The Power of Good Habits

Using High-Performance
Habits to Achieve Significant Goals

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Good habits make positive change part of your daily life.

© iStockphoto/enot-poloskun

If you've ever learned to play a sport or taken up a new personal interest, you'll know how satisfying it can feel to reach a significant goal.
As well as learning something new, you've changed yourself for the better. That's an empowering thought!
Good habits lie behind many of these positive changes. The repeated actions – attending a weekly sports practice, for example – help you to build the change into your daily life.
In this article, we'll discuss how good habits can help you grow, personally and professionally.

How Goals Affect Habits

You are more likely to achieve worthwhile goals if you have good habits.
Illustrating this, a 2007 study suggested that we're not motivated by goals alone. In fact, once we've decided upon a goal, we're more motivated – on a day-by-day basis – by the habits that we have set up to reach it, than by the goal itself.
We're also motivated by reflecting on our progress towards our goals. A 2010 study reinforced this: here, researchers monitored people who were trying to form better eating habits. They found that those who were encouraged to reflect on how they were doing, and who adjusted their habits accordingly, were ultimately more successful.