Losers Set Goals, Winners Build Systems

In Atomic Habits, James Clear famously wrote, "You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems."

He's calling out the hard truth that all of our hopes and dreams are in vain if we don’t have systems that can actually get us there.

If you agree with this quote, then it means that everything you want in your life is on the other side of building great systems.

But do you even know what a system actually is? If so, do you know how to build an effective one?

Let’s break down exactly what a system is, how it works, and how you can start building your own.

Habits vs. Systems

Despite the great quote on systems, James Clear never actually articulates what a system is.

Instead, Atomic Habits is about building long-term behaviors through small, consistent changes—perfect if your goal is to “be healthier someday.”.

But what if your goal isn’t vague or distant?

What if you want a six-pack in six months?

Or to get your biz from $0 to $1M ARR in 12 months?

That’s not just a habit. That’s a target.

And targets need systems, not just behavior tweaks.

Habits are the slow, steady path to identity change.

But systems are the aggressive, intentional mechanism to hit a clear goal on a deadline.

One result of a well run system is that new habits are formed.

But habits alone are not enough.

The Anatomy of a System

Everything you want has already been achieved by somebody before.

Which means, there’s a method (or methods) to get what you want.

A “system” is a way of structuring these methods into a customized plan of action, which we can reasonably assume will result in you achieving your end goal, given that you stick with the plan of action and that the actions are effective.

To give it a formal definition:

A system is a structured set of inputs, processes, and constraints—run on a consistent rhythm with built-in feedback—that reliably turns effort into intentional outcomes.

In other words, a system helps you reach your goal without relying on luck—by measuring what works, improving through feedback, and turning intense effort into consistent execution.

An effective system is made up of these 6 components:

1. Inputs
The resources, information, or energy that go into the system.

Examples: Tasks, ideas, time, money, raw materials.

2. Processess
The mechanisms or steps that transform the inputs into something useful.

Examples: Workflows, routines, decision-making, delegation.

3. Outputs
The product, results, or outcomes the system produces.

Examples: Completed projects, sales closed, inbox zero, weight lost, free time.

4. Feedback Loops
Signals or data that help you evaluate performance and make adjustments.

Examples: Weekly reviews, KPIs, reflection journals, team check-ins, weigh-ins.

5. Boundaries / Constraints
The limits or rules that define what’s inside the system and what’s not.

Examples: Time constraints, software tools, role clarity, values.

6. Operating Rhythm
The recurring actions and cadences that activate the system and incorporate feedback to refine what’s working and eliminate what’s not.

Examples: daily checklists, weekly reviews, monthly planning sessions, recurring meetings, habit trackers.

An Example of a System

Any goal you have can be turned into a system.

Examples:

A system for doubling your monthly revenue
A system for marathon training
A system for strengthening your marriage
A system for daily deep work
A system for weekly planning

Here’s a system for creating content:

Goal: Publish and send a high-value newsletter every Wednesday to grow trust, drive leads, and stay top-of-mind with your audience.

1. Inputs

Ongoing idea bank (Notion, Apple Notes, voice memos)
Screenshots, links, or quotes saved during the week
Time block (e.g., Monday mornings from 9–11am)
AI tools like ChatGPT for drafting or editing
Writing template (subject line, hook, body, CTA)

2. Processes

Review idea bank and pick a topic
Write draft using the template
Edit for clarity, structure, and tone
Use ChatGPT to refine voice or headlines
Test subject lines (if applicable)
Schedule send in ConvertKit, Substack, Beehiiv, etc.

3. Outputs

One newsletter sent every Wednesday
Consistent list engagement (opens, clicks, replies)
Trust and credibility with your audience
Inbound leads or replies that convert to sales calls

4. Feedback Loops

Track open rate, click-through rate, and replies
Note which topics or subject lines perform best
Track unsubscribes or low-engagement trends
Keep a “top hits” log for future reference
Use reader replies to spark future topics

5. Boundaries / Constraints

Must send by Wednesday 9am
Max 500 words (or 3 sections, 1 main idea)
Must follow core themes (e.g., systems, delegation, leverage)
No over-polishing—one hour max for editing
Only use one CTA per issue

6. Operating Rhythm

Weekly Cadence:

Friday: Drop ideas into Notion while reflecting on the week
Monday: Write and edit newsletter (9–11am)
Tuesday: Final review and schedule
Wednesday: Send → Monitor metrics
Thursday: Log performance + update “hits” folder

Monthly:

Review top-performing emails
Recycle ideas into LinkedIn posts
Adjust content strategy based on data

The System-Driven Growth Loop

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you realize You could build a system for almost everything in your life.

Your business.
Your marriage.
Your parenting.
Your workouts.
Your money.
Your spiritual life.
Your calendar.
Your inbox.
Your sleep.

But the point of learning to build great systems isn't to heap a load of complex responsibilities on yourself.

The goal is to transform who you are.

Become the Kind of Person Who Would …

You’ve probably heard this idea before:

“Don’t just achieve X — become the kind of person who would have X.”

That’s the point of building systems.

Don’t get a six-pack. Become the kind of person who would have one.
Don’t build a $1M business. Become the kind of person who would own one.

And the way you become that kind of person isn’t with motivation or life-long habits.

It’s with intentional systems.

You Only Need to Build One System at a Time

Thankfully, you don’t need to systematize everything at once.

You just need to choose one area of your life to upgrade.

Because the point of a well designed system is to get you to a new baseline, where achieving in that area, becomes automatic.

You’re then free to focus on the next system and upgrading the next area of your life, or doubling down on the previous area you upgraded before.

System → Habit → Identity → Baseline | Repeat

At this point, much of my life has been designed by intentional systems.

For example, my business has a system for strategic planning. It's our rhythm for setting annual goals and doing quarterly OKRs and then tracking the progress on those OKRs weekly.
My wife and I have systems for how we're parenting our kids. We have a system for discipline, a system for them to do chores, and a system for managing their health.

There were seasons where those systems were new, they were difficult to implement, and I had to be intentional about adopting them.

But now days, those systems (parenting my kids and doing strategic planning for my business) express themselves as habits.

And that's the point of a system. It's to get you to a new baseline so that what was previously a large effort, is now automatic.

Those new habits will help you maintain the growth you achieved, but in order to upgrade again, you have to build out new, intentional systems.

It’s a cycle:

Set a time-bound goal (ex: lose 20lbs in 90 days)
Build a system to get you there (map out inputs, processes, etc.)
Run the system and let it form new habits (never eat fast food or drink soda, go to the gym every day)
Allow those habits to bubble up and transform your identity (I am “not fat”)
The identity forms a new baseline (20lbs lighter)

Repeat!

The new baseline enables you to set a new, more aggressive goal (ex: get visible abs in 90 days)
Build a system to get you there (map out inputs, processes, etc.)
Repeat!
etc., etc.

New Systems, Every 90 Days

When it comes to building systems to achieve personal goals, I like to revisit my systems every 90 days as:

90 days is long enough to see real results, but short enough to still feel like a sprint (remember, we’re not trying to build sustainable life-long habits — we’re building systems to aggressively achieve over-the-top, audacious, life-altering goals). Habits will form, but we’re not designing habits, but the systems that build the habits.
Your 90-day system may not be that sustainable. You’re probably sacrificing in other areas of your life to focus on this one.
In most cases, your system needs to change every 90 days because toward the end, it will no longer work for you. Either habits will be established or you’ll need a new system to push you toward larger goals based on your new baseline.

I’ve run ~60 founders through these 90 day sprints before.

Every January, my business partner and I run a goal setting cohort called “90 Days of Action”. The premise is simple:

Each of the 15 founders in the cohort set 1 audacious, life-changing priority goal
With our help, they build a system to get them there
For the next 90 days they submit daily check-ins to track their progress
Based on the data, they make adjustments along the way
At the end the 90 days, they re-assess and often set new goals and build new systems based on their achievements.

Let’s start by walking through the process to build your first systems for the next 90 days.

How to Build Systems Part 1 - Vision

First, I like to cast vision for where I want to be in 1 year. No life plan, 10 year vision - just a quick and dirty 1 year vision.

I like to break my 1 year vision up into 3 simple categories:

Health (mental and physical)
Wealth (personal finance and career/business)
Relationships (spiritual, marriage, kids/family, friends/community)

Here is mine from 2025:

Health

Mental:
◦ My kids can describe me as patient, calm and light-hearted. When they make mistakes, I don’t snap. Our home is a calm place.

◦ I’ve worked through child things with a counselor this year (12 to 24 sessions). Sarah and I fight well and I don’t easily snap.

• My anxiety is under control. I’m able to easily communicate to Sarah when it is not and I’m not afraid to admit it and ask for support.

Physical:

• I got to 10% by end of April, stayed there until September, and have been slow bulking since then.

Wealth

Personal Finance

◦ We categorized ALL transactions for 2025

• We gave 10% (at least) of our income

• We saved 75% of my Parsity income

Career/Business

◦ FreedUp is at $2M ARR

• I host a popular podcast in our niche that does 10k+ monthly downloads

• 2026 90 DoA is an in-person retreat

• The business is prepped so that I can take off for 6 weeks in a row next year!

Relationships

Spiritual

◦ I did some kind of morning devotional, 5 days/wk

• I feel confident in my faith and I lead our group/home with genuine conviction.

Marriage

◦ Sarah and I did weekly dates that I initiated and 2 kid-free trips

• Me doing counseling enabled us to communicate better about sensitive topics

• We had FUN this year

Kids/Family

◦ We booked a 6-week family vacation through Europe!

• Most [DAY OF WEEK] mornings Isaiah and I read the bible together before school - JJ sometimes joined

• Every week we had family worship time together

• We have established healthy family spiritual habits

• JJ and Isaiah have memorized a code

Friends/Community

◦ I planned a CEO retreat at a sweet house in Austin and we hired a chef, had a few speakers, etc.

• I started a “intentional father” book club

How to Build Systems Part 2 - Capacity

Next, I like to think about what I have capacity for in the next quarter (90 days).

In order to achieve big in one area, the other areas have to sacrifice.

But the question is, how much can you afford to sacrifice in those other areas? It depends on how big the balance is right now.

For a moment, think about these three areas of your life and the associated balances you have saved up to this point:

Health: Are you physically fit? Free from disease? Mentally fit? Anxious or depressed?

Wealth: How are personal finances? Are you in debt? Need an income boost? Need to get control of your budget? Do you feel stuck in your career, or alive?

Relationships: How is your relationship with your partner? Relationship with your kids (if applicable)? Friendships and community? Do you feel connected? Do you have people you can confide in?

We all want growth in each of the areas above. But depending on your current account balance in one of the above areas, you may not be able to afford to focus on anything but that area.

Let me explain.

For each of the areas above, define what baseline looks for you.

Baseline is this: if nothing were to change in this area (for better or worse) for the next ~6 months, I’d still be in a good place.

Another way to put it - “If the next 6 months (in this area - either health, wealth or relationships) looks like the last 3 months, will I be okay?”

Baseline isn’t necessarily your ideal, “best ever” - it’s “nothing is going to burn down if I don’t don’t focus on it for a bit”.

Baseline looks different in each area for each person.

So where do you need to be in each area to be stable?

For example, for Wealth, your may define baseline as:

6 months of emergency fund savings
Able to budget within $1k/month

For Health you may define baseline as:

15% bodyfat
I have a habit of exercising 3 to 5 times/wk
I restrict alcohol to 1 night/wk

For Relationships you may define baseline as:

I’m in the habit of doing a weekly date with my spouse
I restrict work to 40 hours/wk
I’m free to be with friends and family on the weekends

Exercise: Write down what baseline is for each of the 3 areas and determine if you’re there.

If you’re at baseline in all 3: you have freedom to go-all in on any area of your life without ruining the others.

If you’re at baseline in 0 to 2: If there is 1 or more areas where you have not achieved baseline, then that is where you need to focus these next 90 days. Otherwise, you’ll risk doing damage to some part of your life.

How to Build Systems Part 3 - Setting a Priority Goal

You can set as many goals as you’d like for the next 90 days, but usually 1 is enough.

The best question to answer: what are you optimizing for in the next 90 days?

Health? Income? Your marriage?

With that in mind, we’re going to fill out this table:

Goal

Why

As measured by (lagging)

Area [Health, Wealth/Career, Relationships]

How I’ll Celebrate

Inputs

Processes

Outputs (Metrics)

Feedback Loops

Boundaries/Constraints

Operating Rhythm

Goal

A goal is an outcome. What do we you want to be true at the end of 90 days? You’ll write your goals as a present tense statement - the ideal future.

Example: My biz is on track to do $1M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Why

What’s the heart behind doing this? What motivates you?

As measured by (lagging)

When these 90 days are over, we need to be able to objectively declare whether you’ve achieved your goal or not. This is “lagging” because this metric won’t be known until the 90 days is over.

“Made more money”, “got ripped”, “ate better” - all subjective.

“Made $XXk from…”, “Bodyfat at 15%”, “Avoided sugar for 90 days” - all can be measured.

Example: Closed 5 new clients

Area

Health, wealth or relationships?

How I’ll Celebrate

As we said, achieving your goals will cost you - you’ll have to sacrifice something and likely, you’ll have to sacrifice like you’ve never sacrificed before.

Having a predetermined celebration in mind can help keep you focused!

Your celebration should align with your goal.

Example: Buy new watches with my co-founder

Inputs

These are you commitments. Your action. What are you committing to actually doing each day (or week, depending on your goal) to achieve your goal?

Aaron’s examples:

6, 25 minute FreedUp pomodoros/day, Monday through Friday
No YouTube or Doom Scrolling at all
No downloading apps to my phone (work stuff is off my phone)
Keep weekly budget meeting with Sarah
Phone down at 5pm, not up until 6pm

Processess

How will you execute your inputs? What processes do you need to adopt?

Example:

A morning routine that includes weighing myself, working out, and drinking a protein shake.

Outputs (metrics)

The end of the quarter is too late to find out that you’re inputs weren’t effective. Each week, we’ll track a few key metrics to make sure that our commitments are going well.

For example, if your goal is to lose weight and you’re doing that by committing to eat 2k calories/day then a metric you could track would be daily weight. If the weight is not going to down, then you’re either not sticking with your commitments, not tracking accurately or you need to eat less than 2k calories.

Feedback Loops

How often will you assess your “outputs/metrics”? Ideally, you’ll do this weekly and make adjustments to your inputs accordingly.

Example: I’ll look at all my metrics weekly on Friday morning when I’m planning my week.

Boundaries/Constraints

What limits or guardrails do you need to put in place to protect your system and ensure you can maintain it? Think about time blocks, energy management, and what you'll say "no" to.

For example, if you're building a system to grow your business, you might set boundaries like "no meetings before 10am" or "only check email twice per day" to protect your deep work time.

If it's a fitness system, you might set constraints like "no alcohol during the week" or "meal prep on Sundays only."

Operating Rhythm

How will you incorporate you inputs into a weekly rhythm over the next quarter? Map out the days of the week or the times you’ll take action.

For example:

Monday - Deep work blocks from 8am-12pm, team meetings in afternoon
Tuesday/Thursday - Client calls and sales activities
Wednesday/Friday - Product development and content creation
Weekend - Rest and recharge, no work activities

Once the entire table is filled out, you’re ready to move on to building out a tracker.

How to Build Systems Part 4 - Setting Up Your Tracker

Once your system is designed, it’s time to make it visible and trackable.

You’ll need a simple tool to keep you accountable to your daily inputs and to review your weekly metrics. Because without tracking, you’re just hoping.

The goal here isn’t to be perfect.

The goal is to have a feedback loop.

Why Tracking Matters:

You’ll know if you’re actually following your system
You’ll know if your inputs are working
You’ll know when and how to adjust

How to Track It:

You can use whatever tool you’ll actually stick with:

✅ Strides – My go-to habit tracker (iOS only)

✅ Notion – Customizable and great for combining goals, metrics, and reflections (I’ll send out a Notion Systems Template next week!)

✅ Pen & paper – If you’re analog, don’t overcomplicate it

How to Build Systems – Part 5: Review and Adjust Regularly

Now to actually run your new system, adopt these daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms:

Daily Check-In (2–5 mins):

Update your tracker
Ask: Did I follow my system today?
Note one friction point or moment of pride

Weekly Review (30 mins):

Review your metrics: Am I trending in the right direction?
Are my constraints working? Any breakdowns?
Adjust any part of your rhythm or process
Celebrate progress (seriously—this matters)

Monthly Deep Dive (60 mins):

Are my inputs actually producing the desired outputs?
Is this system still serving my goal—or do I need a new one?
What’s been learned, and what’s next?

Most people fail not because they didn’t try hard enough…

They failed because they didn’t check in often enough to course correct. I’ve found that there’s nothing better than building systems along side other high-achievers and checking in on each others progress daily.

Build It Once, Then Let It Run

Here’s the truth most productivity advice misses:

The goal of a system is not to be productive.

The goal of a system is to get you what you want.

That’s why systems > goals.

A great system is:

Simple enough to run when life is messy
Flexible enough to adapt when life changes
Robust enough to make success repeatable

So don’t try to systemize your entire life in one go. Pick one area. Build the system. Let it run. Let it transform you.

Then? Build the next one.

Your identity evolves with each cycle.

Your baseline upgrades.

And your life compounds.

Next Week: Free Notion Template

Next week, I’m dropping a Notion template that walks you through this entire system-building process — from setting your 90-day goal to mapping your inputs, feedback loops, and weekly reviews.

It’ll include:

My personal system template
Pre-built progress tracking tables
Swipeable examples from health, business, and relationships

Keep an eye on your inbox 👀 — or forward this to a friend who needs to systemize their chaos.

Thanks for reading!

Aaron

A Complete Guide to Building Systems

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