Habits vs. Goals: A Look at the Benefits of a Systematic Approach to Life

• Goals rely on things not always under our control like health and emotional stability. Habits are more automated & free up our brain for other things.
• Goals rely on willpower and self-discipline. Once created, habits don't depend on motivation.
• Goals have an end-point after which many people abandon that area because they got the reward of success. Habit is a long-term concept.
• Habit is a lifestyle. Studies have shown our brain can confuse goal setting with achieving those goals, making us complacent. 

• Goal is an end-point. Habit is a daily persistent action. 

They each require different forms of action, like being fluent in a new language in six months is a goal, but practicing 30 minutes each day is a habit.

• Habits influence our automatic behavior. They either help (good habits) or make it difficult (bad habits) to reach our goals more effectively.

Whether you have a habit of snoozing the alarm or keeping the alarm device out of reach can affect your goal of exercising every morning.

• Goals are often the first tangible step towards an untangible desire (like success, wealth, health, happiness). Habits are automated actions working in the background to power our lives.
• Goals rely on external motivation. Habits are automatic and literally rewire our brains.