stay on target with your New Year resolution.
Do you have a ritual? Of course, you do. Everyone does. You eat every day. You brush your teeth every day. You do all kinds of things every day.
It’s the ordinary tasks and activities that we do every day — our quotidian — that make us exactly who we are.
I suggest focusing your awareness on how you actually, typically, spend your time. Really look at it closely.
Whatever we habituate on the daily level: that’s our life.
I love that word: habituate. Within that word, is hidden the key to significant self-improvement, I believe.
Fred Rogers — television’s Mister Rogers — knew this simple but powerful concept, that habituating daily good choices is the key to thriving, and through his educational programming he helped children to integrate this valuable life-skill. Do not be deceived by the simplicity of this video, his wisdom was genius!
It took me many years to figure out, what I’m sharing with you now — that success, happiness and health are really built from the foundation of our daily habits. Now that I know that, I give my quotidian the care and thoughtfulness it deserves, and I’m nearly always fine-tuning my routine!
Live the High-Energy Lifestyle!
Research reveals new habits
that will help you to look better, feel better, and be stronger than you ever thought possible.
To find out 12 Easy Ways to Add at least 12 Healthy Years to Your Lifespan,
subscribe to our free Longevity e-Newsletter below.
You’ll receive a new strategy every two weeks,
plus access to free goodies! ↘
I decided not to wait until the new year and got a head start on the resolution. I never realized it, but the small things really do matter, and when done consistently, a new and healthy habit is born. What a fantastic blog. Thank you!
I think we’re so conditioned by our “Hollywood Culture” to think of success as being determined by “That Big Oscar Moment.”
But, really, just as often, success is the sum total of a hundred of our tiniest habits.
Breaking up a long term goal into tasks that can be worked on daily is the only way to make it happen… one day, one decision at a time!
What a great photo of the father modeling for his young son the practice of daily habits. I want to follow George Burns’ (who lived to be 100) advice in the New Year. George suggested doing at least one thing every day that brings you joy.