Why Small Habits Matter More Than Big Goals This Year

If God has given you a dream about what to do with the second half of your life but you’re not sure where to begin, give this episode a listen. 

I’m kicking off season 14 with my popular Habits series. In it I’ll tell you why small, doable habits matter more than big goals when it comes to finding the courage and confidence to pursue a God-shaped dream.

You’ll hear why habits work even when they feel unrelated to your dream, how habits are different from New Year’s resolutions, and how one simple habit I’ve practiced for years has shaped the way I show up to use my voice. I also explain why tracking your habits can be a powerful tool for staying motivated and faithful over time.

This episode kicks off a short series of mini episodes focused on simple habits you can begin right now to nurture your faith, strengthen your mindset, and support the dream God has placed on your heart.

Get the Habit Tracker at merrittonsa.com/habits

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Transcript

Merritt Onsa:
Hey, dreamer. What is one thing you could begin doing today that would impact your God shaped dream and your ability to persevere in it for the long haul. I am going to jump right into this first episode of my habits series.

I'm talking about low hanging fruit today and also for the rest of this series really on habits. If we haven't met, I'm Merritt Onsa. I'm your dream coach and host of the Devoted Dreamers podcast. And I am an authority on what it looks like to pursue a God shaped dream. And here at the beginning of the year, I'm going to give you some encouragement about some very simple things that you could begin right now. You might already have begun doing some of these things at the beginning of the year. 

Also, I'm kind of breaking the mold of my own podcast If you've been around for a little while, I usually interview guests and do solo episodes in some alternating fashion.

But over these next several, I'm calling them mini episodes (they're short, like five to 10 minutes. This one might be a tad bit on the longer side of that), but I'm going to be talking about how we can build simple, small, totally doable habits that will help you grow your confidence and build consistency into your life. The consistency that you need to run your race and follow after the dream God has given you.

And it's the new year when I'm recording this, it's no surprise. We're talking about habits, right? Everybody is talking about habits and resolutions. I'm recording this less than 10 days into the new year. And I'm guessing there are already some people out there who have broken their resolutions, right? There are social media posts after social media post after story, after Instagram, real on habits and resolutions and how to be better. And it's all the rage every year we do this and we see it, again and again and again, even though we mostly understand that resolutions are broken pretty much within the first 30 days of setting those resolutions. That's why I never make quote new year's resolutions. Why do we still do this to ourselves? 

You know, I was thinking about it and processing it like who can really blame us? Like there's something about a fresh start. Anything new kind of feels exciting and good, especially after we've taken some time off from our normal routine, the Christmas holidays and New Year's and we've had time with family and we've even possibly had time to find ourselves feeling a little bit bored. Maybe over that break, we got to revitalize our creativity and our energy for the things that are coming in the new year. Just that change of pace kind of stokes the fire for, I want to do something new. 

There's a new thing coming.

It's even talked about in scripture, like, are we noticing this new thing that God is doing? And you know, that old year is kind of tired and worn out and we're done with it. Maybe it was a difficult year personally or professionally or spiritually. Maybe you lost someone really important to you last year and we're just ready for what's new. We're drawn to this concept of starting again and maybe even getting it right this time around.

And whether or not you're the goal setting kind of person, you probably already have a good idea of the types of habits that you feel drawn to that maybe you've already told yourself you want to try out. And you maybe even know the kinds of habits you're most likely to stick with. Like where is the, you know, maybe not guarantee, but where am I most likely to be successful? Like let's try something easy, like eight glasses of water a day for a change.

Even though it's tricky to build new habits, you probably also understand the value of building in new habits one or two at a time into your life. And that's why I like to focus on creating one or two new habits rather than this idea of some big resolution about how I'm going to be changed by the end of the year. And I give up by, you know, January 20th and it's possibly just a semantics thing, but I am an Enneagram one. This is just the way that I'm motivated

You know, I can pick up a new habit and get good at it and it's good for me. And it's actually good for my mind and heart to have done it. And so through this series, I hope that you will think about what it is for you, what motivates you to try something new, to try to implement a new habit in your life, because creating habits that actually work for you, that you actually see some results at.

That's one of the things that I recommend as a first step for you If you have a God shaped dream in your mind and your heart that you want to figure out how to go after this year or next year, or a couple of years from now. And here's why habits work for helping you figure out and go after a God shaped dream. Because I've noticed that the consistency of building a new habit also builds this competency. You're like, yeah, I can do that.

You know, the habit I built last year is second nature now and doing that builds courage. Like I can actually do this. I can actually try something new, change up My habits, go to bed early, wake up early, whatever it is for you. And then that consistency becomes self perpetuating. I don't know. Maybe we get a little dopamine hit when we accomplish something, even something small, you know how, when you like gamify something.

Those small, tiny goals, even the tiny ones can have a huge impact in you believing that you can do something more. I believe habits will nurture your God shaped dream. And that's what I'm asking you to try out with me this month. And just a little note for anyone listening sometime after January please don't turn this off just cause you're like, ah, I missed the boat. Just because it's not the new year for you doesn't mean you can't start a new habit right now. New habits can begin anytime. 

So hang in there with me, listen up and see what you can implement that will work for you in your specific situation. I promise you there is something for you here as well. So one of my new short-term habits, which you are experiencing right now, it's part of this breaking the mold of the podcast this month. It's that I'm planning Monday, Wednesday, Friday, mini episodes for you on this topic of habits.

And we'll cover a specific habit that will help you not just build consistency and courage for your life and your dream. But we're also going to talk about some little tricks or hacks to help you hold on to a habit that you've already committed to with one little caveat. There's going to be a bunch of episodes, a bunch of five minute here, maybe try this habit. Here's a trick of how to do it, but do not try to do all these habits at once. Not all at once because that is a recipe for failure. Just pick one or two that make sense to you. 

Or if you're really good at building habits, mean, maybe you could pick three. I've got a little tool for you that's going to help you tracking your progress because you might be surprised how helpful that is in actually sticking to it. Tracking your progress is helpful in helping you stick to a goal or habit. 

And today I'm sharing one of my own habits that is possibly going to seem a little funny to you, even if you don't need this particular habit in your life, because it's about preparing my voice to speak in a public way. Like on my podcast, I still want you to think about it and hear what I say and glean from how I've gone about this and how battling that little voice that tells me it's stupid or I don't need to do it has actually helped me. So there's something here for you to implement as well, even if you don't need this particular habit. 

So a couple of years ago, my podcast editor told me about this YouTube video, Ted talk, by a guy named Julian Treasure called How to Speak so that People Want to Listen. And he suggested this to me because he noticed that my voice was kind of, you know, at certain parts of the day was drawing on or, kind of quieter or, you know, you're tired. So your voice sounds a little bit weary. He was like, Hey, you could use this. 

And at the end of his Ted talk, it's literally like two minutes long, he does these vocal warmup exercises with the audience and he has them stand up in their seats and they're waving their arms around and they're making these funny noises. You're bop bop bop bop. I'm trying to roll my Rs right now and I can't even get them to come out. ⁓ but the reason I thought of mentioning this today is because I did it right before I hit record on this episode. And I do this right before I hit record on every single episode of the devoted dreamers podcast for the last two years.

And I do it even when I don't want to, even when I'm like, I've been on the phone today, or I've been talking to my kids and my husband, like my voice has energy. I don't need this. And anytime that I don't do it, I end up hitting pause and going back and doing the vocal warmup exercises because I need them. And it's actually become this trigger: Okay, Merritt, you are about to use your voice to lead others or to interview someone. And so your voice needs to be strong and energetic. And now it not only warms up my voice, but it warms up my mind and even my heart for like, this is what I'm getting ready to do. I am a podcaster and I am getting ready to speak. And this is the thing that I do. 

This is just an illustration of the kind of habit I'm talking about where it doesn't take a long time. It doesn't take this huge like prep. All I have to do is go to YouTube, search the name of his Ted talk and go do my two minute exercise. And I move on. 

That's what I mean by building a habit, something that's super doable. That's super simple. That doesn't take a ton of time. And again, you can start a new habit any time. Your consistency to start new habits builds competency. So you get better at that thing. Your consistency builds courage and your consistency is self-perpetuating, meaning you're using a muscle of being consistent at doing something on a regular basis. And that muscle gets strengthened and grows every time you use it. 

And again, this month, I'm just asking you to consider one or two small habits for yourself. And I don't mean like weightlifting or training for a marathon or even couch to 5k. I mean, I'm talking about something that you've wanted to do that you know would benefit your life. Like I've mentioned earlier, go to bed earlier or wake up earlier, which might necessitate going to bed earlier, but so that you can get something done in the morning or drink, you know, X number of ounces of water per day, whatever it is, something simple that isn't going to take a lot out of your day and then track yourself what you don't measure you cannot improve. Peter Drucker leadership guru said something along these lines. 

And the point is, if you don't know how you're doing, it's impossible to know where to make changes or if you shifted something that it could produce a better or worse outcome. And that's why I'm giving you a free habit tracker to help you monitor your efforts in habit building this month. And if you're not familiar with the concept of a habit tracker, it's a simple little tool, just like a checkbox for each day and every habit you've committed to. And if you're intrigued by the idea that habits can help you with your dream by building competency in doing new things, building courage that you can do hard things, and perseverance to stick with something when you don't want to, or you're not quote, feeling it.

Download this habit tracker and start today to track your new habits. You'll find it at merrittonsa.com slash habits, but maybe even more important than that. Subscribe to the podcast so you'll get the whole habit series available on your app as every episode drops, and stay tuned for a free workshop later this year where I'm gonna help you move from taking that habit muscle that you're gonna be strengthening here at the beginning of the year and using it for the courage and confidence that you need to finally take your God-shaped dream off the shelf and launch it into the world.

Okay. That's it for today. Come on back in a few days and listen to the next mini episode in this Habits series. And I cannot wait to see what God does with the consistency, courage, and competency you build by testing out new habits in this new year.