Hello everyone,
The end of the year is usually when we feel like it's time to reflect on our trajectory in life. Consequently, I've noticed that many creators and media channels choose this as a moment to share some nuggets of wisdom on the topic. Unfortunately, many of these are baity and shallow maximums or outright wrong.
I'd like to share some of my own ideas on the topic to hopefully help you spot and avoid a common misconception you are likely to encounter:
“Don't focus on goals, focus on systems”.
You'll also hear this in the form of
“Play Infinite games and not Finite games".
The "Focus on the bigger picture and the long-run” part of these statements isn't the problem. In fact, that's an incredibly valuable lesson.
However, These statements make the appealing yet, utterly incorrect claim that goals are “the bad guy” and not worth your time.
In reality, these goals are the very building blocks of any system or infinite game. A system without success criteria is worse than useless. It will efficiently, sustainably, and “infinitely” lead you into no man's land.
That's because you set a goal (or success-criteria) to hold yourself accountable for where you want to be. If you do not specify that, then you will also not know when you're off track and won't be able to error-correct. This doesn't just apply to the end goal of the system, it also applies to the individual steps within the system. If a step is inexplicit, you again lose out on the ability to error correct, learn and improve.
So, the next time you hear someone leveraging system thinking via demonizing goal-setting, let your BS detector go off. That person is likely trying to sell you an easy prescription where vagueness and ambiguity disable you from makg mistakes and improving at the expense of wasting your time.
If my thoughts on goal-setting seem reasonable and helpful to you, I invite you to have a look at my comprehensive goal-setting framework: Life Goals OS. There's a free article version and a complete Goal Management System in Notion that you can pick up for 50% off during the holidays: https://edwindoit.gumroad.com/l/lifegoalsos/HOLIDAY50
Interesting finds of the week:
📖 Read:
The Revenue-Evil Curve: a different way to think about prioritizing public goods funding
This was a fascinating and thorough blogpost that really breaks down what public goods are, and how to think about funding and prioritizing them. If you're also interested in better ways to provide public goods, this will be for you. In my view, it's an important and under-appreciated topic that I’m happy to see people like Vitalik think about and bring attention to.
🔗 Link to the article
🔊 Listened to:
Spotify CEO and co-founder Tobi Lütke on various business and life topics - The Knowledge Project Podcast
I always appreciate hearing the philosophies and mental models coming from highly successful practitioners. It's far more insightful than any theoretical process in a book or by some academic who hasn't exhaustively tried it themselves.
🔗 Link to the podcast episode
🌊 Re-surfaced:
Andy Knoll: The First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth — The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
Andy Knoll is the leading scientist on the topic of the origins of life on earth. Although we don’t yet know how it happened, there are many fascinating clues to be found in the geological history of the planet.
🔗 Link to the podcast episode
That’s a wrap
You can leave a comment on Substack, send me a private message or simply reply to this e-mail. See you next week!
, Edwin