Systems, Not Goals

I used to be a goal-setter. New Year's resolutions, quarterly objectives, the whole thing. Then I noticed something: I'd achieve goals and feel nothing, or I'd miss them and feel terrible. The binary nature of goals was working against me.

The Problem with Goals

Goals create a strange relationship with the present moment. You're either:

• Not there yet — which feels like failure, even if you're making progress
• There — a brief moment of satisfaction before the emptiness of "what now?"

The goal-oriented mindset also biases you toward outcomes you can imagine. But the best outcomes are often the ones you couldn't have predicted when you started.

Thinking in Systems

A system is different. It's a set of practices that, if followed consistently, produce good outcomes over time. You don't measure yourself against a target; you measure whether you showed up.

Some examples from my own life:

• Instead of "read 24 books this year" → Read for 30 minutes before bed, no exceptions
• Instead of "get promoted" → Ship something meaningful every week
• Instead of "save $X" → Automate 20% of income to savings, then forget about it

The system removes decision fatigue. You're not asking "should I read tonight?" every night. The decision was made once. Now you just execute.

The Unexpected Benefits

What I didn't anticipate: systems compound. Each small action builds on the previous one. You don't notice day-to-day, but zoom out over a year and the change is dramatic.

Goals are about the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Systems are about closing that gap, one day at a time, without obsessing over the destination.

The destination takes care of itself.