Systems vs Goals: Why You Need Systems, Not Goals

Goals are a trap. In your life, you want systems. Not goals.

I know. That’s probably the opposite of what you’ve been reading throughout your life.

After all, from an early age. We are thought to set goals.

• Where to go to school.
• Which books to read.
• What company to work for.

But here’s a fun challenge. Imagine your life when all of your goals are met.

• Say you do end up in the school you wanted to.
• Say you do read the books you wanted to.
• Say you do get a job at the company you dreamed about.

What will happen next?

• Setting a goal to enter a specific college doesn’t mean that you’ll learn something nor make you a learner.
• Setting a goal to read a few books won’t mean that you’ll understand what’s inside nor make you a reader.
• Setting a goal to get a particular job will unlikely keep you satisfied for the rest of your adult life.

The paradox of goal-setting is that when we reach our goals. While we can experience joy. That’s something temporary. We’re back to not knowing what to do with our lives.

In contrast, a system will help you improve daily. It will focus you on who you want to be as a person every day. Not who you want to become some future day.

What Is The Difference Between A Goal And A System?

Goals are merely a representation of the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes. The good daily habits that will lead to those results.

• Goals help you set direction, but they are nothing on their own. They are focused on a future state.
• Systems are about the things you need to do daily, that will make you the person you want to be. They are focused on the present.

Scott Adams, the author who first introduced me to the importance of systems vs goals. Offers the following on the topic from his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big:

“Consider Olympic athletes. When one Olympian wins a gold medal, or multiple gold medals, it’s a headline story. But for every medalist there are thousands who had the goal of being on that podium and failed. Those people had goals and not systems.” Scott Adams

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits says this on the topic:

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear

And to make the case even stronger on why systems are better than goals. Here’s a simple systems vs goals example:

You set a goal to lose 30 pounds by the end of the year.

Initially, your motivation is sky-high. You go to the gym with a big smile and a bag full of motivation. With time, your stamina gets lower and lower. You keep going but you don’t push yourself that much.

Despite the odds, let’s imagine that you do end up 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year. You’re ecstatic. But most importantly, you feel relieved. You boldly cross off your goal from your notebook and enthusiastically share this with your friends on social media.

What will happen next?

Well, if your goal was simply to lose weight this one time. You eventually have to set the goal again. Because you never bothered to convince yourself that being in good shape should be part of your daily life. Not a singular goal. (That’s why I said that asking: How Many Days Does It Take to Form a Habit is a wrong approach.)

Conversely, if you focus on the system of working out daily. In your mind, you don’t have an end date. You’ve permanently implemented working out in your daily life.

That’s why I define systems vs goals in the following way:

Goals are good intentions with an end date whereas systems are daily actions without an ending.

What Is The Problem With Goals?

Our results have little to do with what goals we set and everything to do with the systems we follow.

You can set the most ambitious goal in your life and still fail. Mostly because you didn’t design a good daily routine.

But that’s only part of the problem.

Goals immediately set you in a state of defeat.