Creating Habits

In my research it seems that the common thread to achieving our ultimate life and work goals is to build habits, particularly ones that revolve around achievable goal setting, affirmations, accountability and stepping outside of your comfort zone.

The last one is the one that most struggle with, I know I do, but it is critical to achieve growth. 

Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone.  Billy Cox

In fact the very nature of the name of the company I co-founded, Motivforce, comes from Isaac Newton's scientific term - Motive Force, which is the force that causes something to move.  "Nothing happens unless something is moved." Albert Einstein

All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. Michael John Bobak

The BHAG

The majority of advice says to set your self a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), an idea concept in the book, “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James Collins and Jerry Porrasin. The main idea is to set this BHAG in the future, eg: You want to be a millionaire, you want to learn a brand new instrument and be in a rock covers band. You want to run an ultra-marathon across the Gobi desert!! Or you want to lose weight for summer.

Then once you know your specific goal (s), you then break it down to bite-size 13 week goals that are achievable and over time compound to achieve your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG).

The 13 week goals must be specific. eg: Lose weight is not enough of a goal, it needs to be something like: Lose 6kg in 13 weeks which then breaks down to roughly 0.5kg per week (your weekly goal)

Within that 13 week (quarterly) goal timeline are bite sized monthly, weekly and daily goals so that each day you should be taking a small step to achieve your 13 week goal and then continue in this format until you ultimately achieve your future BHAG.