Forget Goals. Build Systems.

One ex-version of me was obsessed with productivity books and podcasts. Nothing wrong with them—but most of the advice turned out to be fluff or totally impractical. Honestly, I wish I'd spent that time reading sci-fi or history instead.

I'm telling you this as someone who's been through a lot of that content—boxes of books, hours of podcasts, all promising to change your life. But as I've grown into adulthood, I realized that 99% of it doesn't actually apply to where I am now. Maybe my bar for "useful" has just changed.

Take those diaries of successful CEOs—interesting, sure, but most of their lessons don't translate to my life. I've read a bunch, and while some ideas stick, most feel like advice from another planet.

But there's one topic I keep coming back to: habits. If you've ever struggled to build a good one or quit a bad one, you're not broken—it's just a skill you haven't learned yet. And the good news? You can.

Over time, I've realized that most of my progress—career, health, focus—has come from building a simple daily system and sticking with it. That's it. Not big goals, not motivational hacks. Just a set of small, repeatable actions I try to protect, tweak, and improve a little at a time.

So here's my invitation: take five minutes today to learn something real about habit-building. Ask ChatGPT, watch a quick video, or read a solid summary. It's one of those skills that seems simple, but if you stick with it, it can make a big difference. It definitely helped me more than most things I used to obsess over.

There's one book that actually survived all my decluttering phases: Atomic Habits by James Clear. It's still on my shelf—not because it's perfect, but because it's genuinely useful. Honestly, you don't even need to read the whole thing. This summary covers the essentials.

Forget goals. Focus on systems. That's what actually moves the needle—quietly, consistently, and in ways that last.