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I'll tell you mine, but first, I wanna tell you how I came up with them because what works for me, might work for you, too.
For best results, open your own word document, and write your answers down as you go.
Don't forget to reply to this email and share them with me when you're done! :)
Step 1: Select a Category
To make sure all of your actions work together to achieve a singular goal, select an overarching category, like: “Health,” “Professional,” or “Creative.”
This step will help you narrow your focus, but don’t worry too much about coloring inside the lines. Your goals will never fit 100% neatly into any one category because they’re often inter-related. In my goals, for example, I set out to achieve a professional goal, which I can’t accomplish without also mitigating my depression.
Do whatever works best for you.
Step 2: Start Small
Which DAILY activities can you do that are…
a) helpful to others
b) genuinely exciting for you, and
c) so tiny that you have no excuse NOT to do them?
Limit yourself to five activities — AND ONLY FIVE!!!
Try to accomplish all five every single day, but always be willing to settle for three. This way, you have a concrete to-do list, but you also have an out for when life gets crazy. Be gentle with yourself when you fall short.
Step 3: Save OR Spend
For this step, answer ONE of these two questions:
What singular, WEEKLY activity can you do to save more time, money, and/or energy for all of your daily tasks?
OR
What meaningful goal can you consistently hit EVERY WEEK that will keep you excited about your progress and get you one step closer to a much bigger goal?
Choose one, answer it, and write it down.
Step 4: Ship Your Product
All of your daily and weekly activities should lead you to this one MONTHLY moment, where you “ship” your “product,” or put it out into the world in some way, shape, or form.
If you wrote a rough draft of the first chapter of your novel, share it with a few close friends. If you designed a poster, put it up for sale. If you’re trying to build muscle, share your before and after photos at the end of each month.
Show your work. Share your wins and losses. Shoot for progress, NOT perfection.
Step 5: Set Your Sights
What singular, YEARLY goal are your daily, weekly, and monthly activities working toward?
This should be so stupid SIMPLE that it fits in one short sentence, like…
“Destroy a Horcrux”
“Get Edward to turn me into a vampire” or
“Deliver a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi”
Once you’ve decided on a simple goal, you can then expand it to be more comprehensive and therefore more meaningful.
My favorite way to do this is to use the following formula:
To _________ ,so that __________ ,by:
a) _________
b) _________
c) _________
Because I believe __________
For example:
Harry Potter’s goal in The Deathly Hallows might’ve been…
“To destroy a Horcrux, so that we can get one step closer to defeating Voldemort, by:
a) stripping him of his armor
b) chipping away at his sources of power, and
c) avoiding a direct battle until we are strong enough to win
Because I believe we can only defeat him by playing to our strengths, not his.”
Now you try!
Step 6: Seek the Right Answers to the Right Questions
Think of, AT MOST, three questions that can act as filters for every action you take (one all-powerful question is even better). Get into the habit of asking yourself these questions when you’re not sure whether or not you’re on the right track.
Step 7: Start at the End and Work Your Way Back
Now, reverse the order of the previous six steps. Put your category at the top of the page, followed by your Guiding Question, Your Guiding Goal, and all of the monthly, weekly, and daily goals that lead to its accomplishment.
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