Why habits are more significant

Every new year, people are more willing to set new year resolutions. However, these goals are sometimes difficult to achieve or easy to be given up halfway. By contrast, good habits can change our lives and help us achieve our goals. Researchers hold the belief that habits are more important than goals. Goals need to be driven by external motivation, and habits can be self-driven. Shane Parrish  , a financial blogger, introduced this idea in an article on Farnam Street 法纳姆街 , a blogging platform, which was reprinted （转载）by Wechat Public Number Kaizhi School.微信公众号“开智学堂

Habits differ from goals, which require different ways of action. For example, I want to learn a new language. You can set the following goals: to be fluent in new language conversations within six months; or to develop habits; to commit （投入）30 minutes daily to practicing new languages. What's more ,if we want to spend more time with our family,we can set goals such as spending seven hours a week with our families, or forming the habits of having dinner with them every night.

The article holds firmly that the objectives （目标）have the following characteristics or limitations:

First, there is an end point. That's why many people return to their previous state once they achieve their goals. For example, some people stop exercising after running a marathon; others celebrate losing weight by overeating.

Second, the process of achieving goals is uncontrollable. You may come across sorts of uncontrollable things in the process of achieving goals. For example, accidental injuries may hinder your fitness goals; accidental expenses may affect your financial goals; and family affairs may affect your creative output goals.

Third, goals tend to make people complacent or impulsive（自满或冲动）. Research shows that people's brains confuse goals and achievements, especially when they announce their goals to others, they think they have achieved them and become their own achievements. Moreover, some unrealistic goals may lead to dangerous or immoral behavior.

Habits make things easier than goals. Stephen Covey, author of the best-selling book Seven Habits of Successful People, once said that habits are the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do) and desire (want to do)（ 习惯是知识（做什么），技能（如何做）和愿望（想做）的交叉点 ）. Once habits are developed successfully and run automatically, it becomes much easier to overcome difficult tasks. Well-designed habits ensure that we achieve our goals step by step.

Moreover, habits have two obvious practical benefits.

Firstly, habits can make you unconsciously surpass your goals. Suppose your goal is to write fiction. You get into the habit of writing 200 words a day, and even if it takes 250 days to finish a novel, the amount of work you do every day will not make you feel stressed. Sometimes when inspiration comes, you can write 1000 words or more. In this case, eventually you may finish the task ahead of time. If you set a goal of writing a book in four months, which can result in psychological burden to you.

Secondly, habits bring about more changes than we imagine. Habits make the brain act regardless of everything, even against common sense. When habits are formed, the brain changes. The purpose of habit-building is to simplify actions and ultimately achieve the goal.

I hope the above ideas will inspire you.

Why habits are more significant than goals?