4 Reasons Why You Should Forget About Setting Goals for Better Results, According to 'Atomic Habits'

Setting goals is essential in achieving something. We hold that fact to be true, and we live by it to thrive, that is, to be more than who we are.

Life to me is always a mess, especially during my high school years. These times are not anything crazy to be worth talking about compared to the time in college or when having a stressful job, but the struggle I've been going through to get a stack of assignments done or get good grades makes what little I know about building strategic habits special and worth sharing. And such habits, or what I love to call 'the repetition of 1 percent improvement', represent the vital behavior systems whose processes make me realize something far more important than just setting goals.

I've been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, an author focused on habits and continuous improvements that have taught and inspired thousands of people, including me, to be successful through small improvements from day one. In the first chapter of the book, "The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits," Clear argues,

'What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path toward success. You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.'

It turns out that the statement rings true. Imagine that you're broke, and you start to save money a little bit each month. If you just stare at and complain about the fact that you are still broke after those months of saving, you are more likely to decide to give up. Conversely, if you continue saving money, you will eventually find financial freedom at one point.

The same thing happens with most, if not all, situations in our lives whether you want to achieve anything. You can't become a true writer just by publishing a book or a true soccer player by shooting the ball back and forth, because what makes you who you wish to become is the 'system' that helps you achieve your goals: building reading and writing routines (to become a writer) and getting in shape and conducting training (to become a soccer player).

So, what is the point I am trying to make?

In the same chapter, James Clear himself states, "Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. A handful of problems arises when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing your systems." This is true in everything we perform as long as goals are involved. For instance, during my high school years, I set many small goals to achieve good grades, pass important exams, and plan studying schedules, and I come to realize that my results had nearly everything to do with the systems I built and followed (Clear has a similar story he shares that can be found on page 23):

I want to get good grades (goal) -> I do my best and finish assignments on time (system).

I want to pass an exam (goal) -> I spend at least one hour each night reviewing material (system).

I want to plan studying schedules (goal) -> I spend at least thirty minutes each morning writing down a list of what I will be doing today (system).

In conclusion, setting goals nevertheless is essential, but it is the system that decides whether your goal turns out to be achieved or not, as effective as possible or not, and satisfying and worth it or not. Below is the four reasons, according to Atomic Habits, why you should focus more on your systems for a better outcome.

#1. 'Winners and losers have the same goals' (p. 24)

Imagine that there is a group of twenty people who apply for the same job the day it is posted, and in the end, ten of them got the job, and the rest didn't. Those who failed would assume that because the successful candidates set clear and ambitious goals, they succeeded.

I would assume so in a very similar situation. Back in the time when I was in middle school, I was one of the worst students in a thirty-student class. I kept wondering about how the top students did so well in Math, English, and Science. I later learned about their habits of setting goals daily, so tried that strategy. Every night, I would spend fifteen minutes thinking and jotting down what I wanted to achieve the next school day such as getting an assignment done on time or getting an eighty. What happened was that I never actually started working on my goals. I put too much trust in a momentary burst of motivation to work on my plans without a clear system.

'Goal setting suffers from a serious case of survivorship bias (Clear, 24). In both the situations above, I as well as the ten candidates who didn't get the job concentrated on more successful people while wrongly assuming that their goals had led to their success. In reality, what differentiates the 'winners' and the 'losers' is not their goal since it is something they share the same. It wasn't the goal of getting the job that helped the ten candidates succeed, and it wasn't the goal of being top students that propelled my classmates to work hard, for the goal were already there, and it is only when they made 'continuous small improvements' (Clear, 25) that they achieved the desired outcome.

#2. 'Achieving a goal is only a momentary change' (p. 25)

As a school-aged child, I was often told to clean the mess of kid toys on the floor (every single day). Usually, I set goals to clean it and enjoyed a clean floor for that very moment, but since I maintained the same habit that led to a messy floor the day after, the result was that I had to hope for another source of motivation. Of course, the same outcome occurred every day after until I was around twelve. I treated the problem without addressing the cause.

Achieving a goal will only result in changes for the moment. It leaves us chasing the same outcome while not focusing on the system. If you fall into the same situation I was in or any situation that urges you to set a goal to address the following problems, it is always a wise choice to address the cause of those problems. For instance, if you only have one day left to finish most of the classwork that was assigned the week before and set a goal to finish all of it, plan a pacing guide and build a working habit for the next time (you may spend thirty to one hour doing work every day or however that fits you). By doing so, you are solving the problems at 'the systems level' (Clear, 25), which in turn has the previous problems automatically resolved.

#3. 'Goals restrict your happiness' (p.26)

When setting any goal, people often become the victim of the 'False Dilemma'. We assume that after achieving a goal, we'll be happy. This is how we trap ourselves by putting happiness off until the next milestone. For sure, a positive outcome brings us happiness, but it shouldn't keep us away from enjoying the process that leads to the result. If you want to become a writer, enjoy every word and effort you put into a story; if you want to be a successful student, rejoice that you've gotten a higher score than you did on the last test; if you want to get in shape, be happy that you've had some veggies instead of sweets for your snack time.

That is the beauty of achieving a goal! We take small steps toward long-term successes while giving ourselves permission to be satisfied, despite how slow the progress may seem.

#4. 'Goals are at odds with long-term progress' (p.26)

Many workers who have 'a goal-oriented mindset' (Clear, 26) work hard for months to get promoted, but when they get their desired position, all that is left for them is a what-then question. The goal is no longer there to motivate and push them forward, and they often find themselves doing their old habits after reaching their goals.

'The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game' (Clear, 27). Therefore, we should not treat a goal as any single accomplishment but rather as a system building and pattern of continual developments.

Conclusion

After reading this, you may have many disagreements about avoiding setting goals because even I did after reading the book. Clear clearly claims in his book the benefits of setting a goal as it gives us a clue of what direction we should start as well as prompts new behaviors, critical thinking, and careful plans. But something that comes from our mind in the first place as a dream will only become a goal when you take action, and properly doing so will guarantee not only your satisfying successes but also beneficial long-term effects that go with it.

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If you want to learn more about building good habits and breaking bad ones, Atomic Habits is the best choice for you. Purchase one today to change your life!