If you want to achieve your goals, don't focus on them!

If you are like me, you probably set some goals at the beginning of this year.  Some of you who did are either celebrating or frustrated. As an optimist I am usually celebrating. The reality though is that I am 50/50 in terms of progress.  Needless to say that this is not what I had hoped for.

Hence I decided to find out how to make more progress on my goals.  During my research, I stumbled on many articles and viewpoints. One perspective that struck me was made in a Tedx Talk by Reggies Rivers who said:  if you want to achieve your goals, you should not focus on them.  Watch it here

Reggie makes a great point on how to approach goals. In his view, we should focus on behavior, not goals.  As I listened to his argument, I couldn't help but agree with him.

When it comes to goals, my personal opinion is as Henry David Thoreau said: 

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Because what we become by achieving our goals is more important than what we get, our behavior is where we should focus our efforts as it stays with us long after the goal has been achieved.  

In this post, I will add one aspect In order to achieve our goals, we should focus on Systems.  

If   WHAT stands for the things we get;  WHY for the person we become, then  HOW stands for the systems we set up.

So what is the difference between goals and systems? 

My personal opinion is that systems are not better than goals but they are a bridge to attain the goals. I believe that goals are essential in providing direction and motivation.  Yet, I have also realized that we are more likely to reach our goals by focusing on systems. When we lack them, we are likely to fail in achieving our goals.  

So how does this work?

Let me illustrate this with two examples. 

Reading two books a month.

If that is your goal, your system could be to read daily for 30 minutes before bed time or 20 pages every day. By the end of the month, you will likely achieve your goal. So far, I have been able to meet this goal but this was not always the case. Like many people I know, I used to be unable to finish a book at the set deadline on a consistent basis. Then I realized I did have time to read feeds and articles on twitter and social media (I still do this probably more than I should J).  For many of us our reading habits are reactive, not proactive. If I find an interesting link on twitter, I will click on it and read it. Rarely do we proactively make time to read a book each day.  Arguably there are great articles on the web, but the quality of good books is better. If you are interested in personal development, it’s probably a better use of your time to read books than merely reading online content.  When I began to focus on the system of daily reading, I achieved my goal.  The quote below says it best. 

Write a book this year

The idea of writing a book can be daunting especially if it is the first book.  In this age of technology, an author can publish his/her work online hence the issue is not so much the publishing process (though I am sure it is not that easy either), but it is the actual discipline of starting and finishing a book.  In fact, I am convinced that because we each have a unique voice, the world stands to gain if we share our stories. However, without a system it is almost impossible to achieve this goal. One such system is writing daily. 

Focusing on writing daily helps in getting content regularly whether this will turn into a book or not. It is easier to write 500 words daily than a 50,000 words novel which is a good minimum average.  As I began this exercise (with ups and downs), I have been able to turn some of the writings into blog posts. It has certainly worked much better than trying to write once a week as I did last year.  Whether this turns into a book or not in the short, the routine will stick.

As the month of February comes to an end, it is a time to check our progress, an opportunity to evaluate where we are advancing and were we are lagging behind. As I said, as an optimist I consider the glass half full but I also know I ought to do better.  What I have learned in this journey so far (still 10 months to go) is if you want to achieve your goals, don’t focus on them. Focus on Systems.  
If you have learned something that has helped you in achieving your goals, please share a comment.  You could also celebrate your achievements, that would be great!