5 Habits to Help You Achieve Your Toughest Goals

Setting and achieving goals is a crucial part of finding peace and happiness. We humans are
at our best when we are striving towards something, and when we can feel a sense of growth
and development as we work towards it. Yet, as you likely know, this is much easier said than
done, especially when your goals are longer-term. It’s far less of a big deal to say you’re
going to try to go to the gym three times this week than to say you’re going to write a novel.
The latter requires a lot more persistence and drive to accomplish.
This is why your habits become so important. Building things into your routine that support
your desire to achieve your goals will help make these tasks seem less tall, clearing the path
you need to take to complete them. There are lots of things you can add to your routine to
assist you in attaining what you want, but here are five that are relatively easy to establish
and that will transform the way you look at life.

Early to bed, early to rise…

Makes a man (and woman) healthy, wealthy and wise. Benjamin Franklin hit the nail on the
head with this one. Sleep is so critical to you being the best version of yourself. It
not only recharges your batteries, but it also helps clear your brain so that when you wake up
you are ready to achieve your goals. Far too many of us are sleep deprived. And this
has a cumulative effect on the way we view life. If we constantly feel like we don’t have
energy, why would we ever want to focus on long-term, difficult-to- attain goals? It’s hard
enough making it to lunch, never mind next year.
Start heading to bed a bit earlier. Begin with small changes, as your body will need time to
adjust. Consider taking a book with you to tire out your eyes (stay away from smartphones,
tablets and televisions), and keep doing this for a little while. You’ll soon see a major change
in your energy and attitude that will help give you the strength you need to focus on what you
want to achieve.

Practice meditation

Meditation is such a powerful practice. It’s particularly effective in helping you achieve your
goals because it helps you better understand your failures. So much of what we do is a
product of our subconscious. Our mind takes in stimuli from the outside world and guides our
actions without us even realizing what we’re doing. This causes us to waste time on things we
think we want to do but that we really don’t. Later, when we look back, we feel bad about
ourselves for this misuse of time, and the cycle of negativity begins. Insert even just 30
minutes of meditation into your routine (ideally in the morning) and you’ll soon notice you
have more control over your own actions. This will, in turn, give you the chance to make the
best choices for you so that you can achieve your goals.

Make your food work for you

For too long we’ve considered food to be nothing more than just a source of energy. Luckily,
things are changing, and we’re starting to understand just how much of an impact the food we eat can have on our mental state and functionality. Obviously, you want to enjoy eating, but
start working some foods into your diet that support your body and mind in their quest to
achieve your goals.
Leafy greens such as spinach, kale and broccoli are full of Vitamin K, a useful nutrient for
boosting brain function. If you snack, keep healthy snacks that are full of quality proteins and
low on sugar around the house. And if you drink coffee, make sure you’re only drinking
premium, freshly roasted coffee so that you can protect its nutritional value. Most of the stuff
you get in stores is old and has virtually no benefit apart from being a stimulant.
You don’t need to make radical changes, but by introducing some foods that can help you be
a better you, you’re giving yourself a much better chance at reaching your goals.

Create practical to-do lists

Frustration occurs when reality meets unrealistic expectations. We all have limits; after all,
there are only 24 hours in a day. If you make plans to accomplish things you simply cannot
do, you’re going to feel like a failure, and this negativity will seep out into all aspects of your
life. It’s better to underestimate and exceed than overestimate and fail. Start small and after
you’ve had a streak of productivity you’ll start to feel better about yourself, and this will arm
you with the confidence to focus on the longer-term goals you’ve perhaps been too timid to
approach.

Surround yourself with positivity

The Buddha once said, “What we think, we become.” This simple quotation embodies the
power you can have on creating your own reality. If you are constantly thinking about all the
things that stand in the way of accomplishing your goals, then these obstacles will indeed
block your path. If you instead envision a future where you’ve done all that you dreamed, this
positivity will fill you up and guide you towards correct action. The subconscious mind is very
powerful, and by simply changing the way you think about and perceive the world, you can
put it to work in your favor.

Final thoughts

These habit changes are small, yet they can be transformative. And that’s the beauty of them.
By making tiny changes in what we do every day, we can see huge effects. This then spirals
into a pattern of positivity that will help you turn your dreams into reality.