Should You Forget About Goal Setting? 1 Expert Says Yes.

I am currently reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. One of the interesting subjects he talks about that really caught my attention was the idea of goal setting. James says that you do not need to focus on goals to be successful! Instead, you should be focusing on systems. He posts the excerpt where he addresses this on his website, telling you to forget about goals.

In the past, I’ve preached the opposite. I’ve talked about the importance of setting goals and even provided a guide for how to set goals for the new year. While I am not a believer in New Year’s Resolutions, I do believe that setting goals each year can help you stay on track for the year ahead to accomplish anything it is that you want.

Or at least I did believe that. I want to further examine the idea of Goals vs. Systems to decide which is actually better for continued success.

Goals

A goal is something that you strive to reach, it is the desired result.

To reach a goal gives you a feeling of accomplishment and some sort of satisfaction, even if only temporary. It is proof of a job well done and shows that you are making positive, forward-moving progress in life.

These are the reasons why goals are good.

But why are having goals bad?

Winners and losers have the same goals

Out of all the problems James Clear identifies with goal setting in his book, one counterpoint he brings up is extremely solid and hard to dispute. Essentially it is:

Losers can set great goals too.

If my goal is to run a marathon, and your goal is to run a marathon, and you successfully complete a marathon while I never even sign up for the race, it is pretty obvious who the winner is and who the loser is, right?

Even though we had the same goal, you won at accomplishing your goal and I lost at accomplishing mine. This is why goal setting is not the be-all, end-all. It was not the fact that you set the goal that made you accomplish it. If that was the case, then I should have accomplished my goal as well since it was the same goal. In fact, by this logic, every human should always accomplish every goal they ever set. While that would be incredible, it is certainly not true.

Obviously, I did not accomplish my goal because I did not put the time, effort, or correct systems into place. I did not even sign up for the race! Now the question becomes how did you accomplish your goal? Did you wake up an hour earlier every morning to go running? Did you start eating healthier? Did you hire a coach?

Whatever you did, those are your systems. That is what helped you accomplish your goal.

Systems

In relation to goal setting, systems are the framework or methods that we follow in order to get closer to achieving our goals. For example, say our goal is to get stronger. Our systems will include a workout plan with a specified number of days per week, types of exercises, number of sets, amount of reps, and so on. It may even include a diet plan. Following this system that we laid out will help us get our desired result and reach our goal.

I think it is fair to say that it is nearly impossible to accomplish any meaningful goal without following your systems. After all, you cannot just shout anything you want into existence and make it a reality. That is not how life works, and it is not how goals work either.

Setting your systems and following them most of the time will help you reach your goal. If you drift away from your systems occasionally but are largely consistent, you shouldn’t have any issues. In the strength example above, even if you miss a few workouts, as long as you consistently exercise, you will become stronger.

Systems without Goals

We’ve established that it is important to have your systems in place to accomplish your goals. However, what if you are so sold on systems that you throw away all your goals? “Having good systems in place alone will get me the results I need.” It’s an interesting thought, but the problem with this is:

How will we know what systems we need if we do not know what our goals are?

It would feel like we are aimlessly wandering around. Sure, we can use some common sense and have some idea based on what we know is good for us. We might decide we need systems in place to eat healthily and to exercise. But even if we don’t have SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals, we still ultimately have the overall goal of being healthy.

Systems derive from goals, so there is really no way we can have systems without having goals to define these systems.

Example

One of the examples used in Atomic Habits is:

What if you were a coach and ignored your goal to win a championship, instead only focusing on the systems in place. Would you still get results?

James thinks you would, and I do too. However, the question doesn’t go back far enough.

Why would the coach be implementing these systems without a goal? He must have had a goal first in order to create these systems. If not, he would have no structure for the systems in place. You must first know what your desired end result is in order to know the correct steps and measurements to take.

Journey and Destination

Systems and Goals can be compared to a Journey and Destination. Your goals are your destination. This is where you want to be. Your systems are the journey, they are the things you are going to do to reach your destination. From every step you take, every map you read, every person you meet along the way.

Having a goal is important to define your destination. It helps you realize exactly what you want to accomplish, where you want to be in life, and even who you want to be in life.

However, having systems are equally important to accomplishing these goals. You cannot get to your destination without the journey, and you cannot accomplish your goals without having the right processes and systems in place to get the job done.

The goal is the big picture, but you must focus on all the little steps you will need to take along the way to get there.

Conclusion

I would not say it is fair to tell somebody to “forget about goals.” I think the author of Atomic Habits was being a bit melodramatic in that claim and he wouldn’t fully believe that either. Ultimately, I believe that when creating goals, it is equally important to consider systems. Derive a solid set of systems from your overall goal and you will accomplish it.

So, do not forget about goals, but do remember systems!

Best,

Eric