The Slow Start Solution to Conquering New Year's Resolutions

Recently, my new friend Chris came across a quote of mine on Twitter or Instagram, and in his words, it changed his year. The quote was this:

When the passion goes away, it’s the practice that sustains us. ~ Jeff Goins

He told me these few simple words were some of the most impactful ones he had read in the past year. He told me how, in the previous year, his business had gotten out of control and he’d experienced some failures that were the result of broken promises and over-committing.

But one thing saved him:

“The practice,” Chris told me, which he defines as: “a set of habits, rituals and plans that are scheduled to support the pursuit of a goal.” For him, this meant having a seven figure business. One million dollars. He gave up nearly everything — relationships, integrity, even his health — in pursuit of this goal. And in the end, he realized it wasn’t worth it, at least not the way he was doing it.

“The practices,” he wrote in a blog post, “are meaningless without the virtues.”

I love that. In fact, Chris taught me more about my own quote than I knew myself. So, here’s what I’m doing as someone who has struggled with setting and attaining goals most of my life. Maybe it makes sense for you, too:

• Focus on the habit, not the result. With most things frequency matters more than quantity. Make it a habit to go to the gym every day even if you only spend a few minutes there.
• Make the habit small, easy, and repeatable. Then make it more difficult over time. Don’t binge. Nibble. Don’t write a book. Write 500 words per day. Don’t get into shape. Walk 10,000 steps a day. Or start even smaller with one push up before bedtime.
• Don’t do something big and audacious. This year, do something small and consistent. That’s the secret to breakthrough with any goal, resolution, or change you want to make.

It’s not the big things that change our lives, or our world. It’s the small things that add up over time. Drip by drip, as Seth Godin likes to say. It’s not the passion, but the practice that sustains us.