How To Create Systems to Achieve Goals

In this article we will explore the relationship between goals and dopamine, take a look at a new way we can create systems to achieve goals and lastly have a better understanding of the relationship between self-improvement and self acceptance. Let’s first take a look at defining dopamine.

DOPAMINE

When people think of dopamine, they think of “something released in my brain that makes me feel good.” So, with that thought let’s take a closer look at what that “something” is.

The scientific term for dopamine is a neurotransmitter, also sometimes referred to as a chemical messenger. Nerve cells (neurons) produce neurotransmitters and send them as chemical messages to other nerve cells, muscle cells or glands throughout the body.

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So, what causes the production of this neurotransmitter dopamine?  And what chemical message is sent to our body on its release?

Research has shown that dopamine plays an important role in the reward system located in our brains. Any activity that will cause us to feel pleasure triggers a release of dopamine. This covers a wide range of activities which can include music, social media, having a nice meal, exercise and meditation. The release of dopamine for any given activity will differ but one thing is for certain. This neurotransmitter motivates an individual to gravitate towards and perform activities that give them the most pleasure.

Goals and Dopamine

Let’s apply this to goals that we set for ourselves.  When you achieve a goal, your brain associates that as a positive desirable outcome (a reward) causing a release of dopamine. This would propel you to adjust your behavior to achieve that reward again. If we aren’t achieving our goals then we would not feel encouraged to pursue them.

One way to help us achieve goals is to break them down into smaller short-term goals. This allows us to reach realistic manageable goals instead of facing daunting, seemingly far-off ones. One way to do this is called "gamifying" the process.

How to Create Systems To Achieve Goals?

Let Goals Serve as a Guide to Creating/Developing Your Systems

To be goal oriented is to perform activities with achieving a specific goal in mind. If it is a long-term goal, we will be unsuccessful for a very long time. When we do finally achieve the goal, sometimes this can result in an anticlimax. This means upon reaching what we thought would be our pinnacle, the excitement goes just as quickly as it came. Prof. Adam Alter sees this as a problem as this causes us to repeat the endless cycles of setting more goals.

Another problem stated by Alter is that a goal does not tell you how to get to where you are going. This is why it is important to be both goal and systems oriented. When it comes to breaking up your goals into achievable steps, let these steps incorporate systems.

Change Your Perspective On How to Create Systems To Achieve Your Goals

Systems

You don’t use benchmark numbers when developing systems but rather time frames. For example, when writing this blog I would not state a specific number of words I need to write per session. Instead I can set a timeframe of writing for two hours per day. This system will work well to prevent negative effects when experiencing anticlimaxes. Daily you will be achieving smaller goals through consistency and discipline in the systems you have developed. Let your goals serve as a guide as you develop your systems.

Goals

As you set goals of accomplishing certain things, don’t compare yourself to your ideal but rather to your former self. Dr. Benjamin Hardy, an organisational psychologist states that we should measure the gain and not the gap. This means you are able to recognize the progress you make each day which encourages you to continue on your journey.

 Another new perspective to have when setting goals is that a goal does not always have to be traditional SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound). For example, a goal I can set is to be a better writer. It’s not something very specific or time bound but it’s something that I can see the progress in as I continue to write daily. This also helps you to avoid anticlimaxes as becoming a better writer does not have an expiry date.

Self-Improvement and Self-Acceptance

Ali further explains in the video above that wanting self-improvement does not have to come at the expense of self-acceptance. It’s okay to be contented with your life while striving for more. The tension between these two states do not have to be resolved but rather balanced.

What a man needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal”

Excerpt from the book, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Dr. Victor Frankl.
Dr. Franklin is an Jewish-Austrian psychiatrist whose book details his experience in a concentration camp.

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