Don’t Just Set Goals. Build Systems:
- This book provides helpful insight on building useful systems instead of traditional goal setting, which is often too rigid to get results.
- It explores the concept of systems thinking and illustrates how this approach can be applied to professional development and life design.
- With its focus on individual behavior and the idea of breaking down complex tasks into smaller parts, this book will be especially useful for UX designers looking to develop or refine their process methodology.
- In addition, those interested in this subject may find other books like The Power of Habits: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg and Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Daily System to Build Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear equally useful.
✏️ Highlights
I want to help you break the habit of setting lofty goals that never get realized.
Goal setting is not how you achieve the things you want in life. A goal is required for direction but to think it is how you will achieve what you want is flawed.
when the only thing you can think of is achieving the goal. The excitement. The joy. The relief. This is called a “positive fantasy.” It’s not healthy.
Why do you think 70% of lottery winners go broke and a third declare bankruptcy within three to five years? The symptom is treated (being broke), but the cause (lousy spending habits) is untouched.
Have you ever thought, “when I achieve X, I’ll be happy?” That is the failure state.
Systems are the moving force for the goals you set.
Here are a few examples of effective systems: → Objective: Write a book in a year. System: Write “two shitty pages a day” (as Tim Ferris would say). → Objective: Grow on social media. System: Post daily. → Objective: Master an instrument. System: Practice the fundamentals of the instrument daily.
“Goals are good for setting a direction but systems are best for making progress.” — James Clear, Atomic Habits
“Fix the inputs, and the outputs will fix themselves.” — James Clear
The secret to building an effective system is incorporating small, consistent wins into your life.
Everyone has goals they want to achieve — sometimes, people have the same goals
This will be the most practical part of the article; Grab a notepad and pen, and work through these steps with me. Step 1: What do you want to achieve? Sit down and think about what you want. Be honest with yourself, and don’t be afraid to go deep. For instance, saying “I want to be a professional footballer” is not detailed enough if the truth is you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe. The goal of this step is to completely define what is on the other side of the river. The following steps will show you how to build a bridge and walk across it. Step
it takes the guesswork out of who the bank thinks will likely pay them back when they borrow money.
This will be the most practical part of the article; Grab a notepad and pen, and work through these steps with me. Step 1: What do you want to achieve? Sit down and think about what you want. Be honest with yourself, and don’t be afraid to go deep. For instance, saying “I want to be a professional footballer” is not detailed enough if the truth is you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe. The goal of this step is to completely define what is on the other side of the river. The following steps will show you how to build a bridge and walk across it. Step 2: The five why’s
it is essential to identify where the core problem lies — the thing blocking you from where you want to be (Remember: systems treat the cause, not the symptom).
It’s pretty simple; ask yourself why you want what you want, answer, and repeat the process four more times. For instance, take the following scenario: Why #1: Why do you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe? Response #1: I have a chip on my shoulder. I want to prove people who doubted me wrong. Why #2: Why do you want to prove yourself to people who doubted you wrong?Response #2: So, in the future, people do not give up on me. Why #3: Why don’t you want people to give up on you? Response #3: It kills my confidence
Why #4: Why does it kill your confidence? Response #4: Because I’m very attuned to what people think of me. Why #5: Why are you very attuned to what people think of you? Response #5: I have low-self esteem, and it hurts me when I feel like I’m letting others down. Boom!
building the bridge from where you are now to where you want to be… The great thing about learning what you need to do is that you don’t have to come up with it by yourself.
Step 3: Learn the core actions required I like to think of this stage as building the bridge from where you are now to where you want to be… The great thing about learning what you need to do is that you don’t have to come up with it by yourself.
Step 4: Set implementation intentions Now you’ve identified the actions required to get what you want, you must set intentions to implement them. This is known as implementation intentions. They are commitments to perform an action at a specific time and location — you specify what you’re going to do when you’re going to do it, and where.
The structure for an implementation intention is as follows: “I will [ACTION] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
Let’s see some examples: → I will train using calisthenics and weighted exercises for 1 hour every weekday before work, from 7 am to 8 am, at the gym. → I will write down what I buy and its price whenever I purchase something with apple pay. → I will create content for my Medium blog for 2 hours daily, from 4 pm to 6 pm, in my home office.
Implementation intentions are a safety net for days when your motivation is depleted… And there will be a few of those days.
I want to help you break the habit of setting lofty goals that never get realized.
Goal setting is not how you achieve the things you want in life. A goal is required for direction but to think it is how you will achieve what you want is flawed.
when the only thing you can think of is achieving the goal. The excitement. The joy. The relief. This is called a “positive fantasy.” It’s not healthy.
Why do you think 70% of lottery winners go broke and a third declare bankruptcy within three to five years? The symptom is treated (being broke), but the cause (lousy spending habits) is untouched.
Have you ever thought, “when I achieve X, I’ll be happy?” That is the failure state.
Systems are the moving force for the goals you set.
Here are a few examples of effective systems: → Objective: Write a book in a year. System: Write “two shitty pages a day” (as Tim Ferris would say). → Objective: Grow on social media. System: Post daily. → Objective: Master an instrument. System: Practice the fundamentals of the instrument daily.
“Goals are good for setting a direction but systems are best for making progress.” — James Clear, Atomic Habits
“Fix the inputs, and the outputs will fix themselves.” — James Clear
The secret to building an effective system is incorporating small, consistent wins into your life.
Everyone has goals they want to achieve — sometimes, people have the same goals
This will be the most practical part of the article; Grab a notepad and pen, and work through these steps with me. Step 1: What do you want to achieve? Sit down and think about what you want. Be honest with yourself, and don’t be afraid to go deep. For instance, saying “I want to be a professional footballer” is not detailed enough if the truth is you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe. The goal of this step is to completely define what is on the other side of the river. The following steps will show you how to build a bridge and walk across it. Step
it takes the guesswork out of who the bank thinks will likely pay them back when they borrow money.
This will be the most practical part of the article; Grab a notepad and pen, and work through these steps with me. Step 1: What do you want to achieve? Sit down and think about what you want. Be honest with yourself, and don’t be afraid to go deep. For instance, saying “I want to be a professional footballer” is not detailed enough if the truth is you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe. The goal of this step is to completely define what is on the other side of the river. The following steps will show you how to build a bridge and walk across it. Step 2: The five why’s
it is essential to identify where the core problem lies — the thing blocking you from where you want to be (Remember: systems treat the cause, not the symptom).
It’s pretty simple; ask yourself why you want what you want, answer, and repeat the process four more times. For instance, take the following scenario: Why #1: Why do you want to be one of the best professional footballers playing in a top-four club that competes for titles in England and Europe? Response #1: I have a chip on my shoulder. I want to prove people who doubted me wrong. Why #2: Why do you want to prove yourself to people who doubted you wrong?Response #2: So, in the future, people do not give up on me. Why #3: Why don’t you want people to give up on you? Response #3: It kills my confidence
Why #4: Why does it kill your confidence? Response #4: Because I’m very attuned to what people think of me. Why #5: Why are you very attuned to what people think of you? Response #5: I have low-self esteem, and it hurts me when I feel like I’m letting others down. Boom!
building the bridge from where you are now to where you want to be… The great thing about learning what you need to do is that you don’t have to come up with it by yourself.
Step 3: Learn the core actions required I like to think of this stage as building the bridge from where you are now to where you want to be… The great thing about learning what you need to do is that you don’t have to come up with it by yourself.
Step 4: Set implementation intentions Now you’ve identified the actions required to get what you want, you must set intentions to implement them. This is known as implementation intentions. They are commitments to perform an action at a specific time and location — you specify what you’re going to do when you’re going to do it, and where.
The structure for an implementation intention is as follows: “I will [ACTION] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
Let’s see some examples: → I will train using calisthenics and weighted exercises for 1 hour every weekday before work, from 7 am to 8 am, at the gym. → I will write down what I buy and its price whenever I purchase something with apple pay. → I will create content for my Medium blog for 2 hours daily, from 4 pm to 6 pm, in my home office.
Implementation intentions are a safety net for days when your motivation is depleted… And there will be a few of those days.
