ABC Goals And Habits

Author of “The 5 Types of Wealth”, Sahil Bloom introduced a really helpful framework related to being consistent. When we think of building good habits, we naturally believe that we need to be really consistent with doing a specific thing. But sometimes and under some conditions, it’s really difficult to take action to the extent that would keep you consistent with a commitment. 

We all encounter days where we don’t have the time, energy, capacity, or ability to follow through with our intentions. And when that happens, the alternative choice is that we break our streak and lose our consistency.

But that doesn’t represent our options fairly. Sure, it’s ideal to follow through fully, but on the days when you can’t take full action, you can still do something. Something is better than nothing, right? And Sahil argues that executing a Plan B, or Plan C, is extremely meaningful in maintaining momentum.

So for any habit you want to implement, Sahil recommends that you build out three variations of it: A, B, and C. He calls them ABC Goals and Habits. Here’s what they are, and some examples.

‘A’ is the version that is ideal and you strive to do on a daily basis. That’s spending an hour a day marketing and prospecting for your business.

‘B’ is a managed approach where you still take a significant amount of action, but it’s not the full amount. This is following up with all the leads who have gotten back to you and are awaiting a response, which might take 10 or 20 minutes.

‘C’ is just enough to get the smallest rep in, that’s a meaningful amount in reinforcing the original intention. This is sending one message out in whatever capacity that is relevant to your marketing activity, and it could happen in 30 seconds.

In the name of consistency: Plan A is what you’re building toward, Plan B is meaningful action, and Plan C is enough to not completely break your rhythm.

Sahil argues you can do the same for the goals that you set: One best case achievement, one middle-ground indicator of progress, and one that minimally completes the commitment.

The real insight embedded in all of this is that we need to accept partial action as significant, and we can’t let ourselves off the hook on the days when we can’t take action in full. In fact, it’s on these off days that your character gets to shine through, and real momentum gets built.