David Beck: Why I have a checklist of daily habits

Long-term goals can be broken down into more short-term goals or habits to ensure you are always moving in the right direction. Photo / Getty Images

Picture this. You are standing at the foot of a rock-climbing wall. Your aim is to climb to the top.

You can make a plan, you can tell people what your aim is, but until you place your hand on that first climbing piece you are not any closer to getting there.

Knowing you want to get to the top is important but unless you successfully take the next step, you will fall.

Now take that thinking and apply it to achieving your goals.

We're a week into 2022 and many of us will have set New Year's resolutions. While I am no expert, I do have some tips to share which I hope will be useful.

We know it is important to set long-term goals, whether it be related to health, wellbeing, relationships, or our careers, but unless we break that goal down into things we can do right now we might never get there.

I'm always reading books and listening to podcasts about wellbeing and self-development. A couple of years ago I read Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear and it taught me lessons I think about every day.

I'm not perfect but I know what my long-term goals are and I have a list of daily habits that will help me get there.

My ultimate long-term goal is that when I am on my deathbed, I can look back and say I lived a happy, confident life, made the most of every day and was a positive influence on the people and community around me.

In the more medium term, I want to get to a weight and fitness level that allows me to feel comfortable and energetic, I want to manage and improve my mental health and I want this newspaper to be crowned Community Newspaper of the Year.

Tracking your daily habits helps keep you accountable. Photo / David Beck

Breaking that down into things I can do every day to get closer to my goals, I track my daily habits on an app called HabitNow.

These daily habits are to: Stick to my nutrition plan, do 10,000 steps, journal morning and night, not use my phone in bed, do a workout (unless it is a planned rest day), make my bed, and read and do breathing exercises in the morning to set myself for the day ahead.

This keeps me accountable and I know if I tick them all off each day I'm well placed to achieve all my goals. If I miss a day, I do everything in my power to ensure it does not become consecutive days.