Goals that survive contact with real life

A goal that only works on a good week isn't a goal, it's a wish with a deadline. The useful test is whether it still functions on your worst realistic day — the day with the delayed train, the sick child, and the meeting that overran.

First, shrink the unit. 'Write the book' fails. 'Open the document before I open email' survives, because it requires almost nothing from your willpower budget.

Second, attach it to something that already happens. New behaviours rarely find their own slot in a full week; they have to borrow one from an existing habit.

Third, decide in advance what counts as a miss and what you'll do about it. People don't abandon goals when they slip. They abandon them when slipping feels like a verdict on their character.