This is excellent advise and goes into the `Goals vs Systems` territory. A good sensible and enjoyable read for the same would be Chapter 5 'Goals vs Systems` from [1].

From personal experience, opting for the systems approach has helped me:

- Focus on multiple activities (max 4) with time bucketing and ensuring the time bucket has a task that can be done, like the actionable gym example above

- You are not worried about reaching the goal, instead you consistently put in the effort and don't feel the void when and if any goal is completed

- Systems help a ton in tackling complex or difficult subjects.

YMMV and mind you, earlier I was goal focussed and IMHO, got lesser done.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still-eboo...

edit: added the ref [1]

Here's one but there are surely others (many entrepreneurship failures examples in this book, although they don't always go into great details): https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still-eboo...

I'm this way as well and for the longest time was worried I was handicapping myself.

Until I read "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big"[1] which makes the strongest argument I've seen for having a "talent stack" and combining skills that aren't typically combined. Each skill increases your odds and essentially this boils down to Good + Good > Excellent. You can leverage a combination of average skills to great effect.

The author describes himself as mediocre at art, decent at writing a joke and having business experience... not that noteworthy in and of themselves, but mixed together resulted in Dilbert.

1. https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still-eboo...