Work in Progress

A few days ago, I listened to Brené Brown’s podcast in which she interviewed James Clear on his well-known book Atomic Habits. While discussing goals and habits, he made a fascinating point that I believe does not need much more explanation. Needless to say, I am grateful I heard it and hope you find it helpful as well.

Clear stated, “Our goals often have finish lines. We do this one thing and at the end of so many days it will be fixed. But the honest answer to how long it takes to build a habit is forever. If you’re actually trying to do something that becomes part of your lifestyle, then you start to see more clearly the value of doing something smaller.” 

How often do I create goals that I do not finish, or I momentarily feel better after achieving? Either way, I typically struggle with the same hindrances after. In writing my blogs, I quickly question the purpose of writing when dwelling on the immediate results: how many people will read my post this week or benefit from it? Yet more permanently, I see writing a blog each week as a way to maintain a learning mindset throughout life.

As I view my aspirations from a long-term mindset, crossing the item off the list or being recognized as an achiever is no longer central to my goal. Rather, any movement I make towards my desired lifestyle carries more weight. To Clear’s point, we are always in progress and should not allow our failure to complete a goal to hinder us from continuing forward.

To help you think through the components of your desired lifestyle, a former boss once presented me with this question during a life planning session: Who’s at my funeral and what are they saying about me? And maybe to go one step further, why do I care about these things?