I’ve been thinking about an idea from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear around creating a good process or habits. Our goals are important, but as Clear explains, the difference between gold medalists and those who finish below isn’t the goal they set. They all want to win. The difference is the system they have in place to accomplish the goal. There are a lot of good ways to build a system, but one that I’ve been thinking about is doing something small, consistently over time. Sometimes we tend to go big on our goals so that we feel movement. It’s a bit like sprinting. You can go at a fast pace, but it’s hard to sustain. Sometimes we need to focus on consistently doing something small and building from the small habit we form. It could be reading one verse of scripture each day or spending five minutes at the end of the workday planning the next. The habit of doing something at a regular cadence can be a key part of forming a habit.
As Clear puts it, "People often think it's weird to get hyped about reading one page or meditating for one minute or making one sales call. But the point is not to do one thing. The point is to master the habit of showing up. The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved. If you can't learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope of mastering the finer details. Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis. You have to standardize before you can optimize."
Look at your top one or two goals for this semester or year. What is a small thing you could do regularly to move it forward, even by just a bit? Establish the habit by showing up for it regularly. If you are having a hard time getting momentum on your goal, this might be a great place to start.