Is it just me,

or did the first half of this year

go by in a blink and also feel like a lifetime?

​

Tomorrow is the first day of Q3 and 2H —

a marker of time that invites you to

zoom out and look forward,

to calibrate expectations,

evaluate systems,

celebrate progress

check-in with existing goals

reconstruct and define new ones &

set yourself up for success in the back half of the year.

​

It doesn’t matter what goal you set,

as long as you’re setting goals.

​

The simple act of setting goals has a transformative impact

with ripple effects well beyond the scope of the goal itself.

​

Setting goals

• clarifies purpose
• creates structure
• helps you prioritize
• increases motivation
• reduces cognitive load
• improves perseverance
• guards against distraction
• provides focus and direction
• increases the likelihood of success
• lets you measure & celebrate progress

​

It transforms

a loose vision & abstract aspirations

into an articulated outcome rooted in a clear Why.

​

Having goals is the difference between

feeling around in a dark room for random objects &

walking into the room with a headlamp and a pick list.

Setting a goal is necessary, but not sufficient.

​

If you want to actually achieve the goal,

the way you structure and pursue it matters.

​

In this issue, three actionable strategies to set achievable goals:

• Strategy to Achieve Daily Progress: Top Goals
• Strategy to Make Big Progress with Baby Steps: Mini Goals
• Strategy to Make an Abstract Goal Achievable: Backward Planning

​

Before we dive into the specific strategies,

let’s get clear on what NOT to do in general:

​

DON’T be vague about what you’re measuring and how you’re measuring it.

DO set specific, measurable goals and track them accurately.

​

DON’T set it and forget it.

Do schedule and conduct regular goal reviews.

​

DON’T set too many overlapping goals at once.

DO focus on a shortlist and be clear about what you’re prioritizing at any given time.

​

DON’T be overly ambitious in setting your goals.

DO be realistic about the time implications and the distractions you’re likely to face.

​

DON’T keep your goals a secret.

DO share your goals with an accountability partner.

​

DON’T focus only on what you want.

DO think about what you’re willing to sacrifice to get it.

​

DON’T just assume your goal is achievable.

DO design systems that help you achieve it.

Strategy to Achieve Daily Progress: Top Goals

The biggest risk to moving a goal forward

is the massive pile of other stuff

on your mind and on your list.

​

Psychologists refer to this as “goal competition”.

​

Your energy and attention are finite

(whether you admit it or not!)

It’s a zero sum game.

​

Any effort you put towards

Goal A necessarily reduces the amount of

energy you have available for Goals B and C.

​

Ruthless and intentional prioritization is key.

​

Warren Buffett’s 25-5 rule comes to mind.

He recommends writing down your 25 top priorities,

and then crossing out 20 of them because those are the

biggest distractions to the 5 you should really be focused on.

​

The same principle applies to your daily goals.

​

If you start your day with

a laundry list of things to do,

I guarantee that by the end of it

you won’t have accomplished everything (that’s not possible) and,

more importantly, you won’t have accomplished the things that move your goals forward.

​

We like how it feels to get things done,

no matter what the thing is that we’re doing.

We get a dopamine hit from the accomplishment,

whether it’s a significant task or an insignificant one.

​

In the absence of a prioritized short-list,

we typically tackle the tactical minutiae first,

since those are the quickest tasks to complete.

But then we wonder why we’re constantly doing

yet never getting to the things that we really care about.

​

The Top Goals technique solves for this

by distilling The List down to the needle movers &

having you select and prioritize three goals to tackle every single day.

​

The conscious selection process alone will work wonders,

by forcing you to revisit your work-in-process goals &

to be intentional about how you spend your time.

​

Beyond that, by tackling your Top Goals first,

you’re avoiding the problem of never

getting to the work that matters.

​

You’re prioritizing your priorities.

​

Best Practices for Top Goals:

​

1. Set your Top Goals the day prior.

Tee your self up for success by designating

your Top Goals the day before.

​

This has a few benefits:

• It takes full advantage of your activated mind to designate the next key steps in an active process.
• It parks your thought process for the night so you don’t get stuck in a thought spiral.
• It jump starts your day by enabling you to get right into the priority work.

​

Make the selection of your Top Goals part of your daily transition ritual:

• Write down your three Top Goals to start the next day.
• Capture any important “notes to future self” so you can pick up where you left off.
• Resolve any discrepancies or overlaps on your calendar so you have a clean schedule.

​

An intentional power down like this at the end of the work day

prepares you to be fully present in your next role (in my case, mom)

and tees up your future work-self to hit the ground running the next day.

​

Who doesn’t love a win-win?!

​

2. Focus on the Next Right Actions for your Weekly, Monthly or Quarterly Goals.

Top Goals should ladder to a higher-level objective,

as the next thing that needs to be done to move a priority goal forward.

​

The actions selected should not fall into the personal admin bucket.

​

If you need to call the insurance company on Monday no matter what (👋),

that’s a priority for the day, but it’s an isolated task, not a Top Goal.

​

An admin task like that should be assigned to a

Miscellany or Personal Admin time block

on your calendar alongside similar tasks.

​

I have a standing 15m block on my calendar every other day for things like this.

When the task comes up, I drop it into the description field

of the calendar invite for easy tracking.

​

Top Goals are needle-movers, not box-checkers.

​

3. Start your day with your Top Goals.

Block 60-90 minutes as early as possible

in your day to tackle your Top Goals first.

​

The sense of accomplishment you get from

doing meaningful work right out of the gates will

jump start your morale and momentum for the day.

Strategy to Make Big Progress with Baby Steps: Mini Goals

The leading cause of death for goals

is not difficulty,

lack of competency

or excessive ambition,

it’s simply failure to show up.

​

We defeat ourselves,

through procrastination,

fear of failure and

self-sabotage.

​

Mini Goals help by breaking down objectives

into smaller, more achievable steps,

creating opportunities to celebrate

and build momentum.

​

The approach is simple.

​

Break down a lofty goal into

smaller, more achievable increments,

and set each increment as its own individual goal.

​

If your goal is to read one book per month and

you’re starting from a baseline of not reading at all,

your first mini goal could be to read 5 pages per day

and you could work up from there in increments of 10.

​

It may take longer than you hoped

to achieve the overarching goal this way,

but you’re a lot more likely to actually achieve it

than if you stick with the book-a-week version of the goal.

​

The achievable increments are

building blocks to the larger goal that

• build confidence
• prevent overwhelm
• provide opportunities to celebrate progress
• build momentum that fuels your commitment
• help you develop the discipline of follow through
• allow for adjustments and recalibration along the way

​

This approach also yields a built-in roadmap.

​

As you achieve each incremental goal,

you have a clear understanding of

what your next target will be.

​

Best Practices for Mini Goals:

​

1. Make them SMART.

Apply the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) standard

to each mini goal so that you’re generating actionable feedback

at every step of the process.

​

2. Set Deadlines.

Assign a specific deadline to each mini goal

to create productive time pressure and accountability.

This prevents you from lingering and stalling out on any particular step.

​

3. Incorporate Implementation Intentions.

Research confirms that you’re more likely to achieve your goals

(like 2 to 3 times more likely) if you make a specific plan

for when, where and how you will do

the thing that gets you to your goal.

​

Utilize these two templates from James Clear

to level up your likelihood of success:

​

​Implementation Intention:

I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].

I will read 5 pages every morning in my sun room.

​

If your goal involves building a new habit,

attach it to an established trigger:

​

After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

After I make my coffee, I will read 5 pages in my sun room.

​

4. Adjust as needed.

Breaking a goal into incremental steps

gives you the opportunity to adjust

and calibrate along the way.

​

Use it.

​

The point isn’t rigidity around your original plan.

The point is progress.

​

If you need to tweak the approach

to make it achievable, no problem.

That’s what mini goals are for.

Strategy to Make an Abstract Goal Achievable: Backward Planning

Backward Planning is a technique that combines

goal setting objectives with project planning processes.

​

Mini Goals build forward towards an objective,

while Backward Planning works backward from an objective.

The approach and mindset are different but the output is similar:

individual building blocks that move you closer and closer toward the goal.

​

With Backward Planning,

you break the goal into milestones

and the milestones into steps or tasks.

​

Backward Planning process:

1. Define the end goal as specifically as possible and assign a deadline.
2. Identify the sequence of steps or milestones to accomplish the goal, including an estimate of how long you expect each to take.
3. Create a step-based timeline that incorporates the duration of individual steps and accounts for dependencies (a step that needs to be completed before another can begin).
4. Rationalize the timeline with reality. If, for example, your timeline requires a big lift during a period in which you expect to have a lot of other things on your plate (like the holidays), adjust accordingly.
5. Build your plan into your calendar. Schedule the start and end times for individual steps, calendar key milestone dates and add weekly or biweekly check-ins to keep yourself on track and accountable.

​

Best Practices for Backward Planning:

​

1. Get granular.

Break large steps into smaller steps and those into even smaller steps.

Continue this practice until you have a sequenced list representing

as much of the process as you are aware of

to achieve your goal.

​

As additional steps surface,

add them into your process and timeline.

​

The more your plan reflects your reality,

the more likely you'll be to stick to it over the long term.

​

2. Be conservative.

Pad your time estimates for unfamiliar steps and

try to anticipate possible bottlenecks.

​

While all progress is good progress,

psychologically it’s better to be

ahead of schedule than behind.

​

3. Know what progress looks like and track it.

For each stage of the process,

identify an indicator of progress (or a few)

and consistently track yourself against them.

​

The tracking isn’t as much about

the numerical measure of how you’re performing,

as it is about the discipline of holding yourself accountable &

the ability to make adjustments to approach and expectations.

​

Schedule weekly tracking sessions to gather, process and analyze the data.

​

4. Adjust as needed.

Backward planning is designed for long-term goals

and it’s impossible to predict every step and

anticipate every contingency.

​

Review your plan on a monthly basis to

adjust timelines and goals based on

real-time feedback and information.

​

5. Use Visualization Techniques.

It’s hard to plan for a goal that spans months

and is the endpoint of a complex journey.

Visualization can help with that.

​

Start by visualizing the end point

in all it’s dimensional glory —

what it will look and feel like

when you reach your goal.

Imagine every detail.

​

Spend 5 minutes journaling

about that vision and feeling of success

as a source of motivation throughout your pursuit.

​

In that frame of mind,

walk backward through the journey

of all the steps it took to get to the goal.

​

As you visualize the process, take note of

• Milestones & markers of progress
• Steps you hadn’t yet considered
• Challenges you may encounter
• Resources you can leverage

​

During your weekly tracking sessions and monthly goal reviews,

take 5 minutes at the outset to step back into that vision.

Let the image of your successful outcome fuel you.

I started this issue with a reference

to the halfway point in the year.

​

This marker of time presents an opportunity

to look back with regret or disdain

for things not yet accomplished

or to look forward with clarity & intention

at what the focus of your next 6 months (& beyond) will be.

​

It’s also just a social construct.

​

We define the time intervals

and we attach meaning to them.

​

If you achieve a major personal goal

on January 23rd instead of by December 31st

does that make the accomplishment any less impactful?

​

Almost definitely not.

​

What matters is not

the “done by” date,

it’s the doing.

​

And there’s no day like today

(whether it’s a fabricated calendar milestone or not)

to get started on the goals that will bring meaning and fulfillment to your life.

​

So set a goal to pick one of these strategies

and take the first step toward implementing it.

​

And if you want to talk it out first or during, send me a note.

I’m always here for a swift kick in the rear or a strategy sesh. :)

​

Have a great week,

Nicole