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Success Is Hard Until You Build Systems Like This — Transcript

by Ali Abdaal · 6,806 words · 969 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00This video is all about how you can
0:01achieve more success in your personal or
0:03professional life by building systems.
0:06So, we're going to talk about the
0:07philosophy of this, why systems are
0:08important, and what the difference is
0:10between people who have systems and
0:11people who don't. And in the second part
0:12of the video, I'm going to go through
0:13five systems that I think you should
0:15totally incorporate into your life if
0:17you haven't already, because they will
0:18drastically, drastically increase your
0:20chances of achieving whatever your own
0:22personal definition of success actually
0:23is. And if you're new here, hello, my
0:24name is Ali, I'm a doctor turned
0:26entrepreneur and author of the New York
0:27Times bestseller Feel Good Productivity,
0:29and this channel is all about the books
0:30and ideas and strategies and tools
0:32[music] that can help us achieve
0:33financial freedom, live life on our own
0:34terms, and ultimately build a life that
0:36we love. So, if that sounds good, you
0:37might like to hit the subscribe button,
0:38but now let's dive into the video.
0:41All right, so let's start out with a
0:42definition. So, we are all trying to
0:43work towards this thing that we call
0:45success, but what the hell does success
0:46actually mean? There are lots of
0:48different definitions, people have their
0:49own like ways of defining this, but in
0:51my opinion, you would generally consider
0:54yourself successful if you've achieved
0:55or if you're actively working towards
0:57goals that you intrinsically care about.
0:59I would say your life is kind of
1:00successful if you're working towards
1:02those goals in a balanced way. So, for
1:04example, I wouldn't call it massive
1:05success if, you know, you're
1:07single-mindedly focused on just this one
1:08thing, but then you've like wrecked your
1:10health and your relationships and your
1:12life along the way. I wouldn't
1:13personally think of that as being
1:14success. And finally, success is where
1:16you are actually enjoying the journey
1:18along the way, because ultimately, you
1:20could have success, you could have the
1:21nicest house, you could have the
1:23fanciest job, you could have the biggest
1:24business, but if you haven't enjoyed the
1:26journey of getting there, it will very
1:27much feel hollow, because you'll get to
1:29that destination and you'll realize that
1:30that is not where happiness and
1:31salvation is actually to be found. Now,
1:33in order to achieve our goals, we
1:34basically need to take a series of
1:36actions. If we take the right sort of
1:37actions and do them for long enough and
1:39consistently enough, we are more likely
1:40to get to our goals. In order to have a
1:41generally balanced life, we kind of need
1:43a somewhat reasonable diversity of goals
1:45and a therefore diversity of actions
1:47across the different domains of our
1:48life. For example, our professional and
1:50personal life, our work, our health, our
1:52relationships, our hobbies. And in order
1:54to have enjoyment along the way, to be
1:55honest, a lot of it comes from our
1:57approach to things. Like if you approach
1:59stuff in a sort of playful way, if you
2:01approach things in a sincere rather than
2:03serious way, if you have an attitude and
2:05a mindset of non-attachment, like you're
2:07working towards your goals and you're
2:08doing stuff to get there, but you're not
2:09overly attached to any particular
2:11outcome. And of course, if you can drive
2:12intrinsic motivation for the goals that
2:14you're achieving, so rather than being
2:15motivated by external factors like I
2:18don't know, fame and money and what your
2:19society thinks you should do or
2:20whatever, you're actually motivated by
2:22intrinsic things, like you actually want
2:23to do the thing. Those are generally the
2:25factors that lead to enjoyment. And I
2:26would like to offer for your
2:27consideration in this video that if you
2:30build systems into your life, you're
2:32actually far more likely to achieve your
2:34goals, you're more likely to do the
2:37actions that are required to achieve
2:38your goals, you're more likely to have a
2:40balanced approach to the goals and the
2:41actions that you achieve and take, and
2:43you're also more likely to have
2:45enjoyment along the journey, all by
2:47building the right sorts of system into
2:49your life.
2:51So now let's try and define what
2:52actually is a system. And you can define
2:54a system as a network of interconnected
2:58things that lead to a particular result.
3:00And those things could be, for example,
3:02actions, or they could be processes,
3:04which are really just like sets of
3:05actions, or they could be checklists,
3:08which are again, really just sets of
3:09actions. So what you basically have is
3:11that a system is a step-by-step set of
3:13actions that leads to a particular
3:15result. And again, the whole point of
3:16this video is that I would like to argue
3:18that if you can take the approach of
3:19building more systems into your life,
3:21and basically systematizing your
3:22approach to your personal and
3:23professional life, in my opinion, you're
3:24far more likely to achieve success,
3:26whatever that definition of success is
3:28for you. Now, I want to give you a
3:29couple of examples here. So, imagine the
3:31world of aviation, right? Like pilots
3:33piloting airplanes. That is an
3:35enormously high-stakes situation, and
3:37the entire world of aviation is built
3:39around systems. Systems are the most
3:41important thing. There is a system to
3:42build the appropriate airplane. This is
3:44why basically all airplanes kind of look
3:46the same, because people have figured
3:48out a system for making airplanes fly.
3:50And so if you deviate too much from the
3:51system, you end up not building an
3:53airplane that flies. Let's take another
3:54high-stakes thing, like medicine. I used
3:56to be a doctor, in case you didn't know.
3:57And medicine is all about following a
3:59system. Yes, there is some level of like
4:01individual stuff that the doctors do.
4:03For example, like, you know, talking to
4:04the patient and making them feel nice.
4:06But, when you go and see a doctor and
4:07you talk to them about your problems,
4:08the doctor is actually following a
4:10system. One of the most popular systems
4:11is the Calgary-Cambridge method of
4:12patient interviewing, which is like a
4:14whole system for what sort of questions,
4:16as a doctor, you need to ask the patient
4:18in order to make sure that you've got
4:19all the symptoms and all the signs and
4:20all that kind of stuff. When the doctor
4:22examines you and listens to your heart
4:24and like examines your abdomen and all
4:25of that kind of stuff, again, they are
4:26following a system. They are not just
4:28making up as they go along. If they
4:30have lots and lots of experience, then
4:32yes, then, you know, the systematization
4:34of the thing for doctors starts to
4:35become second nature. They start to
4:37pattern recognize, and so, they're
4:39following a system, even though they
4:41often don't realize they're following a
4:42system, because the system has been so
4:43drilled into them that they can now kind
4:46of go a little bit off-script. But, even
4:47then, even if you're like a surgeon with
4:4950 years of experience and you're like
4:50the world's best person, you still
4:52literally have to fill out a checklist
4:54before every single operation and at the
4:55end of every single operation to make
4:57sure that you've checked the boxes for
4:59the important stuff that the system
5:00needs to make sure the patient has a
5:02good result. Now, in our professional
5:03lives, in these sort of work
5:04environments, like in medicine or in
5:06aviation or in like Formula 1, the idea
5:08of building systems into it is like
5:10fairly standard. Like with your job, you
5:11probably have systems that you have to
5:13follow. Systems for HR, systems for
5:15marketing, sales, operations, finance,
5:17the whole shebang. Businesses are built
5:18on the idea of systems. And I would like
5:19to offer for your consideration that we
5:21can totally build those sorts of systems
5:23into our personal lives as well, for
5:25pretty much any goal that we want to
5:26work towards.
5:28And there is a really nice visual that I
5:30got from my friend Jeff Su that sort of
5:32describes the value of a system. So, if
5:34you imagine this kind of graph, we've
5:35got effort over here, and so, this is
5:37sort of what the line might look like if
5:39you're trying to do stuff without a
5:41system to it. Whereas, this is what the
5:42line looks like if you're trying to do
5:44something that does have a system
5:45attached to it. It will take a little
5:47bit more effort in the initial stages to
5:49build the system, but then very quickly
5:51the fact that you are now using a
5:52system, i.e. there is a systematized set
5:54of actions or processes or steps that
5:56you're going to follow, it takes
5:58actually quite a lot of work and quite a
6:00lot of effort out of the process of
6:01doing the thing. Now, another system
6:02that I recommend having work for you on
6:04autopilot is your investments, which is
6:06where the sponsor of today's video comes
6:08in, Trading 212. Trading 212 is an
6:10online investment platform that lets you
6:12invest in stocks and shares and
6:13exchange-traded funds ETFs. And my wife
6:15and I have actually been using it
6:16independently for years, long before
6:18they ever sponsored the channel. The
6:19platform makes investing super
6:20straightforward. There are zero
6:21commissions, you can get fractional
6:22shares, and there's none of that
6:24unnecessary friction that puts people
6:26off getting started. They've also
6:27recently launched their Trading 212
6:28card, which gives you up to 10% cashback
6:31on your everyday spending with no
6:32monthly fees, no hidden charges, and
6:34currency conversion at the true
6:35interbank rate, which is especially nice
6:37if you are like me and you travel a lot
6:38or you buy things online in different
6:39currencies. The card directly integrates
6:41with your Trading 212 invest account, so
6:43any uninvested cash can earn compound
6:46interest in up to 13 currencies while
6:48you just get on with your life. They've
6:49also got a wonderful pies and auto
6:51invest feature, which makes it really
6:53easy to build a diversified portfolio on
6:55autopilot. As a little bonus, if you
6:56sign up using my special link, you can
6:58get a free fractional share worth up to
7:00100 pounds, which is free money, so you
7:01might as well. So, if you want to check
7:02it out, head over to
7:03trading212.com/join/ali
7:06or click the link in the video
7:07description. Big thank you to Trading
7:08212 for sponsoring this video. So, now
7:10let's get back to it. I'll give you a
7:11personal example. doing weight training
7:13when I started out for about 5 years,
7:15and I was not following a system. I was
7:16going to the gym a couple of times a
7:18week when I had the time, and I was kind
7:20of doing whatever I felt like. I was
7:22going with the flow. And sure, this was
7:23kind of fun. I'd go to the gym with my
7:25friends and stuff, but I made almost no
7:27progress in my physique or in my health
7:28levels or in any of those things because
7:30I wasn't I wasn't following a system.
7:31Recently, I started following a system.
7:32I got a personal trainer, and he
7:34programs my workouts, and I see him
7:35three times a week at the same time
7:37slot. We follow a similar kind of
7:38workout plan with progressive overload.
7:40There is a system behind the thing, and
7:42for the first time in my life, I'm
7:43finally seeing progress when I'm
7:44actually at the gym because I'm
7:45following a system. I'm not just
7:46screwing around and making stuff up as I
7:48go along and hoping for the best. I'm
7:49following a prescribed system that
7:51people have already figured out to get
7:52to a desired result, which is to try and
7:54attempt to get a little bit more jacked
7:56and to reduce my visceral fat levels.
7:57Let's take another example. Let's say
7:58you are starting a business and you're
7:59doing sales calls for the first time.
8:01Like you're getting on the phone or a
8:02Zoom call with your prospects and trying
8:04to sell them your product. Not having a
8:06system would be hopping on the call,
8:08making it up as you go along, just sort
8:10of vibing and going with the flow.
8:12Having a system means that you would
8:13have some kind of sales script that you
8:14would follow. You're probably saying a
8:15similar thing each time in the opening
8:17and in the closing. You have a list of
8:19objections that they might say, like,
8:20you know, the price is too expensive or
8:21I don't have the time or let me think
8:22about it, and you have defined responses
8:24that you figured out because you built a
8:26system around it. You have a system for
8:27following up with them. Now, in that
8:29world, the business that follows a
8:30system for their sales process is going
8:32to make way more money compared to the
8:35noob business that has no system around
8:36this because they're just sort of making
8:38stuff up as they go along. And this is
8:39the core idea behind why systems are way
8:41more likely to lead you to success
8:42because success, if you define it as
8:43achieving your goals with balance and
8:45enjoyment along the way, is really just
8:46about executing on a set of action. Now,
8:48if you are making up those actions every
8:50time depending on how you feel, you're a
8:52lot less likely to get to any particular
8:54goal compared to if you have a system or
8:57a set of processes that you're following
8:58every time.
9:01Now, after all of that opining, I would
9:03like to share with you five systems that
9:05I think, if you were to incorporate into
9:06your life, would drastically increase
9:08your chances of success. The first
9:09system that I think is incredibly
9:11helpful is some kind of goal-setting
9:13system. When it comes to achieving
9:14success, having goals is really
9:15important because then at least you know
9:17what you're aiming for. You don't have
9:18to be wedded to the goals, you don't
9:19have to be attached to them, you don't
9:21have to be upset if you don't manage to
9:22achieve a goal in the time frame that
9:23you wanted, but it's so useful to
9:25actually have a goal to shoot for in the
9:27first place. Now, the way most people do
9:29this is sort of like before they have a
9:30system, it's sort of like, you know, the
9:32New Year comes around and they'll sort
9:34of vaguely set some New Year's
9:35resolutions that I want to stop
9:37procrastinating or I want to go to the
9:38gym more often and they just they won't
9:41have a systematic approach to goal
9:43setting. And so what happens is that
9:44they start something and they sort of
9:46meander a little bit and then they quit
9:47or they start something else and they
9:48kind of go all over the place and then
9:49they quit or they set a goal for
9:51something else and then, you know,
9:52they've taken one step and then they
9:53quit and it's all this sort of like
9:54general kind of mess when you approach
9:57goal setting as something that you do ad
9:59hoc whenever you have the time and you
10:00just sort of try and figure it out as
10:01you go along. Whereas, after you have a
10:04system for goal setting and there are
10:06lots of them out there and I don't
10:07really care which one you use but like
10:08you can just Google it or ask ChatGPT or
10:10Claude to give you a system for goal
10:11setting. I've got my own it's called the
10:12GPS system there'll be some videos over
10:14there somewhere on the channel. But
10:15after you have a system for goal
10:16setting, you have a systematic process
10:18that you can follow every 3 months or
10:20every year or however frequently you
10:21want to do it. And so for example, my
10:23process starts with like vision where
10:24there's like a life compass section
10:26where you figure out like what you
10:27actually want your life to look like
10:29very long term and what what are your
10:30core values and that kind of stuff. Then
10:32we turn it into a 3-year sketch
10:34where you can use like a vision board or
10:35something to figure out where you want
10:36to be 3 years from now and then we make
10:38quarterly quests which are like 90-day
10:40goals. Again, all of this stuff will be
10:42linked down below cuz we've got videos
10:43on the channel about all this stuff so
10:44I'm not going to expand on it in too
10:45much detail. And then after we figured
10:46out our quarterly quests, we have a
10:47weekly process of like prioritization
10:49and reflection that I call the balanced
10:51week blueprint. And you might think that
10:52this stuff is a little bit much but like
10:54it doesn't take that long to do. It
10:55takes maybe a couple of hours to do like
10:57a life compass exercise to really figure
10:59out what direction you want to go with
11:00your life. It takes maybe half an hour
11:01to do like a vision board 3-year sketch.
11:03It's it's quite fun thing to do as well.
11:05It takes maybe half an hour every
11:06quarter to define quarterly quests. And
11:08what you're doing with this systematic
11:10approach to goal setting is that you're
11:12really trying to decide what are the
11:13small number of goals I actually want to
11:15work towards. And most of us go through
11:17life without really stopping back to
11:19zoom out a little bit and just actually
11:21think about this. It's so easy to get
11:23fixated on the day-to-day. We're too
11:24busy at work and then we get home and
11:26then there's the kids and the stuff and
11:27whatever and there's not enough time and
11:29not enough energy. And yet if we just
11:31take a few hours once in a while to zoom
11:33out and follow a systematic process for
11:35goal setting, we are far more likely to
11:37end up working towards goals that are
11:38intrinsically motivated, goals that we
11:40actually want to work towards, rather
11:42than casually working towards goals that
11:44are just a subconscious result of what
11:46society has told us, what our parents
11:47have told us, or what I don't know, the
11:50a previous version of our self decided
11:51to do.
11:52The second major system I would really
11:54recommend installing into your life is
11:56some kind of time management system. And
11:59again, I've made videos about this on
12:00the channel, they'll be linked down
12:01below if you want to check them out. But
12:02when it comes to achieving any goal at
12:04all, achieving every goal, as we talked
12:06about, is a series of actions. And in
12:08order to do those actions, we have to do
12:10some work. And there are generally three
12:12inputs into work, and that is time,
12:15energy, and focus, assuming you're the
12:17one doing the work. If you have a team
12:19and you have other team members doing
12:20the work, then you have the other metric
12:22of money because you're hiring the team
12:23and getting them to do the work stuff,
12:24but for the most part, time, energy, and
12:26focus are the three fundamental
12:27resources that individuals invest in
12:30doing work, taking actions to achieve
12:31goals, which ultimately, fingers
12:32crossed, leads us to success, whatever
12:35that definition of success is for us.
12:37And on a very basic level, the most
12:39important one of these is time. Time is
12:41the primary thing, because we only have
12:42168 hours every week to do stuff. 168
12:47hours. Most of us spend like 56 of those
12:50sleeping, and maybe another 12 of them
12:52eating and going to the toilet and
12:53stuff. So what that basically leaves is
12:55100 hours.
12:57Nice round number. If you have a job and
12:59you have to I don't know, spend 60 You
13:01just, you know, you literally just got
13:0340 hours left every single week to do
13:04all of the things that you want to do.
13:06If you imagine that like most people
13:07have a screen time of like 6 hours a
13:09day, all of those 40 hours suddenly
13:10disappear. And so you realize very
13:11quickly, and maybe if you're the sort of
13:13person who watches this channel, and if
13:14you're at this point in the video, that
13:15like there's actually not that many
13:17hours in every week to do all of the
13:19things that you want to do. Which means
13:21that if we want to be able to do the
13:22work that helps us take the actions that
13:23helps us get to our goal, that helps us
13:25eventually get to success, we want to be
13:26good at managing our time and ideally
13:28instead of having to again make this up
13:30as we go along, ideally we have a system
13:32that makes it a lot easier for us to
13:34manage our time so that we can make time
13:36for the important stuff and get rid of
13:38the stuff that is less important. But,
13:39there are three key factors that I think
13:41everyone should have. Number one, a good
13:44time management system involves time
13:46blocking, which is basically where you
13:48stick blocks in your calendar for the
13:49stuff that is important to you. For
13:51example, I have a weekly date night with
13:52my wife. That is time blocked. I go to
13:54the gym three times a week. That is time
13:56blocked. I have two filming days a week
13:57where I work on YouTube videos. Those
13:59are time blocked in the calendar. The
14:00more you can intentionally decide how
14:02you want to be using your time ahead of
14:04time, rather than having to make a
14:06decision in the moment and then sort of
14:08being at the mercy of your mood or your
14:09energy levels, the easier it is to
14:11reliably do the actions consistently
14:12that are going to get you to your goals.
14:13That's not to say that you should have
14:14no room for spontaneity. You can totally
14:16have free time in the calendar as well
14:18where you can just do whatever you want.
14:19But, in general, the people that are
14:20most likely to achieve goals are the
14:21ones who actually make the time to
14:23achieve those goals. Perhaps
14:24unsurprisingly. Factor number two that
14:26every good time management system should
14:27have is a method for prioritization.
14:29Now, you probably have more things you
14:31would like to do compared to the time
14:32that you actually have to do them cuz
14:34you're probably an ambitious person and
14:35you have lots of goals and you want to
14:36live a healthy balanced life. But, as
14:37you've probably realized it's actually
14:38impossible to do all the things and so
14:40we need to prioritize what are the few
14:42that are the most important. And
14:43thirdly, ideally every good time
14:44management system should have some kind
14:46of component of reflection where you
14:48look at how you've been spending your
14:50time, you reflect on it, and then you
14:51use that reflection process to adjust
14:54your time blocking and prioritization
14:55system. For me, I try my best to do a
14:57weekly review or reflection and this is
14:59just a series of questions that I ask
15:00myself. It takes about 20 minutes and
15:02it's a good way of making sure that I'm
15:03continually re-aligning to the goals
15:05that I want to achieve and making
15:06changes to my schedule if like life
15:08happens.
15:10System number three that I think would
15:12benefit most people in their life is
15:14some kind of health optimization or
15:16health operating system. I call mine
15:18health OS cuz it's just kind of cute.
15:19And what this is is a system that you
15:21can follow on autopilot that gets you to
15:23your health goals. So, this involves
15:25things like sleep and diet and exercise.
15:28Now, before you have some kind of system
15:29around your health, you sleep roughly
15:31whenever you feel tired and you wake up
15:33whenever you want to wake up or or with
15:35your alarm if you have some kind of like
15:36work to go to. Your diet is like you're
15:38so you're sort of making it up as you go
15:39along. Your exercise, you're sort of
15:41doing random stuff whenever you can find
15:43the time to do the thing. And this is
15:45why most people are on average not
15:46particularly healthy. But, if you're
15:47building a system into your life where
15:49you're following a set of processes
15:50around your sleep, your diet, your
15:51exercise, then you're much more likely
15:53to be in a better place. So, what might
15:55be the system for optimizing your sleep?
15:56Again, we have done videos about it.
15:57I'll link them down below, but, you
15:58know, getting 8 hours a night is
16:00generally very helpful. Having the room
16:01set to 19° C is generally very helpful.
16:04That tends to be the temperature for
16:05most people that optimizes sleep.
16:07Defining like when you want bedtime to
16:08be, like, "Hey, I'm going to sleep 10:00
16:09p.m. to 6:00 a.m." or whatever,
16:11generally helpful. The more you can
16:12stick to a consistent bed and wake time,
16:14the more your circadian rhythms actually
16:16line up and so the less likely you are
16:18to be tired or groggy or have low energy
16:19throughout the day. Of course, there is
16:21the classic tip to view morning sunlight
16:23as per Andrew Huberman, which is again
16:24helpful for entraining our circadian
16:26rhythm. You've got things like no phone
16:28in the bedroom, getting rid of your
16:29phone so that you're not like browsing
16:30TikTok or Reddit at like 2:00 in the
16:32morning, which is another thing that
16:32would destroy your sleep. I personally
16:34like having a Kindle on my bedside table
16:36because then if I'm struggling to go to
16:37sleep, I can just read like a
16:38spirituality book or something on Kindle
16:40and that gets me to sleep pretty
16:41quickly. If you want, you can use some
16:43kind of sleep tracker. I wear a Whoop.
16:44I've got like a I'm using this for the
16:46last like 380 days or something. I've
16:47got a 380-day streak on it. And so this
16:49gives me a sleep score. And so generally
16:51with any kind of system, having some
16:52sort of metric that you can look at to
16:54see how effective is your system
16:55performing and then being able to sort
16:57of adjust your system based on the
16:59metric is generally quite helpful. It's
17:00not absolutely essential, but for most
17:02things having some way to measure the
17:03number actually does genuinely help. And
17:04all of these is just a series of steps.
17:06And sure, most people don't do all of
17:08these things absolutely all the time,
17:09but having a system which is sort of a
17:11set of defaults that you're going to
17:12follow most of the time is going to be
17:14way more likely for you to have healthy
17:15sleep. And obviously we know that sleep
17:17is one of those things that like
17:18contributes to every other area of our
17:19life. When it comes to diet, if for
17:21every single meal, you know, three meals
17:22a day for like 7 days a week, if every
17:24single time you had to figure out what
17:26you want to do in terms of what you're
17:27eating or what you're cooking or what
17:28you're buying from the grocery store, A,
17:30you end up wasting a ton of time in like
17:32mental decision fatigue and ordering
17:34random takeaways and going to random
17:35restaurants and then your calories and
17:37macros and all that kind of stuff are
17:38off and then you end up being pretty
17:39unhealthy. And so, what busy people and
17:40especially people with kids tend to find
17:42is that actually systematizing the
17:44household diet is really, really, really
17:45helpful. Like knowing that Tuesdays are
17:47like Chinese takeout Tuesdays, knowing
17:49that Thursday is a movie night with the
17:51kids and therefore we're going to order
17:52pizza, knowing that like we're going to
17:54meal prep on the Sunday and then batch
17:55prepare the breakfast for the whole week
17:57and batch prepare the lunches for the
17:59whole week so the kids can take them to
18:00school or whatever the situation might
18:01be. Almost everyone who you consider to
18:03be successful probably has some kind of
18:05system for their diet and their
18:06nutrition. It doesn't have to be fancy,
18:08it doesn't have to be private chef
18:09levels, but just having a method that
18:10you are following which means you don't
18:12have to think about what the hell am I
18:13going to eat for these 21 meals every
18:15single week will save you a huge amount
18:17of time and also make you way healthier.
18:18And then of course, having some kind of
18:20system that you're following for your
18:21exercise. What I do personally is weight
18:23training three times per week. I try to
18:24do 40 minutes of zone two cardio through
18:26like casual running about three times a
18:28week. I aim to do yoga about one or two
18:30times a week for general flexibility and
18:31mobility and of course, I aim to get
18:3310,000 steps per day because there's a
18:35good amount of evidence that like the
18:36more steps you take the healthier you're
18:38going to be and so I have a walking
18:39treadmill for my desk some of the time
18:41as well. And again, this is a system.
18:42The gym sessions are in the calendar,
18:44the runs should be more systematized for
18:45me cuz they're currently not. I kind of
18:47make time for running when I when I have
18:48the time, which is why I'm a lot less
18:49consistent with this than I am with the
18:51gym where it's actually in the calendar.
18:52And so, if you have some kind of system
18:53that you're following, some set of
18:55default actions that you're taking every
18:56week, your health is far more likely to
18:59be good compared to someone who does not
19:00have that kind of system. And it's like
19:02that phrase goes, the healthy man has 99
19:04wishes, the unhealthy man has only one.
19:06If you are sick or unhealthy, then that
19:08is a massive drain on practically every
19:11other area of your life as well. And so,
19:12you might as well follow some kind of
19:13system. Again, if you're not sure, just
19:15ask ChatGPT, watch some YouTube
19:16tutorials for like and it doesn't have
19:17to be fancy, but it does take a lot of
19:19the guesswork and a lot of the mental
19:21decision fatigue out of the process of
19:23keeping on top of your health.
19:25System number four that I think everyone
19:26would benefit from is some kind of
19:28system to keep on top of the
19:30relationships that matter to you the
19:31most. Now, this is where it can
19:33sometimes sound weird being like, why
19:34would you build a system for
19:35relationships? Relationships shouldn't
19:37be systematized. That's just not true.
19:38Like if you ask any like marriage
19:40counselor or marriage therapist or read
19:42any book about what makes a successful
19:43marriage. Actually, what a lot of it
19:45comes down to is systems. Making sure
19:47you have a weekly date night and that
19:49it's in the calendar and that both
19:51parties know that it happens every
19:52Sunday evening, for example. That is an
19:54example of a system. Doing something
19:56like regular relationship reviews, maybe
19:58once a month where you and the spouse or
19:59you and your partner sit down and
20:01actually reflect on the state of your
20:02relationship and if there's any like
20:03minor grievances that you haven't had a
20:04chance to bring up and you talk about
20:06those things. Again, sounds weird, but
20:07it's incredibly helpful. Me and my wife
20:09were seeing a relationship therapist
20:10before we got married just cuz I got
20:12some advice from a friend saying that
20:13like relationship therapists are
20:14amazing. And he recommended we do
20:16relationship reviews. We read a couple
20:17of books about how to have a successful
20:18marriage that also would bullish on
20:20relationship reviews. This is a way of
20:21systematizing your relationship so that
20:24you do the sensible things without
20:25having to think too hard about them. As
20:27you become super busy at work, it's
20:28generally very helpful to block out
20:29holidays in advance. So a lot of the
20:31most successful entrepreneurs I know
20:33really, really take their personal life
20:34and their relationships very seriously.
20:36And so at the start of the year, before
20:37they do any of their business planning,
20:38they will block out in the calendar,
20:40okay, this is holiday with the spouse,
20:42this is holiday with the kids, this is
20:43we're going to take all of August off
20:44for a sabbatical. Because if you don't
20:46block all of that stuff out in advance,
20:47then the work and life commitments will
20:50just sort of fill the gaps. And so
20:51you've got to be intentional about
20:52blocking this stuff out in advance. This
20:54is building a system around your
20:55relationships. The most social people I
20:57know are not just randomly going to
20:59social events, especially once they
21:00become adults and start having kids and
21:02start becoming busy. They start doing
21:03standing order social events. One of my
21:05friends in that who's very intentional
21:06about relationships, he was like living
21:08in Austin for a few years, and so he and
21:09his wife set up a weekly meet-up at the
21:12local lake. Anyone was invited, so they
21:14just invited all their friends. They're
21:15like, "Hey, we're going to be at this
21:16lake 8:00 a.m. every Saturday morning,
21:18and then we're going to go for breakfast
21:19afterwards. If you can make it, come
21:20join us." And they did this every single
21:22week for 4 years, and this was an
21:24amazing way for them to maintain
21:26relationships and friendships with
21:27people that they already knew. And also
21:28was a fantastic way to get to know new
21:30people because, you know, new people
21:31would be like, "Oh, you know, my friend
21:32Johnny's in town, like let's bring him
21:34along to this Saturday or to social
21:35event, this like 8:00 a.m. every
21:36Saturday lake meet-up." So, there's
21:38things like that that you can do that
21:39systemize the stuff that you want to do
21:41in your social life as well. This is the
21:43value of like a monthly book club or a
21:45weekly lads video game night or monthly
21:48movie night with your friends, and
21:49especially when people get busy. Like,
21:51if you're watching this and you're young
21:52and you're like, "Holy I can't
21:53believe like why do you have to stick a
21:55calendar event for hanging out with your
21:56friends?" If you're watching this and
21:57you're above the age of 25, you know
21:59that you're busy, your friends are busy,
22:01especially if you're watching this and
22:02you have kids or your friends have kids.
22:04It's such a total freaking nightmare
22:06trying to schedule people and get them
22:07together, which is why having a system
22:09around it can really, really help. And I
22:11don't know if it's a thing in the rest
22:12of the world, but in the UK, there's
22:13like a real tradition of like sending
22:14physical Christmas cards to the people
22:16that you know. And so, we really suck at
22:18this, but like I've got some friends who
22:19are really good at sending an annual
22:21Christmas card, and it's amazing how
22:22such a small thing can actually sustain
22:24a friendship for decades and decades
22:26because you know you've got this annual
22:28touch point where you just send a nice
22:29handwritten Christmas card, maybe
22:30there's a photo of the family, maybe
22:31there's a bit of an update about what
22:33you're up to. And there is a system
22:34around this. The people that remember
22:36birthdays, they probably don't have the
22:37birthday in your head, they probably
22:38have it in their calendar. And the
22:39people I know who are the most
22:40thoughtful about birthdays, not only
22:42have your birthday in the calendar, but
22:44they'll have a recurring event every
22:46year in their to-do list that like 2
22:48weeks before the birthday reminds them
22:49that, "Hey, Ali's birthday's coming up
22:51on whatever." And so, they'll start
22:52thinking about the gift or the card and
22:54stuff like 2 weeks in advance. All of
22:55these are different examples of
22:56systemizing your relationships so that
22:58it takes the guesswork out of it, it
22:59takes the the decision fatigue out of
23:01it, and ultimately it nudges you towards
23:03doing the actions that you know are
23:04going to make it more likely that you
23:06achieve your goal. In this case, it's to
23:08maintain a good relationship with your
23:09spouse and kids and friends and family
23:11and stuff.
23:13The final system I want to talk about in
23:14this video, and we could talk about this
23:15for for absolutely ever because I love
23:17this stuff. This would be some kind of
23:18system around what do you do by default
23:21when your paycheck comes in, assuming
23:22you have a job or assuming you have a
23:24business. And in general, most personal
23:26finance advisers and gurus and stuff who
23:27like think about this stuff a lot and
23:29advise people about it, talk about
23:31building a system to put your finances
23:33on autopilot as much as possible. So,
23:36the people that end up not saving or
23:37investing any money are the ones who get
23:39the paycheck, and then they do whatever
23:41they want with it. And then they're
23:42like, "Oh, hey, at yeah, at some point,
23:44if there's any left over, then I'll
23:46invest it or then I'll save it." That
23:47often never works because there is often
23:49very little left over. Let's say this is
23:50your monthly paycheck. As soon as the
23:52paycheck comes in, automatically some
23:54percentage of it is set aside for
23:55savings, and it goes into a a savings
23:58account, for example. Automatically some
24:00percentage of it is set aside for
24:01investments, and it automatically goes
24:03into the investment account via
24:05Robinhood or the Roth IRA or whatever
24:07the system is depending on your country.
24:09Some percentage of it is automatically
24:11set aside for tax if you are in a
24:13country or in a situation where you have
24:14to pay your own taxes.
24:16Some is automatically set aside for
24:18bills.
24:19And then you know that you can kind of
24:21do whatever you want with the rest
24:22because at least the basics that are
24:24going to keep you out of prison and that
24:25are going to grow your financial nest
24:26egg have been taken care of. This is an
24:28example of a personal finance system. It
24:30is a series of actions or steps that you
24:32do every time you get your paycheck that
24:33reduces the need for guesswork, and if
24:35you can automate as much of this as
24:36possible, it means that you don't even
24:38have to make the decision every single
24:39time cuz it automatically goes into the
24:41savings account and the investment
24:42account and the bills account and the
24:43tax account, and then you know what's
24:44left over. Whereas, if this is not
24:46automated, then every single month you
24:48have to actively make the decisions. And
24:50the problem with actively make making
24:51decisions is that we generally make
24:52decisions emotionally rather than
24:54logically, even though we like to think
24:55of ourselves as logical creatures.
24:56Actually,
24:57like 99% of our decisions are made
24:59purely based on emotion. And because our
25:00emotions are like fluctuating,
25:03if we're feeling great and the paycheck
25:04hits, then fantastic. We might be, you
25:06know, be living in line with our our
25:07future self and like putting stuff into
25:09savings and investments. But if we're
25:10not feeling great and the paycheck comes
25:11in, we might be doing a lot less
25:13sensible things when it comes to our
25:14money. And so what a system does is that
25:16it removes the need for you to make that
25:17decision every single time. You make the
25:19decision ahead of time, you set it and
25:21forget it. And that tends to be how the
25:23people that succeed at saving and
25:24investing through uh the mechanism of
25:26something like a regular paycheck, they
25:27tend to have some kind of system around
25:29it. Now, hopefully this video has
25:30convinced you that it's very helpful to
25:31have systems around your personal and
25:33professional life to help you achieve
25:34your goals. And if you're interested in
25:35learning more about the specific system
25:37that I've developed around goal setting,
25:38then there will be a video right over
25:39here, which is about the GPS method.
25:42Now, GPS stands for goal, plan, and
25:43system. So, it's another video that's
25:44about systems, but it will go into much
25:46more detail about specifically how to
25:48set goals, how to create plans, and then
25:49how to build systems to make sure you
25:51actually stick to the plan. So, that'll
25:52be right over there. And thank you so
25:53much for watching, and I will see you
25:54over there. Bye-bye.

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