Short Term Success is not Habitual

We’re at the time of year where people start to think about how they’re going to change in the new year. They’ll travel more, or commit to getting in shape, improve their diets, and finally get a better job. And, like every year, they inevitably fail after a flash in the pan of enthusiasm and agency washes over them.

You end up crashing out because your willpower and actions stem from doing something new. You feel invigorated and ready to take on the world. You’re finally making some real gains.

That feeling can’t last forever. You need to take that energy and turn it into process. Your gym routine will stop feeling like the best thing in the world and instead will start to be a barrier to a night out or time with your friends. The weather gets colder and suddenly leaving your house becomes a hurdle. Your enthusiasm slowly becomes inertia and you haven’t build up the habits to handle it.

Make no mistake, attacking your new goals with a wild vitality is good. It’s good for your mind and soul to relearn just how much agency you have over yourself. But, if you want to keep that feeling alive and truly reap the long-term benefits of your actions, you need to plan for failure.

Ask yourself what barriers you expect to face. What will you do when you’re short on time, when travel gets in your way, when you start to plateau, when the rejections won’t stop.

Failure is on the path to success. No one truly changes over night. There will always be struggle, so what are you going to do about it?