Stop Chasing Goals: Build Systems That Last

Hi there!

Great to have you here again, continuing this journey of evolution together in the new year.

As you might have noticed, I've been working on making these newsletters more impactful with fewer words.

Today, let's explore a powerful approach to achieving our goals—one that I'm personally using this year.

Here's the big idea: Instead of obsessing over goals, let's focus on building systems.

Now, this doesn't mean we abandon goals entirely. We set them, acknowledge them, and then... we put them aside.

The magic happens when we create systems that naturally lead us to those goals.

Instead of fixating on your end goal, you build a system—a daily routine that, when followed consistently, makes achieving that goal inevitable.

The beauty of this approach? The time you dedicate to your system directly determines your progress.

I'll share my personal example.

Many of you know I've transitioned into DevOps, and I'm aiming to become a top 1% DevOps engineer in the world.

Just showing up and putting in those hours, whether I feel like it or not.

And I'm absolutely certain that if I keep at it, becoming exceptional at what I do is inevitable—it's just a matter of time before I reach that top 1%.

Why? Because I know few others are maintaining this level of consistency.

The best part about systems? They free your mind from constant goal-worry. You simply:

1. Wake up

2. Follow your system

3. Trust the process

This approach works for literally anything you want to achieve.

Instead of stressing about the end goal, you only need to focus on showing up for your system each day.

Here's the challenging part – and I'm speaking from experience: maintaining discipline when that designated time comes around.

I've been there before; I knew about systems long ago but derailed at one point.

But here's the truth: once you lock in that discipline, you become unstoppable.

Yes, as humans, we'll have days when we fail – that's normal.

What matters is coming back to the system. The ultimate goal is to systematize your entire day so everything flows effortlessly.

We'll explore more about this as we continue our journey together.

Always with you on this path,

Uthman