The Desert of Arizona
Dark 26 Degrees
I’ve been listening to Scott Adam’s new book over the past few days on my walks with my dog Tucker.
I usually read books, but every now and again, I get an audiobook to mix things up a bit. I like audiobooks except that they forever ruin me if they have a narrator. I end up thinking that’s how the author sounds for the rest of my life.
Now if you’re not familiar with Scott Adams, he’s the creator of the Dilbert comic strip. His new book is called, “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life.”
In the book, Scott posits an idea that really jumped out at me.
According to him, goals are for losers.
I like ideas like this. Whether or not they’re “right,” they make me think. They make me take a look at my experience and figure out if a statement like that has any merit.
In my life, Scott’s idea plays out.
I’ve never liked goals. I’ve always found them to be some arbitrary thing I create and then try to will the world to go in that direction.
Very tiring.
Scott’s better alternative is SYSTEMS.
I chanced upon this and I know it works.
From Scott:
My problem with goals is that they are limiting. Granted, if you focus on one particular goal, your odds of achieving it are better than if you have no goal. But you also miss out on opportunities that might have been far better than your goal. Systems, however, simply move you from a game with low odds to a game with better odds. With a system you are less likely to miss one opportunity because you were too focused on another. With a system, you are always scanning for any opportunity.
I could have woken up years ago and said, “I’d like to build a successful internet business. And this year I’m going to generate X in income.”
I’ve done this. I’ve tried it. A goal like that sets in motion the rabbit hole reflex where you pursue just about anything you think could help you reach that goal.
Instead of doing that (again), I committed to a SYSTEM.
I sit down and write an email everyday in an effort to be helpful to a lot of people.
Day in, day out, I repeat the system.
The system increases my odds of success substantially.
Over the years, that’s resulted in a lot of good things.
I’m reaching goals, but not in a way I could have ever planned them.
There’s no less work involved, but I think the quality of the journey improves. When you’re working a system, you’re not chasing anything. It feels better… calmer.