When setting goals with your veterinary team, you need to utilise the SMART framework and ensure that support systems are in place to achieve success. Rituals and rewards will then ensure your success is sustained!
In Part 1 of our goal-setting series, we discussed the importance of setting clear goals and how to use the SMART framework.
Then, in Part 2, we uncovered the power of habits and how they’re the engine that drives us toward our goals.
Now, it’s time to supercharge those habits with rituals and rewards to ensure your sustained success!
Turning Habits into Rituals – Creating Rituals to Power Your Habits
Let’s be honest – self-discipline is hard.
It’s easy to stick to our goals when we’re paying attention, but most of our day runs on autopilot. Ever find yourself grabbing a snack without thinking? Or scrolling through your phone even though you swore you’d be asleep by now?
That’s the power of our subconscious – and it can either work for us or against us.
So, what’s the solution?
We need to design our environment in a way that supports our new habits.
Let’s start with a simple example – food.
The concept of “out of sight, out of mind” is huge here. If you don’t buy junk food, you won’t eat junk food. But it’s not just about willpower at the grocery store.
It’s about creating new rituals that make good habits easier.
Rituals are what help you shift that environment:
- Instead of shopping when you’re hungry, make it a ritual to go in the morning when your decision-making power is stronger.
- Stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket that stocks all the fresh, healthy food, and avoid the aisles that tempt you.
The trick is to design your space and routine to make the good habits automatic. When your environment supports your goals, you won’t have to rely on self-discipline, which we all know can be fleeting at times!
Simple Rituals to Pair with Habits
Here are some simple examples of rituals to support your habits:
Habit: Drink more water.
Ritual: Always have a jug of water on your desk.
Habit: Take your vitamins regularly.
Ritual: Keep them next to your toothbrush so you remember them every morning.
Habit: Build stronger connections with clients.
Ritual: Keep notes on what your clients have shared so you can follow up next time.
The truth is habits alone aren’t enough: Rituals provide the structure you need to make those habits stick.
The Power of Rewards
Now, let’s talk about the final piece of the puzzle – motivation and reward.
We all love instant gratification, don’t we? It’s why unhealthy habits like eating chocolate are so much easier to stick to than eating healthy, fibre-packed meals. You get a quick dopamine hit from that piece of cake, while the benefits of eating a nutritious meal might not appear until weeks later.
This is why we need to build a reward system into our goals.
Waiting for the long-term payoff is tough, so we need to create small, rewarding moments along the way.
Here’s an idea to track your progress:
Grab 30 sticky notes, write a date on each until you reach the end of the month, and stick them on your wall. Every day you follow through with your new ritual, place a big checkmark on the sticky note.
It may seem small, but these small wins trigger a sense of accomplishment and help fuel your motivation.
And don’t forget to create a ritual around this too! Keep that marker close by so checking off your progress becomes part of the system itself.
Bringing It All Together
To summarise our journey, here’s the winning formula to achieving your goals:
- Set SMART goals: Goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
- Establish habits: Create daily actions that bring you closer to your goals.
- Fuel those habits with rituals: Make it easy for yourself by setting up your environment for success.
- Reward yourself along the way: Don’t wait for the end goal to celebrate; build rewards into your journey.
Remember, the real challenge isn’t setting the goal – it’s setting up the system that helps you achieve it. Habits, rituals, and rewards are the building blocks of that system, and when they’re in place, you’re unstoppable.
Now, take what you’ve learned, put your new rituals into practice, and watch your goals become reality!
