Systems vs. Goals: The Case for Routine
How to save your energy for what matters by automating what doesn't.
About 30 years ago, just as I was starting my career, I was living a very different life.
I enjoyed going out. I enjoyed the parties. I had a drink—or two—whenever the occasion called for it, which was often. I was doing all the things typical of that stage in life, riding the wave of youth and adrenaline.
I don’t remember exactly what triggered the shift. There was no burning bush, no dramatic rock bottom. Perhaps it was simply the fact that I noticed I was gaining weight. Or perhaps it was a quiet, internal whisper that the party couldn’t last forever.
So, I decided I needed to exercise. I had no specific goal in mind. I didn’t sign up for a marathon. I didn’t vow to lose 20 pounds by summer. I didn’t have a vision board. I just knew I needed to move.
I started blindly. First, I went swimming a couple of times a week. Then, I joined a gym. I lifted weights without much of a plan. One day, I decided to step on the treadmill. Again, I didn’t know how to approach it. I started by walking. Then I increased the speed. Then I increased the time—from 10 minutes to 20, then to 30.
Eventually, I was running from my home to the gym, working out, and running back.
I didn’t know it then, but that clumsy beginning was the seed of a 30-year running career. For three decades, five days a week, I rarely stopped.
When I look back now, it sounds simple. But what I did not know at the time—and what took me years to understand—was that I wasn’t chasing a goal. I was building a system.
The Illusion of the “Goal”
During this recent holiday break, I did what we all do. I read the articles. I saw the LinkedIn posts. The world was screaming about “New Year’s Goals.”
I sat down to think about my own targets for 2026. But as I looked at the paper, I realized something uncomfortable: Goals have rarely worked for me.
When I analyzed my life—my career, my health, my relationships—I realized that every major success wasn’t the result of a “Target.” It was the result of a “Machine.”
Today, I would rather have a mediocre goal with a perfect system than a perfect goal with a mediocre system. A goal is a point on a map. A system is the engine that gets you there. If you have the engine, the destination is inevitable. If you only have the map, you are just a tourist with a wish.
The Biology of “Rigidity”
For years, I judged myself. I saw my routines as “rigid.” I thought perhaps I was too structured, too boring, too disciplined. But now, with the work I have been doing in biology and neuroscience, I understand that “rigidity” is just a judgment word for Architecture.
Biology loves systems for one specific reason: Energy Conservation.
Your brain is an expensive organ. It consumes about 20% of your metabolic energy.
The most expensive thing your brain can do is Make a Decision.
“What should I eat?”
“Should I run today?”
“What time should I go to bed?”
Every time you ask these questions, you are burning glucose in the Prefrontal Cortex (the executive center). This leads to Decision Fatigue. By 5:00 PM, your battery is dead, and you default to the path of least resistance (the couch, the junk food, the scroll).
A system eliminates the question. A system outsources the decision to the architecture.
The “Salad Rule”: How to Automate Your Life
Let’s look at the practical application. I realized recently that I have unknowingly built systems for eating, resting, and working that protect my energy.
Take my diet, for example.
Most people ask themselves every single night: “What do I feel like eating?”
This is a trap. It invites emotion into a logical process.
At my home, we have a Recurring Menu Protocol.
Mondays: Salad. (Not the same salad every week, but always a salad).
Tuesdays: Soup.
Wednesdays: Protein.
It sounds boring to the amateur. It sounds like freedom to the professional. Because we have a system, we don’t stand in front of the fridge debating. We don’t negotiate. The system decision was made years ago and the specific meal we make week to week. The same day of the week we buy the groceries, and then we just execute.
We do the same for Rest and Entertainment.
We have a clear, recurrent routine:
Dinner.
Watch a show.
Lower the lights (signaling the biological shift).
No phones.
Read.
Bed at the same time.
This isn’t just “habit.” It is biological wiring.
By repeating this sequence, my brain knows exactly what is coming. When the lights go down, the cortisol drops and the melatonin rises—not because I “tried” to sleep, but because the system triggered the response.
The Athlete vs. The Amateur
This is exactly how professional athletes operate. You never hear an NBA player say, “I’ll see how I feel when I wake up and then decide if I want to shoot some hoops.”
That is how amateurs talk.
For the athlete, the decisions are made before the season starts.
06:00: Wake up.
07:00: Cardio.
09:00: Team practice.
12:00: Nutrition.
The athlete doesn’t have to “motivate” themselves. They just have to step into the stream and let the current carry them. They don’t use willpower to get to the gym. They use Scheduling.
The system protects them from their own feelings. Even on days when they feel lazy, sad, or tired, the system remains. And because the system remains, the performance remains.
The Dark Side of Systems
However, we must be careful. This mechanism is neutral. It works for the good, but it also works for the bad.
Just as you can wire your system into positive habits, you can wire your body into negative behaviors through the exact same mechanism: Systematic Repetition.
Smoking is a system. Excessive drinking is a system. Doom-scrolling is a system.
You didn’t just “decide” to be a smoker one day. You built it.
Step 1: Feel stress.
Step 2: Reach for cigarette.
Step 3: Feel relief.
Repeat that loop 1,000 times, and you have built a neural highway that is just as strong as my running habit. The brain doesn’t judge the outcome; it only judges the repetition.
This is why “Goals” fail to break bad habits. You can’t break a 10-year systemic architecture with a 3-day “Resolution.” You can only dismantle a system by building a new one to replace it.
Don’t Change the Goal. Change the Wiring.
Systems allow for change at any age. The beauty of the human nervous system is Neuroplasticity. You are not “stuck” with your current settings.
But you cannot think your way into a new way of acting. You have to act your way into a new way of thinking.
You install the system and then, you endure the friction of the first few weeks. And then, something magical happens: Adaptation. Your body receives the signal. It realizes, “Oh, we are doing this every day now? Okay, let me build some muscle to handle it. Let me build some neural pathways to make it easier.”
Eventually, with enough repetition, you settle into the system. The friction disappears and the discipline becomes identity.
The Invitation
So, as you look at 2026, I invite you to stop writing down goals.
Throw away the “Target Weight.” Throw away the “Revenue Number.”
Instead, become an Architect.
Look at your days. Where are you leaking energy making decisions? Where are you relying on “feeling like it”?
Don’t set a goal to “Eat Healthy.” Set a system: “No sugar in the house on weekdays.”
Don’t set a goal to “Read More.” Set a system: “Phone goes in the drawer at 9:00 PM.” ”Read 20 minutes in bed before sleep.”
Don’t set a goal to “Get Fit.” Set a system: “I put my running shoes on at 6:00 AM, whether I run or not.”
My 30-year running career didn’t happen because I was special. It happened because I was consistent. I stepped on the treadmill. I added 10 minutes. And I never negotiated with the machine.
Build the system. The goal will take care of itself.