Many of us have goals that are comprised of small steps. Writing a book, starting a business, losing those last ten pounds…

It’s not surprising that the attainment of our goals remains elusive when we avoid the requisite action steps, but the danger of inaction carries an additional risk: the internal narrative we form about the kinds of people we are.

When we put pen to paper every day, we see ourselves as the kind of people who write. When we get our daily six miles in, we see ourselves as runners.

How we prioritize our priorities matters, too.

Meditating shortly after rolling out of bed in the morning is different from meditating at the end of the day, as we’re falling asleep. The quality of the activity suffers, we’re not proud of our commitment, and the next thing you know…

Conversely, the cognitive and emotional benefit of knocking out our daily habits before we begin our workday has the power to transform our days, our careers, and our lives.

One tactic we can use to accelerate new habit formation is setting tiny daily goals. There are no rules against writing one paragraph, doing one push-up, or walking one block. It’s infinitely easier to keep going once we’ve started.