| Clear points out that getting the results you want - financial or otherwise - is not about setting the right goals. It's about following the right systems. For example, your office may be a complete mess. Your goal might be to have it neat and organized. You could take an hour or two and straighten up, throw things out, and organize what's left. When you're done, your office will look great. Except, if you don't change your habits - and adhere to a system - it will soon be a disaster again. Why is this so common? Because most of our daily behaviors are automatic. We follow unthinking routines because it frees up our minds to tackle the truly important issues we need to deal with. That's why it's crucial to put proper systems in place for the things that really matter. Like financial freedom. Tiny changes here can lead to dramatic results in your life. That's why Clear calls them atomic habits. Atomic means both extremely small... and explosive. For example, if you go to the gym three times, you are unlikely to notice any real changes to your body except for an uncomfortable soreness. However, if you go to the gym regularly for six months and follow a proven routine, you will see incredible changes. Not maybe. Definitely. (And that uncomfortable soreness? You'll actually start to look forward to a pleasant "burn," which is your muscles breaking down before they build back up firmer... and stronger.) What does this have to do with investing? Just about everything. In my previous life as a portfolio manager, prospective clients who came to me were often enormously frustrated. These were successful businesspeople or professionals - doctors, engineers, pilots - and plenty smart, but struggling to earn decent returns with their portfolios. Yet when I looked at what they were doing, it didn't always make a lot of sense. They owned a bunch of securities. They weren't really sure why, except that they wanted diversification. They didn't have an asset allocation. They didn't have a buy or sell discipline for the individual stocks that they owned. They often traded on emotion. And they paid way too much in fees and commissions, many of them hidden. In short, they didn't have a system. Or they had one, but it wasn't easy to understand, it didn't work, and, not coincidentally, it was helping pay for their financial advisor's lavish home in a gated community. Is it any real surprise that things weren't really working out? My goal is to help everyday men and women reach financial independence, whether they define that as being happily debt-free or building a seven- or eight-figure net worth. The minimum goal is to no longer worry about money. The more usual goal is to have enough to make their dreams a reality. Over the course of the next several columns, I'm going to explain exactly what our system is - and the habits you need to adopt in order to benefit from it. Wealth is created by following a system, using proven habits that lead to uncommon results. That's what we'll discuss in the next few columns. Good investing, Alex | 
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