Systems > goals ⚙️

Hey Pythonista,

Years ago I read Scott Adams’ How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.

One line punched me in the face:

"Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners."

I don’t fully agree, because you still need a direction.

But I’ve seen one thing play out over and over:

- People who only set goals burn out.
- People who build systems around their goals keep improving.

It’s like writing maintainable code instead of a giant one-off script.

Goals vs systems

Goals are “finish X by Y date”.

Systems are “do this small thing on a schedule”.

• Goal: Learn Python this year
  System: Code 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week

• Goal: Build a portfolio project in 4 weeks
  System: Push code 5 days a week and get feedback

When you miss a goal, you feel behind.

When you run a system, every rep counts as a win.

A quick personal example

Last year I wanted to learn Rust.

If I had set the goal “Learn Rust this year”, it would have died like every other New Year’s resolution.

Instead I set up a system:

• Study for up to 20 minutes reading a Rust book.
  
• Code every day for at least 30 minutes, spending ~80% of that building things / working on a project.
• Publish a small bite-sized Rust post on a new blog every day (ok this was a bit too much but glad I did it).

Result: after just one month I'd mastered the basics, published two small crates (packages), and some people were grateful for the growing archive of small posts sharing my learning.

That’s the power of systems: they focus on consistent effort and improvement, which leads to progress over time. 📈

We also use systems in how we approach our teaching:

1. Platform: we are not asking you to “master Python” per se, you log in, pick the next Bite, and code. One challenge at a time, consistently. The learning comes from the system.

2. Coaching: we do start with global goals, but then we immediately translate them into a weekly system you can actually run through a steady flow of project work (using GitHub issues) and regular feedback through weekly calls and code reviews.

What to do next?

Instead of asking:

“What is my next big goal?”

Try:

“What is the smallest boring system I am willing to run for the next 2-4 weeks?”

Examples:

• 20 minutes of Python, 5 days a week
• One Bite a day
• One question to my coach or the community each week
• One tiny script per week that makes my life easier
• One blog or LinkedIn post every ...

Pick one. Make it small enough that it almost feels silly. Then stick to it!

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I'd like to see this in action, so reply to this email and tell me:

One goal you have been carrying around, and
the system you will run instead for the next couple of weeks.

If you are in the Pybites community, I will open a Systems, not goals thread so you can post there as well for inspiration and accountability.

Talk soon!
Bob