This post originally appeared onJamesClear.com.

And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal.

At least, this is how I approached my life until recently.

It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.

The Difference Between Goals and Systems

Whats the difference between goals and systems?

If youre a coach,your goal is to win a championship.

Your system is what your team does at practice each day.

If youre a writer,your goal is to write a book.

Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.

If youre a runner,your goal is to run a marathon.

Your system is your training schedule for the month.

If youre an entrepreneur,your goal is to build a million dollar business.

Your system is your sales and marketing process.

I think you would.

As an example, I just added up the total word count for the articles Ive written this year.

(it’s possible for you to see them allhere.)

In the last 12 months, Ive written over 115,000 words.

All of this is such a surprise because I never set a goal for my writing.

I didnt measure my progress in relation to some benchmark.

I never set a word count goal for any particular article.

I never said, I want to write two books this year.

What I did focus on was writing one article every Monday and Thursday.

And after sticking to that schedule for 11 months, the result was 115,000 words.

I focused on my system and the process of doing the work.

In the end, I enjoyed the same (or perhaps better) results.

Lets talk about three more reasons why you should focus on systems instead of goals.

Once I reach my goal, then Ill be happy.

Once I achieve my goal, then Ill be successful.

Solution: Commit to a process, not a goal.

Choosing a goal puts a huge burden on your shoulders.

Can you imagine if I had made it my goal to write two books this year?

Just writing that sentence stresses me out.

But we do this to ourselves all the time.

Consider someone training for a half-marathon.

This bang out of cycle makes it difficult to build upon your progress for the long-term.

Solution: Release the need for immediate results.

I was training at the gym last week and I was doing my second-to-last set of clean and jerks.

When I hit that rep, I felt a small twinge in my leg.

It wasnt painful or an injury, just a sign of fatigue near the end of my workout.

For a minute or two, I thought about doing my final set.

But with a systems-based mentality, I had no trouble moving on.

And thats why systems are more valuable than goals.

Goals are about the short-term result.

Systems are about the long-term process.

In the end, process always wins.

(I know, shocking.)

But every time we set a goal, we give a shot to do it.

We give a shot to plan out where we will be and when we will make it there.

Solution: Build feedback loops.

When that number drops, I know that I need to send high quality traffic to my site.

Forget about predicting the future and build a system that can signal when you should probably make adjustments.

Fall In Love With Systems

None of this is to say that goals are useless.

However, Ive found that goals are good forplanningyour progress and systems are good for actuallymakingprogress.

Having a system is what matters.

Committing to the process is what makes the difference.

Forget About Setting Goals.

Image byDivergent(Shutterstock).