Welcome to day 4 of the goal setting challenge. Did you identify your habits and rewards yet?
Today we’re going to be discussing the important subject of planning your days.
Remember, habits → systems → goals.
You’ve determined what you want, the systems that will get you there, and the habits and rewards in each system.
Now you need to PLAN YOUR DAYS so that you can always know what you’ll be doing and when you’ll be doing it.
Several years ago, Scott Adams wrote that if you asked him what he’d be doing at 6:20 AM on Saturday, June 20, he said he’d be at his desk working on a Dilbert cartoon that he’d started earlier in the week.
He has strategically put his systems in specific time slots every day to ensure he’s always moving forward on something.
You need to do the same thing.
You need to decide PRECISELY when you will implement your daily habits.
By putting this into your calendar, it minimizes the decision-making process. If you know where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing, you don’t even have to think about it.
Our willpower is limited. The more we have to choose between things, the more depleted our willpower becomes.
By taking away the “what” and “when” choices of your habit, you make it automatic, which keeps you on track.
Planning → Habits → Systems → Goals
Simple. Powerful. Profound.
And it ALWAYS works.
Call to Action:
Take out your calendar. Take out the paper where you wrote down the habits for your system. Now you’re going to plug your habits into days in your calendar.
- Will you exercise every day at lunch time? Plug it into the calendar.
- Are you spending time in meditation before work? Calendar.
- Are you calling a friend every week? Calendar it.
- Are you writing your book at 6:30 AM? You know what to do.
You’ll be amazed at what happens when you begin planning your days. Suddenly, all the choices are taken away, which actually makes you MORE productive and happier.
You can actually focus on what really matters to you.
Okay, now it’s your turn. Remember to fill in your calendar with your habits. NO CHEATING!
Until then, please share one habit you plan on implementing and WHEN you plan on doing it.
