Setting goals leaves you continuously putting your satisfaction off until the next milestone
One reason to focus on systems instead of goals is that goals restrict your happiness. The implicit assumption behind any goal is this: “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy.” The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone. This is one of the reasons why people generally live ruminating the past or anticipating the future rather than enjoying the present moment, which prevents us from living mindfuly. Completing goals only bring temporary pleasure, where as systems bring genuine happiness and continuous fulfillment.
Furthermore, goals create an “either-or” conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a disappointment. You mentally box yourself into a narrow version of happiness. Goal-setting also involves an attachment to an outcome and creates friction and resisitance whenever things don’t go as anticipated (contra non-forcing). This is misguided. It is unlikely that your actual path through life will match the exact journey you had in mind when you set out. It makes no sense to restrict your satisfaction to one scenario when there are many paths to success.
A systems-first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running. And a system can help us follow non-forcing because it is adaptive and can be successful in many different forms, not just the one you first envision.
References
- Clear, James. (2018). Atomic Habits Chapter 1. The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits (Location 377). New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
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