Why Systems are Better Than Goals

Every Productivity Guru will tell you that you need to have long-term goals, 5-years or even more.

They tell you that if you don’t have goals you are going nowhere. Even in the most influential Productivity Book of all time, probably, David Allen tells you to have a Vision that spans from 3 to 5 years.

The truth is that you don’t need goals if you have a good system

You will quit your audacious goal if you don’t see progress in the short term.

Let’s say you set a goal to lose 20 Kg. You eat right for one month and you lose 4 Kg. After that, you only lose 1 Kg in two months. You feel hopeless, think you’ll never reach your goal, and just say: “f**k it” while ordering a Big Mac.

This happens to all of us, but there is a better way.

Focus on building a habit instead

Don’t think about the result, just think about the steps you need to take every day.

For the example above, try to build a habit of working out every day. Start small, by walking for 30 de minutes in the morning.

Build from there. Walk more, sign up for a gym, go on a hike, etc. Remember, it all starts with a small step.

Tip #1: In which area of your life do you want to improve.? Could be your health, your marriage, or your career.

Tip #2: Come up with one action you could do each day to improve. From exercising daily to learning a new language or saying “Thank you!” more often.

Tip #3: Build from that. From just opening a Spanish Book to reading a whole page every day.

If you continue to set aggressive goals you will feel disappointed.

Build an easy-to-follow system and you’ll get there faster than you think.

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