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How To Set Goals
Most of you don't properly set goals and it's why you never actually achieve the goals you're aiming for.
One of the most important moments of my life was when I read Think and Grow Rich.
The book came into my life in a time when I didn’t have much direction. I was 24, I was about about 5 months sober, and I was finally beginning to believe that I could life a good life.
The book taught me the power of thoughts. Everything that is ever created (by humans), was first manifested as a thought.
I admit, the book does get a bit wooo wooo, but there is absolutely something to the law of attraction. The best way to think of it is with a simple maxim.
“Where focus goes, energy flows.”
You get what you focus on.
Setting Big Goals
In the book, the author Napoleon Hill, gives the 13 principles of riches. The first principle is desire. In the chapter about desire, Napoleon Hill gives important instructions on how to turn your desires into a reality.
He argues that you need to write down exactly what you want, exactly when you want it by, and what you’re willing to do in order to get it.
For instance, you could write down something like …
“By Jan 1st, 2026, I am going to have $200,000 saved in the bank. I will earn this money by doing social media marketing for clients. I will do my best work and show up every day with an attitude of service.”
That’s a big goal. That’s a long term goal.
In theory, you could make the goal more long term. There is no rule for timelines or achievement. The goal isn’t the point, because every goal is achievable. The point is to decide exactly what you want and exactly when you want it by.
But there’s a problem with big goals; they lack process. No matter how good you are at creating processes, it’s simply impossible to account for all the possible variables that exist over a long enough timeline. No matter how good your plan, life will throw you curveballs.
So, what do you do?
Set Daily Goals (Trust The Process)
James Clear built his media empire with the concept of habits and process.
I’m the only person in the world who didn’t read Atomic Habits. I overheard a quote from the book, and after I heard this quote, I knew instantly that I didn’t need to spend time reading the book. The quote (and the secret to Atomic Habits) is …
“You don’t rise to the level of your ambition, you fall to the level of your systems.”
I run my daily life around a simple task management system that completely guides my progress as an entrepreneur and a business owner. I even use this system for my fitness and my personal achievements.
Every day, I write down 5 tasks that I need to complete. I call it my power list. I complete my power list in its entirety almost every day, and these goals add tremendous value to my life. The reason is because daily goals are process oriented.
By completing my power list every day, I am making steady progress. Progress is the secret to happiness and confidence. I am always moving forward and the progress adds up.
However, there is also a problem with daily goals. And that is that it can be very easy to be completing goals while not actually moving in a direction.
Without a desired outcome, you will find yourself working without getting anywhere. You’re running on a treadmill. You’re burning calories with no reward.
So what’s the in between?
How do you accomplish huge goals (your ultimate outcome) while also making steady progress that create steady progress?
Monthly Goals Are The Bridge Between Your Daily Tasks And Your Long Term Vision
I’ll give you a personal example.
For me, my ultimate outcomes is to have a personal holdings company that does $10,000,000 a year in revenue by 2027.
Great, so then my daily tasks are designed to get me to that ultimate outcome. Every morning I write my power list and then I assign tasks to myself and my team on Todoist.
P.S. - I love Todoist.
But the benchmarks that get me from the daily tasks to my ultimate outcomes are my monthly goals.
Currently, my main priority is to save cash. My wife and I bought our house in Denver (we were renting it) and we want to pay the principle down as soon as possible so we can turn it into another rental.
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I made a lot of cash investments last year, so I don’t have as much cash on hand as I usually do.
So in order to pay down the principle to a more comfortable monthly payment, I need to put $364,000 into the principle of the house. I want to have this done by Jan 1.
So, I break it down into smaller chunks.
As such, my monthly goal is to have $140,000 set aside by the end of August.
This monthly goal is big enough to have impact and meaning, but small enough to not be so intimidating. By breaking my ultimate outcome into monthly goals, I can then use my monthly goals as a way to anchor my daily tasks (my power list) into meaningful tasks that really move the needle.
The days turn into months, and the months turn into progress.
Try It Out
I’ve been using this technique for years. It works because the smaller time horizons allow for flexibility while also allowing you to stay focused on the final destination.
My wife and I have a saying that we say a lot.
“Eye on the prize.”
That’s exactly what this is. This is how you set goals that help you win big prizes.
Love you guys. Talk to you tomorrow.
Tim
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Think and Grow Rich is a great book, and I agree with what you allude to: It's not really about "thinking" your way into "riches." It's about learning to chose what you focus on.
Love this breakdown. Set a big, hairy, audacious goal – then work backwards, baby-step by baby-step.
Once you break it down into smaller daily tasks, it doesn’t look so scary anymore.
The key is to stick to that mindset.