In the words of three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Wash, “The score takes care of itself”.

On a day-to-day basis, stop monitoring the score constantly (sales, followers, etc.)… Focus on building a better system and the score will follow.

A handful of problems arise when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing your systems.

Problem #1: Winners and losers have the same goals.

Problem #2: Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.

Achieving a goal only changes your life for the moment. That’s the counterintuitive thing about improvement. We think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem.

What we really need to change are the systems that cause those results.

Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves.

Problem #3: Goals restrict your happiness.

The implicit assumption behind any goal is this: “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy”. The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone.

Furthermore, goals create an “either-or” conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a disappointment.

A systems-first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself the permissions to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.

Problem #4: Goals are at odds with long-term progress.

Finally, a goal-oriented mind-set can create a “yo-yo” effect. Many runners word hard for months, but as soon as they cross the finish line, they stop training. The race is no longer there to motivate them.

-Atomic Habits, p.24