Design Yourself as a System
Design yourself like a good system: observability, feedback loops, and capacity limits, mixed with Atomic Habits, and cheap to run now that AI does the chores.
Many people say “run yourself like a company.” I thought about it for a long time. What I care about is not selling myself as a product. I care about long-term growth and knowing myself better.
So I say it a different way: design yourself as a system. Use the principles of good system design to reach your goals in a more specific way.
System design and Atomic Habits
A good system can be observed, has feedback, and has limits. Atomic Habits also says that systems beat goals. I put the two sets of principles together and applied them to myself.
- Observe first, then adjust. Without records, you cannot see where you are stuck.
- Break goals down. A vague goal cannot be done. A system turns it into things you can do each day.
- Set a limit. Pick at most three areas per quarter. If you try to do everything, you finish nothing.
AI makes this system cheap
I use AI to analyze my journal and find how my energy relates to my surroundings. I also built a personal assistant agent that reminds me of my goals and helps me run my reviews.
All of this is work from The Golden Age of Quadrant Two. I never had time for it before, and now it gets done.
This brings the series back to its main idea in the overview: same work, more return. In the end, the extra is knowing myself better.
You do not need more willpower. You need a better system.
Related: read more on why systems beat goals, revisit Three Pieces of Advice for Students and Career Changers, or go back to the series overview: Will AI Take My Job?