What this might look like in your life:

Example 1:

BJ Fogg's goal was to drink more tea. So when his motivation was at its peak, he bought a bunch of tea, an electric kettle to boil water, and set everything up in easy-to-reach places on his kitchen counter. He built a system so that it was a no-brainer to make tea whenever he was in the kitchen.

Example 2:

A few years ago, my goal was to form a gym habit. The problem I had was that I’d get up in the morning planning to go to the gym, but after a few minutes of being awake, I’d decide not to go. So, the next time I was feeling really motivated, I built a system. It looked like this: I put my gym clothes and my shoes next to my bed so I saw them first thing in the morning. As soon as I got out of bed, I would get dressed. By the time I finished putting on my clothes, I’d think to myself, “Well, might as well go to the gym,” and I DID!

These types of systems guarantee success. THAT’S what you should use your motivation for — to set up fail-proof systems. That way you’ll follow through even when you’re no longer motivated.

Goal-Setting Action Step:

Feeling “motivated” right now? Use that to your advantage.

Make a list of everything you need to get in order to accomplish your goal. Then, sketch out a rough outline of your fail-proof system that’ll help you follow through on your goal (like the examples above).

We’ll go into much more detail of how to set up fail-proof systems later in the guide, but don’t let that motivation go to waste. Capture your rough ideas whenever your motivation is at a peak.

Goal-Setting Tip #2. Start small, then go big later on

When you’re starting out with any goal — like exercising — it’s better to actually start than to dream about starting forever.

With each little milestone you achieve, you’re doing what you set out to do.

With exercising, that means ACTUALLY walking one mile once per week is better than PLANNING to run three miles 3x per week… and never running at all.

Each mile you walk represents a “small win” for your goal. And getting a lot of those little wins is what helps you succeed. Because with each little milestone you achieve, you’re actually doing what you set out to do… not just hoping things work out.

Here’s how to use “small wins” for your goals:

Instead of planning to do 100 pushups per day to get back in shape, just do two pushups a day to get started.

a day to get started. Instead of thinking you have to floss all your teeth, just focus on one tooth a day to get things going.

a day to get things going. Instead of trying to drink a gallon of water a day instead of soda, just drink one glass of water before you go to bed.

before you go to bed. Instead of starting a million-dollar business from scratch, just focus on getting your first paying client.

You can ramp up from there. But you don’t want to fail from the start.

Goal-Setting Action Step:

Think of some of the goals you’d like to accomplish (getting fit, learning a new language, cleaning your house).

First, break your goals down into the TINIEST steps you can imagine. And I mean SERIOUSLY tiny: 2 pushups per day, 1 tooth, 1 glass of water… however small you need. Make it something you KNOW you can do. Draft up a plan for how you’ll do this for 2 weeks. Once you hit this target, then you can consider expanding.

But remember, big goals are accomplished with tiny steps. How can you start taking some of those tiny steps today?

Goal-Setting Tip #3. Put it on your calendar

Imagine you’re playing in a basketball game against LeBron James. You have the best shoes, the most expensive pair of athletic shorts, a fancy headband, and the greatest jersey in the world. And he has no shoes, ripped shorts, and a dress shirt.

Who would win?

LeBron, duh.

It sounds ridiculous, right? But we play this same game against motivation every day.

The tools don’t matter as much as we think.

Novices LOVE to focus on productivity hacks, apps, and tools. It’s easy — and frankly, more fun — to play with new shiny tools than to simply do what works.

But usually, the fundamentals — things like a simple calendar, pen, and paper — work just as well, if not better, than some app.

Take a look at my calendar system.