Set directions, not goals

A smarter approach to making progress

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We are always told we have to set goals in life. We have to make them S.M.A.R.T. How many times have you heard this advice? What if I told you it is smarter (pun intended!) to focus on your direction, on the path? I don’t mean it vaguely as in Emerson’s well-known phrase “journey, not destination”. I am not talking about the enjoyment of the journey, though that is part of the experience. What I would like to try to convince you, is that focusing on the direction, on the journey, and every step along the journey is the most practical and tested way to make significant progress towards whatever your objectives are.

How does a desire to do something emerge? Let’s say you see someone perform a skill — play a musical instrument, draw a painting, write a book, display athletic performance, speak multiple languages — and you want to be able to do that too. At this point, especially if we have never attempted the activity in question, we have a very vague idea about what that level of proficiency is like and, most importantly, what it takes to get there. In any new activity, your target-setting is going to suck. We tend to set big, lofty goals, but such goals don’t get you to progress. It feels good to think about them, all shiny and glorious. But they are too distant, too impersonal, it is hard to connect with them.

What happens next? You hire an instructor, join a class, sign up for a course, watch a YouTube video, pick up a book on the subject and start practicing. You are motivated, hopeful, and full of energy. You quickly discover that playing a Chopin Nocturne or speaking fluent Mandarin is not something that is just going to happen. This is where you end up adjusting your goals. You either adjust your goal, and settle for something much more accessible, or abandon the activity altogether. There is, of course, the third path — you clench your teeth, accept that this is going to be a very long path, become more realistic about how far your goals might be, and start grinding.

Whatever you end up deciding, understand this — goal-setting, in and of itself, does not get you close to where you want to be. What separates those who move forward and those who don’t is how they approach the WORK. Many of us have strikingly similar goals. Happy family, solid bank account, success at our craft, progress in hobbies, learn this, master that, and so on. But not everyone gets there. Blame the circumstances, luck, God, nature, whatever. What determines the likelihood of the outcome is not the kind of a goal you set, but what path you follow, what daily action you take, what systems and structures you put in place to bring you close to your desired objective. It is all about day-to-day.

Today is 30 January 2022. Think of all the New Year resolutions that have been made 30 days ago, and have already been abandoned by now. There is nothing wrong with the resolutions. The problem is, most of the time, they are not backed up by necessary systems, tools, and practices that help do and track the work necessary to get you to where you want to be. Too much focus was on losing 10 pounds, running that marathon, or writing that book with no underlying breakdown of the task into what would look more like a project.

Also, one of the main problems I have with goal setting is that the goals you set today will probably not survive as you move forward. The goals do not adjust to who you become as you persist on the path. As you get better and better at a skill your “field of vision” (which is how far you can see and how much you understand about this skill) changes and with that change the validity or relevance of your goals. Sticking to the path might get you well beyond what you thought is a “realistic” target. Somewhere along the path, you might decide to change course or specialize in some specific area of the skill.

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.” — James Clear

Goals are good only for one thing. They help you decide on the direction, on the path. Knowing the direction helps you design systems and adopt tools that help make progress on that path. Daily. Weekly. Direction is key, rather than a destination because it helps you decide on the next small step on your journey. If your system allows you to set small, daily “portions” of practice and learning, you are on track. You are moving towards where you want to be.

“As you move toward a dream, the dream moves toward you.” — Julia Cameron

Your systems need to be clear and flexible. You need to set daily/weekly targets that you know bring you a step closer to your objectives. For example:

• I want to be a concert pianist (a big, lofty goal) versus I will practice for 1 hour a day (clear, small target). Or, I want to learn Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu this year (better, more reasonable, but not small enough to fit into a practice session) versus I will practice a minimum of 2 bars of this piece every day (clear target for each session).
• I want to squat 200 kgs (a big, lofty goal, especially if you cannot squat 50 kgs at this point) versus I will do powerlifting at least 3 times a week and aim to increase my squat weight by a minimum of 5 kg a week until I hit 100 kg, after which I will re-assess (better, with clear targets per week)
• I want to be well-read in Russian classics (vague, unclear, difficult to measure) versus I want to read these specific 20 novels at a pace of 50 pages a day (better and clear with a daily target)
• I want to be a successful YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers (big, though attempted to be specific, still far from a workable goal) versus I am going to publish 1 new video each Sunday, and every month I will study 1 related skill (video editing, animations, etc.), and once a month I will check the comments for feedback (better, specific, clear targets per week/month).

To paraphrase David Allen, big picture goals are overrated. Dramatic changes happen from the bottom up, as you handle small steps that lead to big achievements over time. You should still care about your long-term vision of where you want to get, of course, just don’t “overcare”.

When I got into Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I had, in the back of my mind, a goal of becoming a blue belt. It was ambitious enough a goal and not as crazy as becoming a black belt. But instead of focusing on that, I focused on being able to recover after 2 sessions a week, then getting to 3 sessions a week, then to 4. Over time, I reached the point of being able to do 4–5 sessions a week, plus additional bodyweights/kettlebell workouts without falling apart. Oh, and yes, I got my blue belt. It was quite a journey, a lot of hard work, practice, fun, injuries, and work, more work and work again. But now that I am a blue belt, I am advancing past my initial goal. I can dream bigger, and what got me here was not dreaming or the goals. It was the day-to-day. Now, my path leads to the purple belt, but ideally past it. The focus is on accumulating mat time, practicing, learning, troubleshooting, and getting better. I set specific learning targets for each month, sometimes week — to study and practice specific positions, specific moves. I seek and receive feedback, adjust my weekly and monthly targets and work from there.

Few things happen when you focus on the day-to-day practice instead of a big hairy goal.

• It is easier to deal with procrastination. Getting up to become a concert pianist feels like a heavier burden than getting up to learn 2 bars of a specific piece. Every next step is small enough to just get ourselves to do it.
• It tricks you into being disciplined without necessarily labeling yourself as such. I’m on a quest to become a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Nope, not that. I am just packing my bag for today’s session in which I will try to put myself in difficult positions and work on my escapes. That’s all.
• It helps avoid grand battles against the Resistance (the term coined by Stephen Pressfield, which is a concept illustrating all that works against our creativity) because what you want it to budge on is so small daily.
• It helps you focus on today, not the future. Focusing on the future too much can be debilitating. It takes our eyes off of what we need to do for the future to become what we would like it to become for us. Focusing on daily and weekly tasks that lie on our chosen path avoids the anxiety that comes with thinking about the big goals.
• It builds momentum. Back in January 2014, when I restarted my piano practice, I thought it would be great if I could learn 2 new piano pieces in a year and who knows, maybe one day I’d be good enough to learn my favorite piece by Rachmaninov. The only thing I committed to doing, was just 1 hour of daily practice. By the end of 2014, I had learned 8 new pieces, including the Rachmaninov piece that I used to think was too hard for me.
• It allows us to cash in on serendipity along the way. We never know where life will take us. But pushing forward in the right direction might take us to places quite different, and potentially much better than where we think we want to get.
• Finally, focusing on the journey, rather than a destination helps sustain focus and continue the activity beyond the achieved goal. A 2019 Stanford research by Huang and Aaker which brought together the results of 6 studies into the impact of metaphors and motivational statements in skill development showed that the choice of focusing on a journey completed, as opposed to having reached a destination helps not only achieve the goals but also successfully sustain the learned behaviors, while others stop their efforts and regress. As I reached the A2 level in Spanish, I decided I would read 5 books in Spanish in 2021. But rather than focusing on the goal, I focused on trying to read daily. As I read daily, my Spanish improved, so did my reading speed and I ended up reading 20 books. Rather than focusing on vague goals like becoming fluent, or even more specific goals like reaching a particular level, or passing a particular test, I focused on daily reading and listening practice which helped push past the original goals.

So choose your direction, decide on your system and tools for day-to-day practice, and set sail. Good luck!