If you care about what you accomplish with your life, keep in mind that what you achieve in the years to come will flow out of who you become.
You can have the best goals and intentions, but if you don’t become the kind of person it takes to achieve those goals, they’ll go unmet, regardless of how grand or noble they may have been.
It’s the kind of person you become that will determine how you utilize (or neglect) the skills you have; it will affect how you treat those around you; it will impact the decisions you make when things get tough or when no one is watching.
So while goals and ambitions may have a place, it’s even more important to make sure you’re becoming the person you want (or need) to be. Because everything you’ll ultimately accomplish will flow out of the person you become.
So, how do you affect who you’ll become tomorrow?
The answer is found in the habits you develop today.
Habits
Every day you’re either creating or reinforcing habits: habits of how you will act or move or think. And it’s these habits that control so much of what you do, even if we don’t realize it.
Consider the last time you drove a car. For most of us, driving a car does not require much mental effort. We’ll often shift gears, or buckle a seat belt, or use our turn signals with very little thought because we’ve done them so many times that by now they’re second-nature to us.
The same thing happens in the ways we think and react. We find ourselves responding in certain ways, not because we’ve chosen to, but because these responses have become our default behavior over time.
And that’s why habits are so important. Our habits will affect the direction of our thoughts and actions when we’re not consciously choosing to do otherwise. And over time, these default actions and reactions become ingrained into what we naturally do—they affect who we become.
The good news is this doesn’t have to be permanent. Although we may have habits and tendencies we’ve reinforced, these can be replaced with time and practice.
Training
Just like an athlete or musician can train themselves through repetition to perform certain activities almost effortlessly, we too can change our own actions and thought patterns through repetition and practice. We can replace old habits with new habits of our choosing.
This doesn’t means it’s easy. But it is possible.
A child who wants to play the violin doesn’t become a virtuoso after one lesson. Mastering the instrument is going to take time and practice. And at first, playing it may not feel very ‘natural’. But in time, with repetition, she gets better. And eventually, playing becomes almost second-nature.
Similarly, if we’re developing new habits, it will take time and practice. And it can be difficult at first. But in the end, it’s by changing our habits that we can see significant change in the person we grow into.
So if you’re ever thinking about what you want to accomplish, be sure to follow it up with considering what kind of person you would need to become to do so. Because once you know that, you can intentionally start practicing being that kind of person—even in small ways—today.