Set Your Compass—Systems vs. Goals {BEST OF}

Welcome Deep Questions with Cal Newport listeners! I had so much fun recording the "Help me do less!" episode — check it out here if you haven't already :)

This episode originally aired on January 7, 2022.

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[ 03:28 ] Shifting from specific goals toward surrender, surprise, and serendipity

[ 06:07 ] The problem with the Druckerism that "You can't manage what you don't measure"

[ 06:49 ] Why I find systems much more motivating; Scott Adams on goal-setting people vs. systems people

[ 08:07 ] James Clear: "You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems."

[ 10:45 ] Book sales as an example of balancing intention, vision, and systems

[ 13:48 ] Setting a compass for the year ahead — Healthy, Wealthy, Wise, and Grateful — did I add something to every bucket every day?

[ 16:15 ] Also experimenting with Traction's EOS with my team by creating a weekly metrics scorecard so we can run split tests and improve our systems

[ 18:00 ] Closing reflection questions and Thoreau quote

📘 Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• How to Be, Do, or Have Anything
• Outrageous Openness
• How to Fail at Almost Anything and Still Win Big
• Atomic Habits
• Traction

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Author Toolkit
• Scott Adams on The Tim Ferriss Show
• James Clear on Brené Brown's Dare to Lead podcast: Part 1, Part 2
• Featured on CNBC: Kick-start your new year with a mind map like this
• Adele on Oprah: "It was never about losing weight. I'm an athlete."

🎙 Related Episodes:

• 012: Generating Personal MBA Momentum with Josh Kaufman
• Check out the full Free Time podcast archives here »

🎁 Give yourself (and a friend) the gift of Free Time as we head into 2022: Preorder and submit proof of purchase to get early access to the audiobook as part of the Buy One, Get One, Give One holiday bonus!

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