by Scarlett Uribe
Setting goals is something I’m sure all of us are pretty familiar with. Especially this time of year. It’s when all the gyms experience an increase in attendance. According to GymDesk, about 12% of all new memberships for each academic year are opened in January. It’s when new budgets are followed to a T. It’s when the dust is blown off personal development books and healthy, organic meals reign at the dinner table.
But being guilty of this myself, gym attendance begins to dwindle after a month or so. People go back to their old habits of eating out 3 times a week. Books collect dust on the bookshelf again and are replaced by TV remotes and video game controllers.
So the question we all face at the start of a new year is this:
How can we focus on becoming a better version of ourselves without getting burnt out a few weeks in?
James Clear, the author or Atomic Habits speaks on this topic:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is the collection of daily habits that will get you there.”
Want to read 30 books by the end of the year? Your system would be setting aside time to read every day.
Want to learn a new instrument? Your system would be to practice a little bit each day.
Want to run a marathon? Your system would be to give your body the right nutrients and train it daily.
Systems are all about the things you are doing in your daily life to maintain the changes long term. Setting systems is the basis for accomplishing any goal you might have, and not automatically reverting back to old habits once they’ve been fulfilled. We set goals to win one time. But we set systems for the purpose of continuing to win.
Check out the following links for more on setting systems:
Systems vs Goals: Why You Need Systems, Not Goals