You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
Favorite Ideas
- If you do something once, the long term impact may be small. The actions you do daily, however, compound their impacts over time.
- Winners and losers have the same goals, but different ways of achieving them. Goals represent where you want to go. Systems are habits that will get you there.
- Design a system you love and identify with that will take you to your goals. Instead of thinking "I want this", think "I am this". If you stick to your system, you will have reinforcing evidence that supports your identity statement.
- Habits are a logical, 4-stage problem/solution process. You experience a cue in your environment that triggers a craving. To satisfy the craving, you respond and receive a reward.
- You can leverage the process to help you build strong habit systems. Modify your environment to reduce friction for habits you want to encourage, and add barriers for habits you want to reduce. Make sure you see the rewards of your actions to stay motivated. Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day - you don't have to be perfect, but you do need to keep momentum. If you stay diligent, they will compound over time.