David Wang on Shifting Focus From Goals to Enjoying Life to the Fullest

At Habitify, we love our users - not just because they use our product, but because they are cool - cool people working on cool stuff. This week, I have a chance to talk with David Wang, owner of a “Funtastic Photobooth” - rated the #1 photo booth company in Los Angeles on Yelp. Despite all the fuzz and buzz of this dynamic business, David has motivated me with his positive spirit towards life and his relentless effort to become a better person. Everyone, meet David!

David, how did you decide to form habits in the first place?

My habit tracking journey can be traced back to around April this year, but my obsession with habits and organizing stuff dated back 2 or 3 years ago. I have always had this vision of who I want to be 5 years from now, so habits are a tool to help me move closer to the goal. 

So I started looking around for a suitable habit tracker. I initially used Omnifocus, but it’s not good for keeping habits as it lacks reports and stats. I tried other apps as well but either the developers stopped supporting those apps, or they didn’t have the features that I wanted. Then I discovered Habitify. I love the fact that I can use it on different platforms like my Mac & Apple Watch.

What are the habits that you have been forming?

Category-wise, they are mostly about my personal life and my health. In my personal life, I take care of the spiritual, mental and financial aspects. 

My typical morning will look like this:

I wake up early. Then, I take supplements in the morning, some of which is for my diet (I do bodybuilding), some of which help clear my pineal gland (a small part in the brain which is also known as your 3rd eye) Next up, I spend a few minutes honoring the ancestors, followed by a session of meditation (to wake up my brain). 

Next, and this is the most interesting part, is the BestSELF journal. Technically you will set 3 goals for the next 3 months. The journal will help you break them down into little steps (by month, by week, by day). Also, in the night-time journal, it will ask you what lessons you learn today and 3 things you’re grateful for.

Other habits are mostly clearing my inbox, checking notifications on the phone and some brain training here and there.

You are also an entrepreneur. How do you go about managing both the personal and business life like this?

I use a habit tracker like Habitify to manage both of them. In fact, I combine Habitify with Omnifocus and the BestSELF journal to move towards my goals every day. I always start with Habitify because it keeps all my daily actions together. I will go through it and check off as much as I can.

However, admittedly, it’s challenging to check off all things in a day. You know, I only have 24 hours and there are more that I want to do than the actual time I have. So my secret sauce is to restructure or recalibrate every day. In order to create an automatic system, I have to define the most important things I want to do every day, and also cutting down on the frequency of the habits that are less important. 

For example, I used to set a goal to read books 5 times a week. However, I realized I failed too much because I didn’t really have a designated time to read. At the same time, I realized I am not utilizing the time while taking a shower, or cooking, or driving. So I move down to 3 times a week, downloading audiobooks and now I’m proud to be following that habit consistently.

What has changed most significantly in your life ever since forming the habits?

The most significant thing is that with each passing day I see progress. 

In the beginning, all I cared about was to knock all the goals off. But it wasn’t until halfway that I realized everything is finally coming together and that as long as I follow this routine, I can achieve the goals that I set for myself. There’s this indescribable bliss when I think to myself “Oh hey, what I’m doing is actually working, the system I set up is actually working, I am actually on track!”

I cannot stress how happy I am to know that I’m finally able to wake up early, to get buffer from working out, to think more clearly, to feel better overall. Habitify helps lift my overall well-being, from my body to my spirit. I feel so much more connected with my ancestors, and I’m enjoying my life so much more.

Now that I am confident my goals can be achieved, I am just enjoying the process.. Achieving the goal is just the cherry on top, and it doesn’t stop me from enjoying the journey, and appreciating the steps that get me there. I’m super happy at the moment, knowing that everything will come together beautifully.

You made me feel over the moon, David. Do you have any productivity tips to share with everyone?

Take action every day. That’s it. You have a goal, you set it, every day you look at your goal, focus on it, decide what actions you need to take to get closer, and you go do it. Once you are able to make a habit of it and it becomes your daily ritual, success will become automatic. I believe exposure to your goal is a game-changer. What I love about Habitify is that you also have a Mac version. Sometimes, I dismiss the reminder on my phone and I will completely forget about a habit, but when I open my Mac, I see the habit on my Habitify app... I see it, I remember it, I do it, I check it off. Simple as that.

If you’re still on the fence over which goals to have, take Dan Lok’s words: “Focus on 3-4 goals only. And focus on the goals that are going to help you eliminate 80% of your problems in life”. To Dan, it’s making money. For him, money solves problems, and he works hard to achieve it (and he did!) Narrow down your choices and take actions every day. 

Thank you David for your inspiring talk!