Lane Shackleton
Systems Beat Goals Every Time
Inspired by Lane Shackleton episode
Lane Shackleton's "systems not goals" principle applies to parenting: Jerry Seinfeld didn't set a goal to be funny, he wrote every morning.
Jerry Seinfeld writes for an hour every morning. Not when he feels inspired. Not when he has a great idea. Every morning. System beats goal.
Your kid will never wake up one day and decide to be a good sleeper. That's a goal. Goals are for suckers who think willpower is real. But a bedtime routine? Bath at 7, books at 7:15, lights out at 7:30, every single night, even when you'd rather gouge your eyes out than read "Goodnight Moon" again? That's a system.
Systems don't care about your feelings. They don't care that you're tired. They just work. You're not trying to raise a good sleeper. You're running the same boring production line every night until their nervous system surrenders.
The goal sounds nice. The system makes you want to fake your own death. But the system wins.
