As each New Year arrives, a plethora of articles and conversations drift toward the subject of ‘goal setting.’ While goals establish a direction, they have historically proven more ineffective than you might have imagined.
Universally, my most successful clients largely ignore goals in favor of identifying, creating, and following ‘superior systems.’ Systems are about the processes you take to achieve goals and you better have them in place if you don’t want to be eternally frustrated by your goal set. Some experts even believe that with the proper systems, you can even totally disregard ‘goals’ and still be immensely successful.
Instead of focusing on your goals, I would rather you concentrate upon identifying the right systems for you and your quest, and identifying the right person or people to continue to hold you accountable. And did you know that a system that generates a seemingly modest improvement of just 1% daily gains a yield of 37 times over a one-year period! Your system should be sustainable, obvious, easy-to-follow, and inspire you to develop better habits and growth. Tiny changes produce remarkable, compounding results. Persist and adjust, and you will be surprised by the results.
In any sport where the goal is to finish with the best score, it is ludicrous to stare at the scoreboard the entire time. To continually improve, a better system is far more important than a goal. In time, the score will take care of itself… in any part of your life.
Remember, winners and losers have the same goals and achieving a goal is only momentary. Besides, as many of clients will share, achieving a goal does not equate to happiness. Focus on a overall superior system rather than any singular goals. You will discover that your system will be a never-ending continuous process with no finish line. Have fun!
