• Achieving your goal and hitting your targets
(click here to read a summary of this post)

Recently, I was going through some of my old notebooks from 2012.

It was around that time that I had read ‘Goals!’ by Brian Tracy and had started to get serious about writing down my goals.

As I flipped through the pages, I was amazed at how ambitious I was, setting all kinds of goals.

Some I achieved, some I didn’t.

In fact, I didn’t achieve the majority of the goals I set.

So I pondered why I succeeded to achieve only a few goals and why I failed in most of them.

Many answers came up, but there was one key distinction that was obvious.

For the few goals that I achieved, I had a clear system on how to achieve them.

For the goals that I didn’t achieve, I had no system to achieve them.

I may have made some progress on them. I may have given up on them halfway.

But the fact remains – I had no system or plan to achieve them.

Just seeing this reminded me of a quote by renowned habits expert James Clear:

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”

To achieve anything long-term and significant, you need a system. 

Why You Need A System For Success 

Everyone who has achieved something substantial in their lives would tell you that they had a system for success.

But how do you define ‘system’?

The definition of a system is “a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method”.

The effectiveness of your system will determine how effectively you perform. 

For a peak performer, your system is made up of (but not limited to):

1. Your vision and long-term goals

2. Your standards of excellence

3. Your daily habits and routines

4. Your short-term deliverables or KPIs (key performance indicators)

5. Your daily, weekly or monthly targets

6. Your work environment

7. Your schedule

8. Your work-rest balance

9. Your creative process

10. Your coaches, mentors and accountability partners

11. How you evaluate your progress

12. How you recover from negative states

13. How you handle pressure situations

14. How you reduce and eliminate distractions

15. How regularly you learn and improve yourself

As you can see from the above list, your system can be very comprehensive. But just because it’s comprehensive doesn’t mean it needs to be complex.

The best systems are the ones that are uniquely designed to fit your needs, personality and working rhythms.

You may be someone who enjoys a lot of freedom, flexibility and spontaneity in your system. But it’s still a system nonetheless – with clear standards and boundaries.

Systems are meant to provide structure and clarity so that you can consistently achieve desired results.

As a peak performer, your aim should be to produce consistent, high-quality results.

In order to achieve that aim, you can’t leave it to chance.

Without a system, most human beings default to their natural tendency – which is to be lazy.

In fact, no matter how disciplined we are, we are all wired to be lazy.

When left to their own devices, human beings will always take the path of least resistance.

We like doing what is easy, and what requires the least effort.

Which is why it’s extremely easy to just jump into bed and watch Netflix.

With a system, you’re acknowledging this fact and you’d rather err on the side of caution than to let fate decide your progress.

How To Build A System That Works For You

There are no hard and fast rules about how to build a system, but I could give you some form of a ‘starter-kit’ for you to build one that works.

Understand that the true objective of a system is consistency.

A system is there to help you produce, practice or perform on a regular basis.

So the first step is to think about the things you do consistently on a daily basis: your habits.

Your habits are your default system in place.

If you have many bad habits like showing up late, procrastinating or getting distracted – it means your system sucks!

What’s worse than being unproductive? It is being consistently unproductive!

It doesn’t matter how ambitious your goal is or how perfect your plan is. If your habits don’t support your goals, you have a faulty system.

The Habits Scorecard

Here’s a simple exercise to assess the system you already have on a daily basis.

Write down all the habits you do on a daily basis – from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed at night.

Here’s a short example of a morning routine:

– Wake up

– Turn off my alarm

– Check my phone

– Get up from bed

– Do some stretching

– Go to the bathroom

– Brush teeth

– Shower

– Get dressed

– Make coffee

– Have breakfast

– Scroll social media

– …

From your list, mark a ‘+’ to all the good habits that you do. Mark a ‘-‘ to all the bad habits. And mark ‘=’ to the ones that are neutral.

– Wake up =

– Turn off my alarm =

– Check my phone –

– Get up from bed =

– Do some stretching +

– Go to the bathroom =

– Brush teeth +

– Shower +

– Get dressed =

– Make coffee =

– Have breakfast +

– Scroll social media –

– …

From your list, you’re able to evaluate how many positive habits you have versus how many negative habits.

You may call it your morning routine. I call it your morning system.

Replicate this process for your other routines.

Here are some questions to think about:

Does your current routine accelerate or hinder your progress towards your goals? To what extent?

How can you incorporate more productive habits into your system?

How can you eliminate the unproductive habits from your system?

What does the ideal system look like?

As a coach, I help my clients design and build a system that facilitates consistent peak performance.

When your systems are optimized, you no longer need to repeatedly resort to willpower or motivation to ‘push’ yourself forward every time you fall off the wagon.

Instead, you simply need to make small adjustments and continue to improve on the system.

In time, you only need to trust your system because of its reliability in helping you achieve the results you want.

Summary

You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

Systems are meant to provide structure and clarity so that you can consistently achieve desired results.

The effectiveness of your system will determine how effectively you perform.

To build your own system, start by evaluating your current habits and routines.

Use the Habits Scorecard Exercise to assess your current routines and determine whether your habits are supporting or hindering you.

(click here to read a summary of this post)

Recently, I was going through some of my old notebooks from 2012.

It was around that time that I had read ‘Goals!’ by Brian Tracy and had started to get serious about writing down my goals.

As I flipped through the pages, I was amazed at how ambitious I was, setting all kinds of goals.

Some I achieved, some I didn’t.

In fact, I didn’t achieve the majority of the goals I set.

So I pondered why I succeeded to achieve only a few goals and why I failed in most of them.

Many answers came up, but there was one key distinction that was obvious.

For the few goals that I achieved, I had a clear system on how to achieve them.

For the goals that I didn’t achieve, I had no system to achieve them.

I may have made some progress on them. I may have given up on them halfway.

But the fact remains – I had no system or plan to achieve them.

Just seeing this reminded me of a quote by renowned habits expert James Clear:

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”

To achieve anything long-term and significant, you need a system. 

Why You Need A System For Success 

Everyone who has achieved something substantial in their lives would tell you that they had a system for success.

But how do you define ‘system’?

The definition of a system is “a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method”.

The effectiveness of your system will determine how effectively you perform. 

For a peak performer, your system is made up of (but not limited to):

1. Your vision and long-term goals

2. Your standards of excellence

3. Your daily habits and routines

4. Your short-term deliverables or KPIs (key performance indicators)

5. Your daily, weekly or monthly targets

6. Your work environment

7. Your schedule

8. Your work-rest balance

9. Your creative process

10. Your coaches, mentors and accountability partners

11. How you evaluate your progress

12. How you recover from negative states

13. How you handle pressure situations

14. How you reduce and eliminate distractions

15. How regularly you learn and improve yourself

As you can see from the above list, your system can be very comprehensive. But just because it’s comprehensive doesn’t mean it needs to be complex.

The best systems are the ones that are uniquely designed to fit your needs, personality and working rhythms.

You may be someone who enjoys a lot of freedom, flexibility and spontaneity in your system. But it’s still a system nonetheless – with clear standards and boundaries.

Systems are meant to provide structure and clarity so that you can consistently achieve desired results.

As a peak performer, your aim should be to produce consistent, high-quality results.

In order to achieve that aim, you can’t leave it to chance.

Without a system, most human beings default to their natural tendency – which is to be lazy.

In fact, no matter how disciplined we are, we are all wired to be lazy.

When left to their own devices, human beings will always take the path of least resistance.

We like doing what is easy, and what requires the least effort.

Which is why it’s extremely easy to just jump into bed and watch Netflix.

With a system, you’re acknowledging this fact and you’d rather err on the side of caution than to let fate decide your progress.

How To Build A System That Works For You

There are no hard and fast rules about how to build a system, but I could give you some form of a ‘starter-kit’ for you to build one that works.

Understand that the true objective of a system is consistency.

A system is there to help you produce, practice or perform on a regular basis.

So the first step is to think about the things you do consistently on a daily basis: your habits.

Your habits are your default system in place.

If you have many bad habits like showing up late, procrastinating or getting distracted – it means your system sucks!

What’s worse than being unproductive? It is being consistently unproductive!

It doesn’t matter how ambitious your goal is or how perfect your plan is. If your habits don’t support your goals, you have a faulty system.

The Habits Scorecard

Here’s a simple exercise to assess the system you already have on a daily basis.

Write down all the habits you do on a daily basis – from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed at night.

Here’s a short example of a morning routine:

– Wake up

– Turn off my alarm

– Check my phone

– Get up from bed

– Do some stretching

– Go to the bathroom

– Brush teeth

– Shower

– Get dressed

– Make coffee

– Have breakfast

– Scroll social media

– …

From your list, mark a ‘+’ to all the good habits that you do. Mark a ‘-‘ to all the bad habits. And mark ‘=’ to the ones that are neutral.

– Wake up =

– Turn off my alarm =

– Check my phone –

– Get up from bed =

– Do some stretching +

– Go to the bathroom =

– Brush teeth +

– Shower +

– Get dressed =

– Make coffee =

– Have breakfast +

– Scroll social media –

– …

From your list, you’re able to evaluate how many positive habits you have versus how many negative habits.

You may call it your morning routine. I call it your morning system.

Replicate this process for your other routines.

Here are some questions to think about:

Does your current routine accelerate or hinder your progress towards your goals? To what extent?

How can you incorporate more productive habits into your system?

How can you eliminate the unproductive habits from your system?

What does the ideal system look like?

As a coach, I help my clients design and build a system that facilitates consistent peak performance.

When your systems are optimized, you no longer need to repeatedly resort to willpower or motivation to ‘push’ yourself forward every time you fall off the wagon.

Instead, you simply need to make small adjustments and continue to improve on the system.

In time, you only need to trust your system because of its reliability in helping you achieve the results you want.

Summary

You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

Systems are meant to provide structure and clarity so that you can consistently achieve desired results.

The effectiveness of your system will determine how effectively you perform.

To build your own system, start by evaluating your current habits and routines.

Use the Habits Scorecard Exercise to assess your current routines and determine whether your habits are supporting or hindering you.