Systems Vs Goals - What Functions Best?
Systems Surpass Motivation, Mood, Planning, and Passion Every Time
Image by Martin Sanchez from Unsplash
Despite huge commercial and critical success, War of Art author Steven Pressfield describes the life of every writer, every creative, every person to be marked by ongoing battles with a universal force that keeps people from fulfilling their dreams and potential.
Pressfield uses the word RESISTANCE to describe this force. Resistance is Pressfield’s umbrella term for the force that acts against human creativity. Resistance an invisible, self-sabotaging impediment to creating, making, doing, and reaching goals. Goals are important, but SYSTEMS that lead to implementation — to ACTION — are key to reaching our goals.
What to do? Identify goals, then adhere to day-in, day-out systemization by showing up to do your work regardless of mood or circumstance. More specifically —
Turn pro when it comes to the goal; Treat accomplishing the goal the way an accomplished professional treats their work; Commit to craft, caring, and showing up regardless of mood or motivation.
Remove friction that stands between you and your goals; Lay running gear out the night before a run, say no to commitments that keep you from painting each morning, etc.
Create, prioritize, and protect sessions with yourself to engage in work that inches you toward your goals. Sessions need not be long but they need to happen often and at regular intervals. 3x to 4x sessions weekly for 20 to 30 minutes is huge, and enough to move mountains.
Goals are good as they provide shape and direction, but goals are also “reach them and done.”
Systems on the other hand are dependable. Systems are set-and-forget tools that have no deadline. Systems are the ticket, as they beat motivation, mood, planning, and passion every time.
Set your goals, then devise the system that will put you in the driver’s seat day in and day out. Systems speak to the maxim “Amateurs wait for motivation and inspiration. Pros just show up and get to work.” For more information on setting up systems that beat Resistance, check out Steven Pressfield’s classic The War of Art. Happy goal and system-setting friends.