Goals vs Systems

Like so many people, you will undoubtedly be thinking of how you can get the best out of 2021 in all the critical areas of your life, from relationships, finance, work, hobbies and health.

It could be that as you review the last 12 months, you are thinking about all the goals you had set back in January 2020 and how many you have missed. Now let’s face it COVID 19 has rocked the world and many of our plans. We have had to become much more resilient and agile to make it through the last year. The best thing we can do is to see 2020 as an anomaly and measure our goal success from the previous three years. Take the pressure off what has happened this year as we all need a little bit of space.

So, the question to consider is, “How have you been in the last three years? Did you measure up any better with your goal setting success?

In this post, I want to share my experience in goal setting.
Offer an alternative and superior longterm strategy that I think is a better and more manageable approach to getting the best out of life.

Keep reading if you want to find out more about what you can do to win in the next 12 months.

Are goals for losers?

I have personally tried all sorts of strategies when it comes to goal setting. SMART goals, short term goals, long term goals, weekly reviews and many more. In my experience, I get limited success from them. Those who know me would say I am highly organised; I am a starter and a finisher, who works well with clear routines and habits.

So. I am not sure my lack of intelligence or willpower causes me not to hit every goal. I think it is the nature of goal setting. You are aiming at something that is often beyond you. That, of course, is part of goal setting strategies. Now, it has to be argued that even if you don’t hit your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), you have still made progress and your goals got you moving. However, I always feel frustrated when I miss my goals. So the lack of fulfilling all my goals can leave me more depleted than fulfilled or fired up.

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic, suggests that goals are for losers. This is a strong statement, and maybe like me, you find this a shock to your thinking.

Scott says if you study people who succeed, you will see that most of them follow systems, not goals. He defines goals as reach it and be done objectives and systems as what you do on a regular basis with the general expectation of improving.

Scott provides some specific examples. In the world of dieting, losing 20 pounds is a goal but eating right is a system. In the exercise realm running a marathon in under four hours is a goal but exercising daily is a system. In business, realise making a million dollars (pounds) is a goal but being a serial entrepreneur is a system.

He explains that goals are rigid pursuits that shut off your awareness of other opportunities. Systems are flexible, and they lead you to be open and curious about new ways and better ways of doing things. However, we still need to realise that goals are useful with all this goal-bashing but only in narrow simplistic and predictable pursuits.

I am not too sure I would go as far as to say that goals are for losers as it is better to have a goal that leads you to actions than no goals. However, I do agree that systems are better than goals and here is why.

Are systems for winners?

Having a system is a better and easier way to allow for daily progress and improvements. After reading the book by James Clear on Atomic habits and through my own experience of goal setting with both success and failures I think that having a daily system that you follow rather than just setting goals is a better way to go.

“We do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our system. ”

— James Clear

What is a system?

If a goal is your desired outcome, your system is the collection of daily habits that you follow that create continuous improvement in the chosen areas of your life. In a previous post, I explain the system acronym.

A system

Save

You

Stress

Time

Energy

Money

There is something powerful and exhilarating about using systems rather than goals to track your progress and see how you are doing.

Here is an example of a system that I have used to bring about positive change.

It’s as simple as ABG

This is a simple way to create a system that allowed me to make incremental steps every day and to see remarkable improvements in these areas of my life.

Each day I would write down these letters with one of the following action steps to bring about positive change for my life and others.

Monday - ABG - Always be growing (Self-development)

Tuesday - ABG - Always be generous

Wednesday - ABG - Always be going the extra mile

Thursday - ABG - Always be grateful

Friday - ABG - Always be gracious to others

Using a simple system like this over a two year period, I always felt I am winning and making a real difference.

So, let me round this up by saying that we should choose a system as it does the following:

Harness the compound effect over time
See daily wins
Experience daily progress
Create life long habits
Create easily actionable steps
Implement with ease

Creating your own system

Creating your own system is not difficult as all you need to do is choose the areas in your life you wish to improve, then create simple daily habits that make up your system to bring about your desired change.

Here is another example that John Maxwell, the leadership guru uses

The Rule of Five

John speaks about the rule of five and explains that whatever you want to be, the rule of five will create daily progress to help you with your long-term desires and goals. The rule of five says, ‘it is better to do the right thing every day than the right thing some days’. It is all about intentionality and consistency. For example, as a writer, John will do the following five things every day:

Read
Think
File
Ask questions
Write

This is a simple but powerful system that has granted him a massive success in writing close to 100 books on leadership.

Wrapping up

In my experience, using a system of daily habits will create more short term wins and long term change that you are looking for. I think goals have their place and it is better to think about the genius of the and rather than systems vs goals. However, if I could only choose one of them, it would always be a system as it so much more superior than simply setting goals.

Don’t make the mistake of just setting goals, instead create a system of daily habits as it will save you time, stress, energy and money.

Thanks for reading this post

Question

What system do you use?

Let me know what system you use or share what works for you in the comments.