Just started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and it started with this article about "goals" vs "systems".
Prevailing wisdom claims that the best way to achieve what we want in life—getting into better shape, building a successful business, relaxing more and worrying less, spending more time with friends and family—is to set specific, actionable goals.
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.
If you’re a coach, your goal might be to win a championship. Your system is the way you recruit players, manage your assistant coaches, and conduct practice.
If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal might be to build a million-dollar business. Your system is how you test product ideas, hire employees, and run marketing campaigns.
Which brings me to my post here, we share and celebrate milestones and goals a lot here on IndieHacker, but what's your system for achieving these goals? What are you trying to improve?
My system I used to create my side projects e.g. ZenJournal :
I think I lack consistency on promoting it across the sites. I don't have a system or cadence for it. I also lack a system to connect with the users, other than my product Twitter feed with sporadic updates. I could have a blog or content marketing process so it could compound. I also don't have a schedule for working on features consistently, mostly because of other life/work commitments. I also struggle to juggle between side projects and rein in my enthusiasm on pursuing new ideas and technologies. I'm hoping to establish some sort of feedback loop with my projects so I can focus and make consistent progress on them.
Would love to see how other indiehackers are managing their systems.