Happy new year! Right now, you might be feeling the pressure to create a long list of ambitious goals. But here’s my counterintuitive idea: don’t.

This year, instead of setting more goals, I suggest you focus on one. One big goal you care about (maybe one you’ve been carrying over from last year) and build a system around it. That’s it.

Tip of the Week: Choose one important goal for 2026, then build a simple five-part system to help you follow through: input, output, tool, inspection, and iteration.

The Theory Behind

Goals give direction. Systems create results. James Clear said it best: “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Most goals don’t fail because we didn’t care enough, they fail because we didn’t build a structure to support them. The breakdown always happens between intention and execution.

Effective systems have five components. I am guessing by now you have heard about the importance of systems, but how do you create one? Well, at Amazon, we used mechanisms to drive consistency. I’ve adapted that model for personal goals, and it’s become my go-to framework:

• Input – the consistent action you control

• Output – the result you’re aiming for

• Tool – something that helps you track or manage your input

• Inspection – a regular cadence to check in and reflect

• Iteration – the moment where you adjust what’s not working

• Adoption – how ensure those you need to engage with the system, do so

Most of our biggest goals fall into familiar life categories. If you’re not sure where to focus, look at the key areas that tend to drive long-term satisfaction and well-being: your physical health (exercise, sleep, nutrition), your career performance and growth, your financial foundation (saving, debt, investing), and your relationships (whether that’s with your kids, partner, parents, or friends). Other powerful focus areas include creativity, spirituality, learning, and travelling. The clearer you are about what area matters most right now, the easier it is to build a system around it... and to stick with it when life gets busy.

What I’ve Learned

I’ve learned the hard way that having ambitious goals doesn’t mean much if there’s no system behind them. Here are two examples of how this might look like for two very common goals:

Output: Lose 10 pounds

• Input: Eat low-carb meals and exercise three times a week

• Tool: Food tracking app + scale

• Inspection: Weekly check-in every Sunday

• Iteration: Adjusted workouts and simplified meals when progress stalled

• Adoption: Committed to a personal trainer twice a week for accountability

Output: Improve alignment on a cross-functional team project

• Input: Send stakeholder updates weekly and run focused team syncs

• Tool: Simple KPI dashboard + status doc

• Inspection: Monday morning sync with team

• Iteration: Switched updates to short Loom videos when no one was reading the docs

• Adoption: Asked a peer to co-own weekly updates to stay consistent and relieve bottlenecks

Make It Happen

1. Choose one goal worth sticking to. Make it meaningful, something from one of the core categories in your life.

2. Write the output clearly. This is the result you hope to achieve, even if it takes the whole year.

3. Define the input actions. These are the actionable habits or routines you’ll do weekly or daily to move the goal forward.

4. Select a tool to track it. It can be an app, spreadsheet, notebook - whatever makes progress visible.

5. Set an inspection rhythm. Add a review to your calendar weekly or biweekly to check how you’re doing.

6. Plan to iterate. If the system stops working, adjust the inputs or tools. Don’t abandon the whole goal.

7. Build in adoption. Who or what will help you stick to the system? A coach, a friend, an accountability loop, or even a calendar block. Make the system hard to ignore.

Want to change your year? Don’t chase more goals. Design a better system around what you already care about. Share your goal and system and I’d be happy to share my thoughts back!

Systematically,

Jorge Luis Pando

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PS: Wow, you made it all the way down here? You must really care about your personal development! Here are 3 ways I can help you grow even faster:

1. Get My Most Popular Course: Learn the exact system I’ve taught to 70,000+ professionals to take control of emails, meetings, and DMs, and reclaim 150+ hours in your year.

2. Join The Effective Collective: Our private membership is opening soon as invite-only. Get access to two best-seller courses, weekly coaching, and support to level up your performance without burning out.

3. Book Me for Coaching or a Workshop: Need help scaling yourself or your team? I offer 1:1 coaching and custom team sessions to help you work better, not harder.

Enjoying what you’re reading? Help a friend out… and you will win something for yourself too.