The best way to achieve our goals.

A few years ago, I made a life-changing decision: I resigned from a lucrative corporate job to pursue my dream of being a wildly successful entrepreneur.

The job was good for me. It paid well and offered plenty of growth opportunities. Yet, I wasn't happy. I felt constrained. I wanted more, to play a more prominent role in making the world a better place. I didn't want to be just another cog in the wheel. I believed that I would finally be happy once I reached my goal of helping the world evolve into a global utopia and becoming a billionaire (no biggy). I would have made it.

So, I took the plunge and got to work. I read books by or about startup founders, listened to all the podcasts, and watched almost every episode of Shark Tank. If Richard Branson and Steve Jobs could change the world, my thinking went, then so could I. My products were good, and the market was eager. I had audacious goals—lots of them.

As great as goal setting is, goal setters often experience the survivorship bias: a cognitive bias where we tend to focus on those who have succeeded in a given area (the "survivors") and ignore the countless others who have failed. We infer causation from correlation, believing that reaching Goal A = success = happiness.

Most startups fail within the first few years. Like any true entrepreneur (suffering from certain biases), I ignored those statistics, focusing only on the few that became wildly successful. Besides, being an entrepreneur involves tolerating a lot of risks. With my high-risk tolerance, zealous self-belief and flashy, SMART goals, things couldn't go wrong.

They did. Things went wrong.

As you know, dear reader, I'm a big fan of goal setting. Without the guiding light that goals provide, we have no idea where we are going, what we are working towards or what is important to us. We'd be aimless, scrambling in the dark.

But, relying on those goals for our happiness? On that, I have a different opinion.

Younger Me chased the goals, succeeded at some and failed at others, and was only partially satisfied. Fast forward a few years, and despite everything I tried, my business had failed, my bank account was deep in the red, and I was a disillusioned husk of my former self.

When I picked myself up and redirected my energy inwards, searching for answers, I learned a key lesson: having clear goals is essential, but they never led to lasting happiness. We can still fail. We can do our best and put everything of ourselves into a mission, but the outcome is outside of our control.

I tried a different approach. I built systems.

When studying for my MBA, I focused on studying hard every day. That's it. I showed up, read the material, and took my notes. I thought about concepts. I did this whether I felt like it or not. My goal of earning the degree was front and centre, but I focused on doing the work. I now have a shiny degree and a passion for studying every day.

I always wanted to learn how to touch type. I've had a vision in my head for years of ditching the hunt-and-peck method and typing like a boss. It was important to me. I finally achieved the goal when I focused on practising for ten straight minutes every day, steadily increasing my practising time each week. I would show up and type without looking at the keyboard. I can now touch-type.

I've always wanted to be a writer... Well, you get the point.

I fell in love with learning, doing, and putting in the time every day, focusing on progress towards the goals rather than the goals themselves. Now, I have a happy marriage and a lucrative corporate career. My bank account is a vibrant shade of green.

Goals are where we want to go. Systems are how we get there.

Let's keep this in mind for 2023, shall we?

Have a great week.

Ric.