Set a Valued Goal - Work towards it

Every couple of months at my workplace, we choose a book and read it, and then run a book review session to discuss the book and lesson learned. The current book we are reading is James Clear's Atomic Habits. I had earlier gotten the book but abandoned it halfway. I have notoriety for that. One of the preliminary chapters talked about forgetting about goals and focusing on systems and boy did that hit home soundly

Let me break it down. The idea is simple. If you want to get to point B from point A, you shouldn't focus solely on point B but on what could help you get to point B. I will use hive as an example. If you want to hit 10k HP in a year from 1K HP. That's great, but what you should put your focus and on is the systems, the plans, the strategies that would help you achieve that. How many quality posts per week, how many quality comments per day, etc. You get the idea. Recently I have completely moved from a somewhat inactive lifestyle to going to the gym three times a week. I have set goals for strength development—bigger, triceps, etc. I look at my progress and it doesn't seem like much 4 months in, but I also understand that, while the goal is MY GOAL, the system is the key—consistency, increasing weight limit and intensity, etc. Learning this, internalizing it, and infusing it into my life has been a game changer.

I started to prioritize setting up plans, strategies, and systems that would aid me in getting what I wanted. Interestingly, it's one of the ways psychologists help folks who are depressed. Not just depressed even. One of the easiest ways to get your life in order is to set a valued goal and work towards it. Set a goal, something that you value and want, that would add a positive impact to your life and then move towards it. It could have a tremendous effect on your overall mental well-being.