The Secret to Reaching your Goals

I was reintroduced to an awesome concept recently by James Clear (author of Atomic Habits).

It starts with the fact that most of the goals we set are outcome based. eg: "I want to lose 5kgs" "I want to run a half marathon in November" "I want to buy a house this year"

And to reach these outcome based goals, we need to change some of our behaviours and habits - kinda obvious because if nothing changes then nothing changes 😉

But ... our current behaviours and habits are actually a reflection of our current identity. Which means that everything we do is a reflection of who we believe we are.

So, using the examples above our current belief about ourselves might be: "I'm overweight" "I'm unfit" or "I'm not a runner" "I'm poor" or "I have no money"

And if we continue to foster beliefs like these its going to be more difficult to reach our goal.

So what do we do?

We change our thinking and try to identify with being the person who reaches the goal. eg: "I am a [slim/strong/lean/fit/healthy] person" "I am a runner" "I am a person who saves my money"

Let me share a real example of how I'm implementing this in my life. My goal is to complete an olympic distance triathlon this year. But, my beliefs have always been "I'm not a runner" and "I'm a shit swimmer".

Can you see how these thoughts could derail my training? Making it unappealing and keeping me 'stuck' where I am? So instead I am taking on the identity of a triathlete.

I am a triathlete!

I'm thinking it. I'm saying it. I'm even sharing it on social media. And when I wake up and don't feel like going for a run I just think "What would Carla the triathlete do?" Well I can tell you, I have not missed a training session yet.

Now you might be wondering how all this relates to sleep? It 100% relates because fixing your sleep is all about changing your behaviours.

So, if you are struggling to make changes to your evening routine. Or you're finding it hard to break your scrolling habit ... take a moment to think about the person you want to be (by the way, it might not be "a person who sleeps well").

Go deep on this and figure it out because, in my experience, shitty sleep is not the real problem - it just happens to be the key thing holding you back.

Then, when you are tempted by old behaviours that don't align with the person you want to be, think about what the new you would do.

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Hi, I'm Carla! I am an Adult Sleep Coach who helps people like you leave their struggles with sleep at the bedroom door. Book your free clarity call and start taking control of your health and happiness today.