Scott Adams' new book continues to attract wonderful commentary. I'll have to read it soon. In the meantime, these comments reinforce my plan to think about more about having good routines, than about goals, than about anything else really.

Farnam Street blog: How to Fail at Almost Everything… by Scott Adams, 2013-Dec-19 by Shane Parrish

Goal-oriented people mostly fail. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, you will constantly think that you are not at your goal until you reach it. If you fall short you’re still a failure. The only way to reach your goal is to lose the 20 pounds. It’s a state of near perpetual failure.

What you really want is a system that increases your odds of success. Even if that system only improves the odds a little it adds up over a long life. In organizations this means, for example, you should care more about the process by which you make decisions than analysis. It also means that you should focus on building a system that evolves, improves, and survives ego. Systems increase the odds of getting lucky. Or, if you want to put it another way, they reduce stupidity.