The Power of Systemic Thinking on Goal Achievement

“Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. Once you get there, you can move mountains.”—Steve Jobs

Once in the ancient city of Greece, an ambitious young man dreamt of becoming the strongest man of his time—a daring goal for sure. But to achieve an aim that could attract the laughter of many, the guy even adopted a training strategy that many others could easily dismiss.

He used a simple but powerful strategy of systemic force. He chose to train himself by lifting a small calf, day after day—never missing a day—until he was lifting a fully matured bull. 

Milo was the young man’s name.

Eventually, Milo achieved his goal; he became the strongest man in Athens simply by systematizing his thoughts and actions. He became so enormously strong that a group of contenders could not bend even his fingers. Incredible!

Let’s consider his strategy in a fictional context for an academic feat.

Becoming a Valedictorian

Imagine a scenario in which two good students gained admission into a university of their choice; one, a student of medicine and the other, of engineering. Wanting to make a name for themselves, the two decided to be the best in their classes.

At the end of their programmes, one student graduated summa cum laude while the other graduated magna cum laude. The first one not only became the best in his class but also the overall best graduating student in the college. Student A surpassed his goal and student B just nearly hit his own.

Now why did the first person achieve his objective and the other person almost do? 

Having been a college student myself, I can relate personally to such an experience. Without a system, you can't retain the best position in a highly competitive environment, no matter the strength of your willpower.

Though many factors can be responsible for a grand outcome, but based on the focus of this article, the emphasis here is on the power of systemic, regular study. Ostensibly, this is about the most important determinant in most cases, all things being equal, of course.

Therefore, the answer to the above question is: having a goal is not enough; we need the support of a good system of work to help us realize our dreams and crystallize our visions.

The distinction student relied on a solid system of uninterrupted study and thus his goal became real for him and the upper student relied on willpower and thus missed his mark, even though he might have felt a greater stress of hard work.

The following examples will illustrate what I mean more clearly:

Student A:  He has a personal study session every morning before the class begins. He doesn’t miss his appointment with himself, everyday. He knows that each day is a crucial block in the chain of his aspiration.

Student B: He has such plan too but he doesn’t keep it every day. He thinks he is strong enough to make up for any days he missed. He therefore resorts to burning the mid-night oil at the eleventh hour. 

You see, even though student A may have worked relatively lesser, he is the one with the satisfaction of the topmost prize. 

Therefore, it is beneficial to take life as a series, to give each day its due value. Whether we want to get the best grade, build a profitable business or nurture a healthy body, approaching the goal systematically is what will make it more likely to happen in the end. And it will also make the journey seem more effortlessly natural for us.