Knowing what you want in life is a blessing, but getting there can often be a complicated journey.
We strive to be the best versions of ourselves – and part of that process is setting and achieving our goals; we think of a successful outcome, then work backwards to develop the milestones we need to reach these goals.
For many, the process of goal setting is effective, but for some it can be disheartening or even disempowering. But why?
Fear of failure
For some, goals can be too painful to set as we often don’t achieve them. A prime example is the New Year’s resolution – how many times have you set a resolution or goal and not achieved it?
So, what can happen is that whenever you assess your progress compared to your goals, you may find you haven’t achieved them. Essentially, this can spiral into feeling like you’re in a constant state of failure.
Old habits die hard
Let’s say you, in fact, do achieve your goal. Often what happens is that you return to your prior mindset – and you find yourself back where you started.
An example could be where you’ve achieved a weight-loss goal, but then fall back into hold habits and put it back on and end up back at square one. Too much emphasis on the goal itself can lead to either not achieving it or reaching your goal and falling back to where you started.
This is where systems come into play…
The road to success
Systems are like processes or habits that we set up to help us achieve our goals. The power of systems is that they focus on the process and strategy, rather than the goal itself. When you master your system, you feel accomplished.
With this mentality, more often than not, the more you roll out your system/strategy, the more likely you are to achieve success. The more successful and positive you feel – and the more consistently you practise your system – essentially paves the path to reaching your goals sooner.
To infinity… and beyond!
If that isn’t motivation enough, the other additional bonus with focusing on your system or process is that it enables you to evaluate and fine-tune your strategy on a daily basis. This enables to you further increase your chances of success.
Finally, after you have achieved your goal, the systems, habits or processes you put in place will actually continue to help you push beyond your initial goal and allow you to reach higher levels.
Systems in action
Let’s put this into a scenario: you set a weight-loss goal of 10kg. You start with the system of exercising 4 days a week for 30 minutes per day. You also decide to eat healthy five days a week.
If that doesn’t work, then simply adjust your system: you can, for example, change the amount or type of exercise, or change your diet – you create a system, evaluate it, adjust it, roll it out and repeat. Once you start to see the progress you want, you just focus on doing it on a daily, or more consistent, basis.
Essentially, you’ll develop an achievable system, be consistent, evaluate progress and achieve your goals. One step at a time.
Ask yourself:
- What is a goal you have not been able to achieve?
- What is a system you could start with to help you get there?
- When do you want to evaluate?
- What could you do to adjust your system?
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