Welcome to day 2 of the goal-setting challenge. Wasn’t yesterday awesome? We talked about deciding what you want and calculating the cost.
Today we’re going to be thinking through the benefits of systems over targets/goals.
Typically, when people think of goal setting, they think of setting a goal that they will achieve by a specific time and then working until they reach their target.
I DON’T think that works very well.
Here’s why.
When you only have an endpoint in mind, the only time you feel like you accomplish something is when you actually reach your goal. Until then, you feel this tension and sense that you’re not going anywhere.
This can quickly lead to discouragement and BURNOUT, especially if it takes a while to reach your goal.
Rather than picking a specific target or goal, it’s WAYYYY more effective to create systems for yourself.
Here’s how it works.
- you have a goal in mind
- you’ve calculated the cost
Now you need to create a system of small, easily repeatable actions that will constantly push you toward your goal.
For example, let’s say you want to write a 40,000-page book. That’s a big, AWESOME goal, right?
But it’s kind of overwhelming…
… until you create a system.
A simple system for this would be to write 500 words per day, every day, at 6:30 AM.
That’s IT. You could probably do that in 30-60 minutes, depending on your writing speed.
If you followed that system, you would complete your book in ONLY 80 days. Just 2.5 months!
That is the power of a system.
Small, repeatable actions lead to HUGE results.
Call to Action:
You already know what you want and what the cost is to get there.
Now it’s time to create a system.
If you want to get in shape, create a small system for exercising every day.
If you want to deepen relationships, create a system for having one meaningful conversation every week.
If you want to lose weight, create a simple system for cutting a small number of calories out of your daily diet.
This doesn’t need to be complicated. It DOES need to be easily repeatable!
Before we dive in tomorrow, share ONE of your goals below as well as the system you’ve created for achieving that goal.
Tomorrow we’re going to be diving into the amazingly helpful topic of programming your habits.
