For those of us who are perfectionists, there is good news!! Having a working system may help you more in the long run than setting goals!
In my experience, having a system is like a track to run on. It’s a daily foundation that supports us and eventually creates the end product that we aim for. In the meantime, it keeps the ‘procrastinator’ in us at bay, and gives us an underlying feeling of accomplishment with each passing day on the way to our destination.
In recovery the ‘all or nothing’ mentality gives way to the steady, consistent track record of a daily routine that points us in the right direction….one day at a time. Big difference!
I like how Elyssa Smith, blogger at Your Best Moment.com, puts it in a recent post: “Why You Shouldn’t Have Goals”.
“…goals will never be reached without effective systems in place.
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoon and author of, “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big,” discusses the importance of systems over goals when he talks about lifestyle. He is a proponent of having a successful lifestyle even before you actually have “success” in your area of expertise.
One big component of lifestyle success that he cites has to do with physical fitness. Adams espouses the value of maintaining good physical shape for a number of reasons, one of which is that taking care of yourself must be a primary pursuit before prosperity and success will find you.
His system for staying physically fit is that early every morning he gets dressed in gym clothes and drives to the workout facility he belongs to. No. Matter. What. Adams tells himself that once he arrives there, if he still doesn’t want to actually work out, he can turn around and drive himself back home. But the number of times that he has actually done that can be counted on one hand.
The most successful people develop systems in each area of their lives that take the thinking and deciding out of everyday choices.
Find what works for you and then stick to it.”
Do you have any success stories or challenges in getting to your goals using a system?