There's a lot of value in setting goals, but I often find it more workable, especially when building new habits, to instead set thresholds.
For example, when I was actively renovating my home, I set a threshold of a single improvement per day. Currently, I'm working on becoming fluent in German and have a threshold of at least reviewing all my flashcards on a daily basis.
The advantages of this approach are that:
- The thresholds are very simple
- They are hard to fail, usually only requiring a few minutes of effort
- They apply daily, so no scheduling or additional thought is required; they just need to be done
- They aren't as intimidating as some goals might be
The idea is that most of the time, I'll do a lot more than the bare minimum, and even on the days when I just do the minimum, at least I've made some progress and kept the momentum going.
A nice side effect is that often these habits stick with you once you're done.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.