Why You Should Stop Setting Goals and Do This Instead

I love to set goals. I read every book I can find on goal setting. But in this blog post, I’m going to tell you to stop setting goals, crazy, I know.

In fact, it is NOT about the goals, it is about the approach most people have with their goals.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that goals are NOT important or that goal setting is not working.

What I’m saying is most people do it the wrong way and that is why the majority of them fail to achieve their goals.

Both Winners and Losers Have the Same Goal

You see, what separates winners and losers are not goals or visions, or dreams.

Because both winners and losers have the same goal.

Every Olympian wants to win the gold medal. Every entrepreneur has the dream and goal of building a successful business. Every author wants to publish a best-selling book.

And that means winners and losers have the same objective. Hence, it is NOT the goals separate winners from losers. It is something else.

Goals are not the factor of success.

While goals are important, they are not the determining factor for the success you want to achieve in life.

So, if goals are not a factor, what is? Process.

Stop Setting Goals and Start Working on the Process

Some people called it a process and some people called it a system.

In his article, James Clear said it wisely…

“For many years, this was how I approached my habits too. Each one was a goal to be reached. I set goals for the grades I wanted to get in school, for the weights I wanted to lift in the gym, for the profits I wanted to earn in business. I succeeded at a few, but I failed at a lot of them. Eventually, I began to realize that my results had very little to do with the goals I set and nearly everything to do with the systems I followed.”

You see, if you are a coach, your goal may be to win the championship.

And your system is how you recruit players, manage your assistant coaches, how you conduct training, etc.

If you are an entrepreneur, your goal may be to build a multi-million-dollar business.

And your system is how you test your product idea, market your product, hire employees, manage marketing campaigns, etc.

Similarly, if you are a musician, your goal may be to play a new piece or to perform on the biggest stage.

And your system is how you practice, how you tackle and try out the new piece, and your method for improving from the feedback from your mentor.

Do you see how things work right now?

Goals are just a target for you to know what you want to accomplish.

But what gets you the results and what brings you to your goals are your systems and processes.

Thus, you must focus on making the process, or creating a system that will get you the results (goals) you want.

Goals Are Important, But What Gets You the Results Are Your Processes

I hope by now you understand how results are created. It is what you do that gets you the results.

Setting goals alone are not going to make you successful.

As I have mentioned above, both winners and losers have the same goals. Both successful and unsuccessful people have dreams.

Therefore, it is not the goal or the dream that makes you successful or unsuccessful. It is your process and your system.

Does that mean goals are unimportant? Should you stop setting goals completely?

No, not at all. Goals are important because they show you the direction and tell you where you should be heading.

But what gets you what you want is not goals, but the process.

You can have a big and grand goal, but if you don’t have a system or a process for it, the goal will remain a goal, no matter how big or grand it is.

So, what should you do?

Focus on making the process. Create a system for your goal.

Here are 3 tips to help you do that…

1. Create a system

First, you want to create a system for your goal.

Ask yourself, “What do I have to do each day to progress toward my goal?”

For example, if your goal is to lose weight, your system could be your diet. What do you plan to eat or not eat? What junk food should you give up? What meals should you take for lunch every workday? What about your dinner?

So, as you create the system and follow it, you will reach your goal. You will get back in shape and lose the additional fat on your body.

The same goes for building a successful YouTube channel or a blog. What do you need to do each day to create a successful YouTube channel? Do you need to create scripts and record videos every day? Do you need to research and understand what people in your niche are searching for on YouTube? Do a competitive analysis and find out how your competitors create their videos.

And these are your systems. And this is how you can reach your goal of building a successful YouTube channel.

Setting a goal alone is NOT enough. You need to create a system for your goal as well.

2. Set a process goal

Next, you want to set a process goal. What does that mean?

You see, when it comes to setting a goal, most people will set an outcome that they want.

For example, the goal could be to lose X amount of weight, earn X amount of money every month, publish a book, increase sales to X amount, etc.

These are fixed outcomes. In other words, these are lag measures. What you want to do then is to focus on lead measures, not lag measures. Read this article to understand more about lead and lag measures.

In other words, you want to set a process goal. Let me give you an example.

If your goal is to build 6-pack abs, a process goal could be how many times or sessions you should work out in the gym.

If your goal is to write a book, the process goal could be how many hours you write each day. Or maybe how many words you should write every day.

If your goal is to build a successful blog, a good process goal could be how many blog posts or articles you should work on each week or month.

Do you see the difference?

A process goal is a lead measure that gets you the result you desire.

3. Fall in love with the process

In his documentary, Pumping Iron, Arnold Schwarzenegger said these words…

“The greatest feeling you can get in a gym or the most satisfying feeling you can get in the gym is the pump. It feels fantastic. It’s as satisfying to me as cumming is, you know, as in having sex with a woman and cumming. So can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like getting the feeling of cumming in the gym; I’m getting the feeling of cumming at home; I’m getting the feeling of cumming backstage; when I pump up, when I pose out in front of 5000 people I get the same feeling, so I am cumming day and night. It’s terrific, right? So you know, I am in heaven.”

That’s right, you want to fall in love with the process.

If you want to succeed in life, no matter what goals you set, you must love what you do. You must love the process.

Extremely successful writers like Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, Dan Brown, etc., all love the process of writing.

Successful basketball players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant loved to train and play basketball too. And that was what inspired and motivated them to train harder than most other basketball players.

So, you must fall in love with the process.

If your goal is to become a successful YouTuber, fall in love with creating and publishing videos.

If your goal is to build a successful blog, fall in love with creating and publishing content on your blog, and spreading your words.

If your goal is to have a body of an athlete, learn from Arnold Schwarzenegger, and fall in love with exercising and working out in the gym.

Takeaway

After going through this article, I hope you have a better picture of how goals actually work. So, should you stop setting goals?

Well, I believe that goals are important because they are like lighthouses. They can guide you when you are lost. They can show you the direction and tell you which way to go.

But that’s all about goals. Having goals alone are not enough to make you successful.

You need something else. You need a process and/or a system.

Thus, from now on, create a system and build a process that will get the results you want. That’s how success is created.