The author's characterization of how people utilize goals is too broad. For many type-A personalities[1], using goals as a focal point works just fine. An amb

The author's characterization of how people utilize goals is too broad. For many type-A personalities[1], using goals as a focal point works just fine. An ambitious student has a "goal to be a doctor" and endures 10 years of secondary education and residency to achieve it. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_A_personality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_A_personality For other types, fixating on goals may be counterproductive. For them, shifting the emphasis to "systems & processes" instead of goals is better. (It seems like the description of "systems instead of goals" is a modern rebranding of the timeless advice about "enjoying the journey instead of the destination.") For those where goals act more like a self-defeating hindrance instead of motivator, they can still use them in a different way: use the goal to first design the system. Then, let the concrete goal fade into the background of life. As the person works the system, achieving the goal becomes a side-effect. Instead of a goal to write The Big Novel, the "system" is to write 500 words a every day for pleasure. At the end of the year, you may get a decent full-length novel as a side-effect.