There's nothing wrong with setting goals. But you usually have to create a system to go along with the goals in order to achieve them. Having goals, though, can direct the systems you want to create for yourself.
Goals (for me) over the past few years:
1. Be able to play 140 minutes of soccer in one go without wanting to die (or feeling like I would).
2. Be able to stop taking a statin.
3. Get my blood pressure down from 130 over 90 to a healthy level (not critically high, but worrisome high)
4. Become a better GM for my bi-weekly RPG games
5. Become a better whole-system software developer/designer
Those are all goals I achieved, but in order to achieve them I established systems that enabled them. 1, 2, and 3 were created by a focus on always exercising MTWR, occasionally F (but that was left open for social events) and of specifically going to the grocery and shopping in specific sections (stay on the perimeter, ignore most aisles) and cooking at home. 4 was achieved by creating a habit of increasing fiction/RPG book reading and setting aside time to draw up/write down material for sessions so it was less improvised, but the fiction reading also gave inspiration for better improvisation. I also explicitly asked for feedback about sessions rather than letting players stew and be pissed at me because I made something too hard or seemed to be targeting a specific player. 5 was achieved by a similar approach, though around creating personal projects and reading technical content and carving out the time to do it. Creating various short term objectives (like being back in school) that would exercise specific areas I felt I was weak in, along with soliciting feedback from others (peers and managers).
Most of what you're describing is habits and systems, not goals--and that's what I'm saying, too. James Clear's article here espouses what I'm talking about: https://jamesclear.com/goals-systems
Well, I am setting goals, but I'm specifically creating systems to enable achieving and sustaining those goals. That's my point. Systems aren't better than goals, and goals aren't contradictory to systems. They feed on each other. Goals are motivation to create systems, systems are mechanisms to achieve goals.
Goals can also be "repeated" goals. Like my fitness example, I didn't want to make it through 140 minutes of soccer on just one Saturday (this is a problem with "I want to run a marathon" goals, it's a singular achievement). I wanted to do that every Saturday throughout the season so the system enabled perpetuating that ability throughout the years.
Goals (for me) over the past few years:
1. Be able to play 140 minutes of soccer in one go without wanting to die (or feeling like I would).
2. Be able to stop taking a statin.
3. Get my blood pressure down from 130 over 90 to a healthy level (not critically high, but worrisome high)
4. Become a better GM for my bi-weekly RPG games
5. Become a better whole-system software developer/designer
Those are all goals I achieved, but in order to achieve them I established systems that enabled them. 1, 2, and 3 were created by a focus on always exercising MTWR, occasionally F (but that was left open for social events) and of specifically going to the grocery and shopping in specific sections (stay on the perimeter, ignore most aisles) and cooking at home. 4 was achieved by creating a habit of increasing fiction/RPG book reading and setting aside time to draw up/write down material for sessions so it was less improvised, but the fiction reading also gave inspiration for better improvisation. I also explicitly asked for feedback about sessions rather than letting players stew and be pissed at me because I made something too hard or seemed to be targeting a specific player. 5 was achieved by a similar approach, though around creating personal projects and reading technical content and carving out the time to do it. Creating various short term objectives (like being back in school) that would exercise specific areas I felt I was weak in, along with soliciting feedback from others (peers and managers).