It's Not Your Personality That Makes You 'Quit.' 3 Reasons Why Changing Your System Helps You Keep Going
“I have the motivation, but for some reason, I just can't keep it up.”
Are you struggling with that kind of problem?
When you set a goal, your motivation is at its peak. But as one week, then two weeks pass, you fade out before you know it. Then you blame yourself, thinking, “I have a weak will” or “I lack grit.”
However, there is one thing I want to tell you here.
The reason you can't keep it up isn't your personality, your motivation, or your grit. I actually believe the problem is simply in your “system.”
Why “Sheer Willpower” Doesn't Last
There is a common thread in the failure patterns that many people fall into.
Back when I was an engineer, I myself repeatedly got fired up, thinking “this time will be different,” only to fail again and again. From that experience, I realized that there are three tendencies in people who can't keep things going.
The first is “taking on too much.” When starting something new, we tend to be greedy and try to do too many things at once.
The second is “having no rules.” The ambiguity of “I'll do it when I feel motivated” eventually leads to “I guess I'll skip it today.”
The third is “getting distracted by urgent tasks right in front of you.” You end up focusing on urgent work or novel things rather than what is truly important.
These are not problems of willpower. They are problems of the system. Because the system isn't set up, you have to pay the cost of deciding “to do it or not” every single time, and I feel that this decision fatigue leads to failure.
3 Steps to Solve It with a System
So, how exactly should you set up your system? I will introduce three steps that I have practiced and found effective.
Step 1: Reduce the action to the “smallest unit”
The first important thing is to lower the hurdle to starting as much as possible.
Instead of “study for one hour every day,” try “open the textbook.”
Instead of “go to the gym three times a week,” try “put on your gym shoes.”
This might sound like a joke, but I am serious.
In my case, when I wanted to build a reading habit, I started with “read one page a day.” If it's just one page, you can do it no matter how tired or busy you are.
The point is to create a state where there are “no days you can't do it.” If you have consecutive days where you can't do it, you develop a sense of guilt that “I broke the streak again,” which leads to further failure. But if it's the smallest unit, you won't break the streak.
And interestingly, even if you only intend to read one page, you often find yourself reading ten pages before you know it. The minimum unit is an 'entry point,' not a 'ceiling'.
Step 2: Dare to set 'constraints'
People cannot act when things are too free. This is something I have keenly felt through managing a company.
'You can do it anytime' tends to become 'you never do it.' That is precisely why I recommend daring to set constraints.
Specifically, I feel that the following types of constraints are effective.
Time constraints: Decide on 'only from 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM'
Location constraints: Link it to 'when I come to this cafe, I do this'
Conditional constraints: Set a trigger like 'start when I brew coffee'
I have a rule: 'Wake up in the morning, wash my face, then sit at my desk and write for just 5 minutes.' By linking it to an action I do every day, like washing my face, the decision-making cost became zero.
I believe that creating this 'state where you don't have to make decisions' is the essence of systemization.
Step 3: A mechanism to prioritize 'steady accumulation' over 'urgency'
We are built to be easily swayed by urgent or novel things. But what changes your life is 'things that won't cause trouble if you don't do them today, but grow big if you accumulate them.'
To continue this, 'visualization' is effective.
What I do is take 15 minutes once a week to look back on 'how much time I was able to spend on steady accumulation this week.'
I put 'Review' in my Google Calendar and make sure to do it when the notification comes. This is also a system.
And if you record the results of your accumulation in numbers, a feeling of 'I've come this far, so I'll keep going' will naturally emerge without relying on motivation.
Yosshi's practical example: The story of continuing to post 3 times a week for a year
I myself decided to post on note and SNS '3 times a week' and have been doing it for about a year.
At first, I was enthusiastic about 'writing every day.' But I gave up in two weeks. I cursed my own weak will.
That's when I changed the system.
Reduce it to '3 times a week' instead of 'every day' (minimizing the unit).
Fix the days, such as 'publishing at 8 AM on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday' (setting constraints).
Check only 'how many articles I wrote this week' every Sunday night (making reflection a habit).
As a result, I was able to write over 150 articles in the past year.
I felt that 'fixing the days' was particularly effective. Since I didn't have to think about 'whether to write today or not,' I automatically started heading to my desk on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.
Back when I relied on willpower, I would give up in two weeks, but by just changing the system, I've kept it up for a year. It's not that my personality changed. The only thing that changed was the 'system'.
Start by deciding on the 'minimum unit'
Thank you for reading this far.
I've shared three steps, but I don't think you need to do them all at once.
Start with just one.
Choose one thing you 'want to continue' and decide on its minimum unit.
Try making the action as small as possible, to a level where you think, 'I can definitely do this.'
And then, try it for just one week.
If the system changes, results will naturally follow. I believe that you can become someone who continues without relying on willpower.
By the way, in Archi, which I am involved in developing, you can manage these 'small habits' on the tool. Register your minimum unit of action and check it off when you achieve it. That alone visualizes your progress, so please give it a try if you'd like.
📌 Would you like to learn more deeply about systemization?
Archi, a coaching tool developed by Yoshi, is a tool that designs a system to continue without relying on willpower in 6 steps. It specializes not just in setting goals, but in creating the very system that keeps actions going. If you are interested, please take a look.