Your Goals are Irrelevant
A bold title, I know!
Let's dive into it.
I DO care about your goals, but, not nearly as much as I care about the systems supporting them.
James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) has a great quote:
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
Have you ever experienced this?
Let me give you an example:
The goal you want to achieve = Get up at 5 am every day.
The system to help you achieve it = Put your alarm in the shower.
If you embrace that system, you will absolutely get up at 5 am every day. But without it, we all know what's going to happen.
The snooze button!
The same is true of business.
You need to develop systems that enable you to execute towards your goals.
These systems should remove or reduce friction.
Want to know the simple system I use to get more done in a few hours than most people do in a week?
It's simple: pre-bedtime planning.
Every night before bed (around 21:30) I get a piece of paper and a pencil.
I make two lists:
- Things I MUST do tomorrow - I usually start with the task that takes the least amount of time to complete.
- Things I'd like to get done tomorrow - it's ok if I fail to do these.
Then I switch my mind off and go to bed.
All night, I don't worry about what I need to do the next day.
And in the morning, I'm calm and get to focus on my family.
Then at 8 am, I get the piece of paper and we're off to the races!
It's that easy.
Peace,
Gary
