A few years ago, I heard a story on NPR about a woman who, after years of resolving and failing to take up running, finally stumbled upon a way to guarantee that she ran nearly every day. Rather than trying to motivate herself to jog several miles, she resolved to merely put on running shoes and walk out the door without any stipulation about what she did once outside. This minor shift in perspective produced a major change in results.
The logic of this “gateway goal” technique is brilliant in its simplicity. When you're inside and comfortable, it's tough to muster the willpower to run for 30 minutes. It's quite easy, though, and only takes a few moments to put on shoes and step outside. Once there, there's no reason not to jog once or twice around the block. After you've covered a mile, you might as well make it two or three. Thus the stubborn mind is eased into action.
My preferred approach is to combine gateway goals with quantitative, measurable resolutions. Measurable goals are always preferable to vague ones, but can be insufficient to produce the desired outcome. The problem is that many such goals are not directly actionable; what physical action can you take right now to come closer to saving 10% of your income? If you're unable to devote energy toward achieving your goal, it's easy to lose motivation.
The solution is to provide a gateway goal for these measurable resolutions. The perfect gateway goal with such resolutions is to make a daily measurement of the quantity you're trying to improve. If you want to lose weight, weight yourself daily. If you want to become an early riser, keep a log of the time you wake up each morning. If you want to save money, track your expenses.
Daily measurement takes only a few minutes a day and helps in several ways:
- Small daily successes provide a constant source of focus and motivation. The sense of satisfaction after completing your daily weigh-in can boost your motivation and willpower to get more exercise.
- Regular feedback lead to adjustments of behavior. Seeing how much you spend on a daily basis by tracking your expenses can highlight problem areas and reveal ways that you can save.
- Measurement helps cultivate mindfulness. Simply by paying more attention to the food you eat by keeping a food diary, you're more likely to make good choices.
Moreover, there is empirical evidence that regular measurement works: studies have found that people who use pedometers walk more and that people who weigh themselves daily lose more weight.
While daily measurement alone won't guarantee that you reach a specific weight or account balance, it is an excellent habit to develop that can greatly increase your chances of success.