Goals without habits are just wishes
Your North Star and a 10 minute goal setting reset for Substack
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Hi friends
Research shows that when we set goals and we actually write them down, they are 100% more likely to succeed. If we look at them every day, they are 1000% more likely. Okay so these stars aren't accurate, but it is a thing.
Goals are a way of setting compass forward and keeping us from getting sidetracked. They are the Oasis on the horizon that every one of our heard of thundering fire horses head towards hoof step by hoof step.
I'm also inspired by James Clears view that rather than setting goals, we refine our habits.
For example, rather than having a scary goal to publish a novel, we develop a habit of writing for an hour a day, totally achievable - and at the end of a period of time, bam! you've got yourself a novel to publish.
It's the habit that gets us there.
I'm not quoting him directly, but you can see the shift. So the goal isn’t to be rich, but to work hard.
So to establish our goal here on Substack goes hand-in-hand with all Substack habits and our routine..
I really enjoy Substack and could easily spend far too much time on here and I have on many occasions, particularly when I first started and just the last month when I was experimenting with notes as my focus for the month was growing my free list at letters from therapy. My free list and so as yours is a golden goose.
But I also felt that I needed on Substack because as I mentioned in a previous post, I was enjoying the dopamine of getting an influx of dozens of new subscribers every day it was hard not to pick up my phone to Joy and the dopamine hit whenever I get through the day, to the point that I had to delete the app and change my settings on my homepage, so I couldn't see the dashboard. As a Therapist I felt I should be beyond this but hey, It's been a very dreary start of the year..
Anyway, I'm putting stronger time boundaries on my Substack writing. I want to contain it within one day a week. But I do pop in. Brain generates the ideas like the clippers and I. Write or dictate drafts of posts that pop out usually at 5 am. For me to edit. Structured way later. That's exactly what I'm doing right now. I haven't even had a cup of tea yet.
Anyway, I digress. The point of this article is to help us get. A mixture of setting our goals writing them down and establishing our routine. So we don't get overwhelmed by Substack, because it is so fantastic here with so much inspiration and a place for us to express ourselves and work, no wonder a lot of people spend a lot of time on here.
So I invite you to write down your goal for Substack a lot of people like to use quarterly goals and annual goals and then a five-year plan and a 10 year. This also takes pressure off if you're new. But at the same time, it's fine to be ambitious in my opinion.!
In 2024 when I started here, growth was quite easy to come by show up post your best work, share and chat with others and comments and hey Presto, you've got yourself hundreds of subscribers.
I'm not sure if it's that easy now and at the moment I'm experiencing similar growth and getting dozens subscribers every day I don't know if that will continue, and I also don't know if that would happen if I had a smaller number of subscribers to begin with - well, I give you the tips on how to grow using notes, it may be that the clout of a few thousand people and the best seller take might sway more people then if I had 30.
If it is you, I recommend that you read my article on using Notes to grow your subscriber list. Really is a wonderful and unique opportunity., and subs that have literally designed it and the algorithm to get the rights of subscribers in the right place so that they will upgrade paid because that's how they make their money. Unlike other social media platforms, Substack want us to succeed. They are not trying to keep us to sell stuff to us.