I’m working on a management question and need guidance to help me learn.

Habit is the key ingredient for progress. Unless you have goals that can be achieved in a single step, chances are you will need to devote time and energy towards your goals in regular, frequent amounts. And, human nature being what it is, we often lose motivation and drive when the journey before us is arduous.

How do we keep going when we don’t want to? Habit.

Over the past 7 weeks I’ve been leading a small group of friends on the hundred push-up challenge. The goals are simple: first, to be able to do one hundred pushups at all, within the same day, and then to be able to do one hundred pushups without stopping. The key ingredient to success in this challenge is the habit of doing the required number of pushups every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, without exception.

In the beginning, there were some folks who couldn’t manage more than two pushups, period. After 7 weeks, everyone has crossed the line of doing one hundred pushups in a day. I have no doubt we’ll reach the stretch goal of being able to do one hundred pushups without stopping, too.

What made this transformation possible was the habit of doing pushups and someone to hold you accountable for doing so. I’ve had to be equal parts helping hand and butt kicker to keep the group moving forward, but we did it – and the reward has been people expressing amazement at their accomplishments, people who never thought they’d be able to do anything like that.

Some folks needed to just get into the habit of doing an exercise routine regularly and frequently. Other folks had to make room in their daily lives and even give something up to accommodate the new habit, but they did it – and they’ve achieved goals beyond what they imagined possible.

There’s so much right now in the world that isn’t under our control. We have little control over the macro issues of the day, from natural disasters to pandemics and more. But we do have control over our habits, and what we make time and commitment for.

1. What goals are you working towards right now, even with everything going on?

I am working on applying grad school for MBA …… finish the rest

2. What habits do you have that reinforce your progress towards your goals?

3. What habits do you have that are undermining your progress towards your goals?