Forget About Goals, Focus on Systems Instead
Goals & Systems- Forget about goals, focus on systems instead. The difference is a goal is about the results and direction you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. Systems are best for making progress. Goals are good for setting direction.
Eg. You want to lose 10 pounds (goal). Making small changes in diet, drinking more water, working out at the gym (System). The system will take care of the goal.
For a bad habit, we think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem. You need to change the systems that caused those results. Problems occur when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing your system.
Goals restrict happiness
“Once I lose 10 pounds, I’ll be happy.”
The problem with goals first mentality is you are continually putting happiness off until you have reached a goal. Having a systems first mentality is your remedy. When you love the process rather than the product, you don’t have to give yourself permission to be happy.

Here is an example of a system working: Your weight loss is your “goal”-
Your system is eating more vegetables, and drinking more water you feel better and have more energy. The system is what makes you happy!

Goals create an “either-or conflict: either you achieve your goal and are more successful or you fail and you are a disappointment.
A systems- first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. Is this making some sense?

True long term thinking is goal-less thinking.
It is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.

In Part 3, I will discuss how to build good habits based on your identity.

Coach Steph
References: “Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results – Atomic Habits”, Author James Clear, Pg. 23,24,26,27, Penguin Random House New York, 2018