Life has a way of pulling us in different directions. We set goals, create plans, and chase success, all while feeling like we’re never quite there. But what if the solution isn’t out there somewhere? What if the key to achieving more—and feeling fulfilled while doing it—is to stop chasing and start being present?

Wayne Dyer said it best: “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.” It’s a simple idea but incredibly powerful when you truly embrace it. Instead of looking at life as a series of milestones you need to hit, shift your focus to the here and now. That’s where real progress happens.

“Done is better than perfect,” says Sheryl Sandberg, and those five words carry a critical lesson for anyone who struggles with perfectionism. Often, the drive to get everything exactly right prevents us from making any meaningful progress. We wait, tweak, and obsess over every detail, convinced that the perfect version is just out of reach. But while we wait for perfection, we miss out on opportunities to move forward and grow.

Winston Churchill’s famous line, “Perfection is the enemy of progress,” highlights this same truth. Perfectionism can feel like a noble pursuit, but in reality, it often stifles action and leaves us stuck in place. Real growth doesn’t come from flawless execution; it comes from consistent, intentional effort.

A friend recently shared his frustration: his company replaced one toxic employee with… another toxic employee. Both brilliant. Both jerks. The irony? The company had explicitly vowed to do better.

This disconnect is more common than we realize—and it highlights the difference between explicit and implicit goals.

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." This quote by Robert Collier perfectly captures the essence of building effective habits. The secret to long-term success isn’t bursts of motivation or fleeting inspiration—it’s consistency. And one of the best ways to achieve consistency is by using systems.

A system is a structured process designed to help you achieve your goals, step by step. When you rely on systems, you create an environment where your habits can grow naturally, without the constant need for willpower or motivation. Instead of wrestling with whether you "feel like it" today, a good system ensures that the right actions happen automatically.

Life has a way of pushing and pulling us in so many directions that we sometimes lose sight of what really matters. Instead of confidently moving forward, we find ourselves wondering, “What’s the point?”

Maybe it’s when your boss suddenly reassigns the team, handing you piles of extra work that feel meaningless. Or perhaps it’s corporate rolling out yet another time-consuming idea that seems destined to flop.

When striving for personal growth, many of us fall into the trap of relying on motivation and willpower alone. While these tools can spark initial change, they often falter when the excitement wears off or life gets hectic. A more reliable and lasting approach is to use systems thinking to support habit formation.

We all crave clarity. We want to know what’s next, what to do, how to act. But life doesn’t hand us a manual. It doesn’t unfold like a clean step-by-step guide. Some days feel wildly unpredictable—chaotic, unfair, random. Other days are strangely routine—like clockwork, easy to read, eerily familiar. Life is full of contradictions. And navigating those contradictions is the real challenge.

We often hear, “Just trust the process.” But what process? And whose process? Sometimes even the best-laid plans fall apart. And when they do, it’s tempting to give up on planning altogether—just react, just survive, just get through it.

For many of us, life becomes fairly predictable. Our morning alarm sounds at the same time each day. We eat a similar breakfast day in and day out. We work at the same job. We enjoy the same weekend social activities and eat at similar restaurants.

For some, there is more variety than others, but overall, much of life follows these patterns before a sudden change or rite of passage. But through it all there remains an air of uncertainty. Nothing is guaranteed.

The other day I was having a conversation with my daughter about interests. She was expressing an interest in area of her life and said, “I don’t want to have to do all the hard work, I just want to be really good at it.”

She said it to be silly and we both laughed but she emphasized a really good point. Most of us want to be the expert, not the newbie. We dislike being awkward. We don’t like the difficulties of figuring it out. Wouldn’t it be so much better if we can just have the talent without the training?

Life constantly provides feedback—little nudges that tell us something needs to change. Maybe it’s that pang of guilt reminding us to start budgeting or the persistent fatigue signaling a need for exercise.

Yet, despite these signs, most people ignore them. Some notice but push them aside with denial or indifference, avoiding action altogether.

As you embark on a journey of self-improvement using the systems and habits approach to improvement, one element that can create confusion is with regards to measurement.

It is crucial to measure the steps we take and the outcomes we receive. Because we are more concerned with progress over perfection, I tend to emphasize tracking those daily activities. Even when the desired outcomes remain elusive, we can see that we are taking the right steps forward that will eventually result in a win.

I’ve worked for several companies that had busy seasons and some that seemed to be busy all year. One common sentiment is that workers become too busy to work on becoming more efficient, complete training to get better, or coach up their teams.

While this is a frustration and work, I’ve also noticed that some people take this same mindset with them when they leave work. Instead of working to get better, they are always too busy to do what they should do.

Change for the sake of change isn’t always productive. If we’re going to change, it should be with the goal of improving some aspect of our lives. Exploring a new destination or trying a different dish at a restaurant can be enjoyable, but when it comes to personal growth, change should serve a purpose.

I believe in leveraging change as an opportunity for improvement. If my work schedule shifts, I use it as a chance to refine my morning routine. Moving to a new home? I see it as a fresh start to establish healthier eating habits instead of falling into old patterns. Transitions like these give us a unique advantage—they allow us to intentionally shape new behaviors rather than battling ingrained habits later.

When you start using the systems and habits approach to improvement, you will try out many strategies for creating new habits. You will break down your goals into steps that can be taken and then work on the necessary action steps.

This will result in some systems that work and some that get tossed away due to their inability to help you improve. But within those that work, some will rise and become cornerstone systems. Cornerstone systems are the ones that drive multiple areas of improvement and allow you to keep systematically improving over time.

It’s easy to feel like the world is getting worse—news, social media, and our personal struggles can make it seem that way. But if we step back and look at the bigger picture, the data tells a different story. Globally, poverty is at its lowest, and crime trends downward. So why does it feel worse?