Stop Trying Harder

Why do New Year's resolutions fail by February? Why does "trying harder" almost never work?

The answer is that we rely on willpower. But willpower is a battery. It's a finite resource that runs out. It might get you through a day or a week, but it will eventually fail you. You can't run a marathon on willpower.

Successful people, and successful companies, don't run on willpower. They run on systems.

• Willpower is pushing your car up a hill.

• A System is building an engine.

A system is a process you design to make your desired outcome the path of least resistance. It's about making good choices automatic, so you don't have to use willpower. Amazon didn't become a trillion-dollar company because its employees "tried harder." It won because it built the most efficient systems for logistics, inventory, and delivery.

You need to stop being the employee who relies on willpower and start being the CEO who designs systems for your own life.

How to Build a System: The Eisenhower Matrix

A great system starts with knowing what not to do. We lose our days to "death by a thousand cuts"—small, seemingly harmless tasks that drain our time and energy. We're busy, but not productive.

A powerful system for managing your focus is the Eisenhower Matrix, used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to manage the massive demands of his time. It involves dividing every task into a 2x2 grid:

1. Urgent and Important (Do It Now)

2. Not Urgent and Important (Schedule It)

3. Urgent and Not Important (Delegate It)

4. Not Urgent and Not Important (Eliminate It)

1. Urgent & Important (The Fires)

What they are: Crises, deadlines, true emergencies. A client project due today. A sick child.

The Trap: We live our whole lives here, lurching from one fire to the next. We feel "productive" because we're always busy, but we're just being reactive.

The System: Deal with these, but your main goal is to prevent them by spending more time in the next quadrant.

2. Not Urgent & Important (The Gold)

What they are: This is where true success lives. Exercise. Reading. Learning a new skill. Building your financial plan. Spending quality time with your family.

The Trap: These tasks have no immediate deadline, so they are infinitely easy to procrastinate. "I'll start my 401(k) next month." "I'll go to the gym next week."

The System: You must schedule these tasks. They are the first things that go on your calendar. You give them a deadline to make them "urgent." This quadrant is where you build your engine.

3. Urgent & Not Important (The Distractions)

What they are: Most of your emails. A coworker asking for a "quick chat." A notification on your phone. These things feel important because they are urgent, but they don't move you toward your long-term goals.

The Trap: These are the biggest drains on your productivity.

The System: Delegate, automate, or say "no." Can someone else do this? Can you set up an email filter? Can you check your email only twice a day? This is about protecting your time.

4. Not Urgent & Not Important (The Waste)

What they are: Mindless social media scrolling. Binge-watching a show you don't even like.

The Trap: These are your escapes from the stress of living in Quadrant 1.

The System: Eliminate them. (Note: True, intentional rest is Important. Mindless scrolling is not rest; it's just a time-waster.)

Stop trying to force yourself to "be more disciplined." Instead, be a better designer. Build a system that makes success the most logical, automatic outcome.