Burn the Hacks. Build the System. Make it Last.

Hi friends,

You want to improve your health, fitness, productivity, or mindset. Not easy feats.

And yet, life keeps piling more onto your plate—work, raising kids, caring for a sick parent, chasing career goals.

So, naturally, you look for the path of least resistance, trying to squeeze in progress wherever possible.

But here’s the catch: the shortcut often turns into the long way around. People chase trends, hop from one strategy to another, and burn out before anything sticks.

Lasting change isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing better. It's about refining what works, letting go of what doesn’t, and creating systems that make success feel effortless.

Without sustainable systems, you’ll keep repeating the same unsustainable patterns, wasting time and energy on things that won’t last.

That’s where this framework comes in: Swap. Settings. Systems. Sustain.

Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are that I managed to cognitively conceptualize this.

You don’t just want change. You want sustainable change.

Let’s break it down.

Swap – Make the Right Trade-offs

Every decision is a trade-off. You don’t just “add” a new habit—you exchange one that no longer aligns with who you want to be for one that does.

You let go → to gain.

Settings – Adjust Your Defaults

Once you make the right swaps, you need to adjust your environment to support them.

Think of your phone: brightness level, notifications, app layouts—they’re preconfigured, but you can tweak them to fit your needs.

Your default settings determine how you experience life.

And the thing is, your current settings? You already programmed them over time—consciously or not.

If you don’t like the settings, change the settings.

You don’t need an IT guy to push an update at midnight.

You're the IT guy. (Or gal.)

You can upgrade the system anytime you choose. No one’s stopping you but you.

Systems – Run a Stress Test

Now that you’ve made the trade-offs (Swap) and adjusted the conditions that influence your behaviors (Settings), it’s time to see how it all plays out.

This is where most people mess up. They expect change to be smooth and linear.

You don’t build a system once and expect it to work forever. You tweak, refine, and upgrade as you go.

Life is one big ever going stress test. One after another. You're constantly iterating.

Sustainable change = constant iteration.

If something doesn’t work, you adjust. If something breaks, you patch it.

(Or slap on some duct tape until you figure it out with a professional.)

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s creating a system that's flexible and adaptable.

Sustain – Make It Automatic

Once your system is dialed in, it runs on its own. Your habits, behaviors, and patterns start to feel automatic—almost effortless from the outside.

The best part? You can revisit and reset anytime. When life changes, simply go back to the process: replace what no longer fits, adjust your settings, refine the system, and keep the outcome sustainable for you.

Until next time,

Much love,

Calvin

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P.S - Ali Abdaal is a Productivity Wizard. Check out his YouTube channel.