There is an awesome quote by no one else but Gandhi:
“Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”
(BTW, I feel like only Gandhi can pull off such a run-off sentence without half the audience nodding off).
As a professional manager or marketer, we are in the business of changing behavior. I have always tried not to forget this, especially when we are asked to hit a goal (a “destiny”).
In our increasingly results-driven society, we may be tempted to give in and accept that we must promise to produce an outcome, to hit the metric, when in reality, to effect lasting change, we just have to follow some version of Gandhi’s advice. Brainstorm, innovate, spell it out, and communicate it; put products, services, and marketing campaigns behind it, and then, incentivize the behavior. Create new habits. Sustain that cycle enough, and those habits will become ingrained deep enough to turn into values, which will generate lasting results.
The shortcut’s life is short.