Most people are in a constant loop of goal achievement and because of this are always walking around with a low grade feeling of failure and inadequacy. And when they do reach the goal, they immediately set a new goal, therefore being in a constant state of striving, never arriving. In essence, never feeling
satisfied or fulfilled with their performance.
In his book, ‘How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big’ Scott Adams - the creator and artist behind Dilbert - suggests a radical new way to look at how you are doing things. And it has everything to do with focusing on systems rather than goals.
As Scott discusses in the book:
“Goal oriented people exist in a state of continuous pre-success failure at best and permanent failure at worst if things don’t work out. Systems People succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do. The Goals
People are fighting the feeling of discouragement at each turn. The Systems People are feeling good every time they apply their system.
The system-versus-goals model can be applied to most human endeavors.
In the world of dieting, losing twenty pounds is a
goal, but eating right is a system. In the exercise realm, running a marathon in under four hours is a goal, but exercising daily is a system. In business, making a million dollars is a goal, but being a serial entrepreneur is a system.”
If you have read or been applying ‘Go for No!’ at all, you know that a corner stone is setting and working on achieving a ‘no-goal.’ While collecting a certain amount of ‘no’s’ could be argued is a goal in and of itself, it is also very much a system.
No-Goals is a system that puts you into action to execute certain
behaviors such as calling on leads, asking for the appointment, suggesting more products or services, closing the sale, and following up with someone who put you off in the past. All of these activities have an opportunity for you to be rejected. If you do them consistently enough, will eventually lead you towards yeses and your ultimate goals.
When you stay focused on
the behaviors necessary to be successful – and you employ systems that lead to success – like hitting your ‘NO goals’ – the yeses, and the ultimate goals will be reached. And more importantly, you'll have greater feelings of achievement and satisfaction at every step along the way – not just at the end!
