Time Wise: The instant international bestseller

Alter tries to sit down for a couple of hours every month and think about what direction he is aiming to go in and how he wants to allocate his resources and efforts. But he doesn’t set goals. Instead, he sets systems. ‘Instead of saying, for example, “My goal is to write 100,000 words,” I reframe it and say, “My system is that every morning for an

Design a system for how you will get to the end state, ideally a process that you can do every day (or at least on a regular basis to help create a routine). You might set a system to run a certain number of kilometres every day, which gradually increases in the lead up to the marathon. Or you might set aside 30 minutes each morning to rehearse you

Imagine that your strategy or system is to study for two hours every night. As the evening approaches, this strategy feels achievable – after all, you will achieve it in a matter of just two measly hours. This feels feasible, and things that feel attainable also happen to feel motivating and energising.

‘A goal basically means that until you hit your goal state, you’re inherently failing. When you are working towards your goal, you’re still failing, failing, failing, until you reach the goal and then you succeed.