Systems make the things happen

Focus on the system and not the goal

Starting this one off with the now famous words of Daddy A to Snoopalicious.

Systems! Systems! Systems!

A few days ago I was talking to a friend of mine about her weight loss journey. She had recently gained back some of the weight she had lost not too long ago and was feeling stuck and looking for new things to do to help her achieve her goal of losing an extra 5kg. I asked her for pictures and she sent me two. One from when she had lost weight earlier and a current one, and in both of them I could see how much progress she has made.

This has been many of us at one point or another.

When I first started going to the gym, I used to envy the super fit women who made everything look easy. Running effortlessly on the treadmill and casually squatting heavy weights. It has taken me lots of trial and error and relearning many of my habits but over ten years later, I’m the person I once envied.

I do know what it feels like to want instant results though. When I was focused on weight loss, I was constantly looking for what I could do to lose an undefined amount of weight that I considered significant enough to make me happy. I tried everything from two a day workouts to intermittent fasting and everything in between. I even tried celery because they said it was a zero calorie vegetable but that thing tasted like sorrow and poor decisions and it has never made it’s way back into my diet.

I remember achieving my weight loss goals a few times. Feeling great because I had hit whatever my desired target weight was at the time. I also remember constantly finding things to not like about how my body looked because I felt like I wasn’t making the type of progress I expected for the amount of work I was putting in. So instead of paying attention to my amazing biceps and shoulders, I was focusing on my flabby midsection.

However, over the years, I have noticed that nothing works better that sticking to the habits that work for me. These habits form my system, the system of processes that help me to continuously make progress as opposed to setting a fixed target for myself.

To this end I can not tell you how much I currently weigh because I no longer weigh myself or worry about my weight. I still work out regularly because it is now part of my lifestyle/identity and I enjoy being active. I have no desire to lose weight now.

I am aware that I use fitness analogies for everything but it is only because this is the one aspect of my life where I have tried and tested my habits and seen results, both good and bad.

As a result, I have developed a system of habits that cut across all aspects of my life from the types of food I eat to maintaining an active lifestyle to ensuring I get sufficient sleep. And because I have stuck with this system that I have fine tuned over the years to suit my personal needs without compromising my love for enjoyment, I know that I can only continue to move forward, albeit slowly but as long as there is constant progress, I’m happy.

The other thing about goal setting is that you’re kind of constantly postponing your joy to some future date that may or may never come. I know now that my core muscles are responsible for keeping me upright and the fact that I do not have abs doesn’t in any way impact the normal functioning of my body. I also know that I would not be very happy if I had to cut out things like cake and eba from my diet so I am quite satisfied with my lovable pudgy midsection. However if and when my abs do come in, I shall demonstrate what Drake meant when he said something about wearing less and going out more.

None of this is to say that goal setting is a bad thing. It is great to have goals. Goals give you a direction to work towards but systems are responsible for progress. And sometimes this progress may not appear obvious.

So have your goals, but focus on your systems. If you’re wondering how systems can work when you don’t focus on a goal, remember my story about how I studied for an exam recently, with no idea what the grading system was, ergo I did not have a goal/target set but by simply sticking with my simple study plan, I aced it. Not so humble brag but yes, systems do work.

We all have our systems already for the many things that we desire or want to achieve. These systems can always be reviewed and tweaked periodically to ensure that they are moving us towards and not away from our desired outcomes.

If you’re trying to get a new job your system might involve paying for a CV review service, hiring a career coach, updating your Linkedin profile regularly, networking with people in the industry you’re looking to work in. That new job may not show up immediately but one day an opening might become available and someone might remember you from a networking event and because you’ve pimped your CV and gotten some tips from a career expert, you’re able to land an even better role than the one you had targeted.

More systems. Less goals.

Consider this permission to take your eyes off the goal and look more closely at how well your systems are serving you. Or not. For it is those systems that will take you past your goal(s).

This week I re-read

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and let’s just say that the lesson of this re-read is that if/when you’re not ready, the message may seem like nonsense. I know I haven’t articulated my thoughts perfectly but that is the most apt way to describe them. Because the first time I read this book my thoughts included “what in the hocus pocusery is this pseudo magic fairytale” but this time I actually took notes because I thought some parts were….?profound and to be honest I am not sure that this is a good thing.

That’s it from me for now.

Here’s wishing you what I wish myself this week. Some nice warm spring weather.

Have a great week.

Chioma.