Personal Goals

I was 25 years old, a few months into a new job and a new city. My career was finally on a good trajectory. But my broader life - was I on the right track? It felt like “no”, but I couldn’t say why or what to change. That left me anxious.

My health, relationships, skills… they weren’t there yet, and they weren’t getting there either. I’d react to problems, but my actions were always tactical, not strategic. Without clear long-term goals, how could I make far-sighted decisions? It’s like I was treating the symptoms of all these diseases instead of preventing them:

• Burnt out? I’ll stop working immediately!
• Soft skills blocking a promotion? I’ll start schmoozing!
• Lacking fulfilling friendships? There’s an app for that!

At first, I made annual goals. Those helped a bit, turning down the volume on that tugging fear, “Am I going in the right direction?” Then I made monthly goals and those cured me, sent me cruising. Finally, I experimented with short-term plans and those gave me productivity superpowers.

I make goals and plans for different time horizons

Long-term to mid-term

When I set my annual goals, I reflect on last year, consider my life goals, and work with the constraints of the year. My monthly goals are set the same way:

• I reflect on last month’s goals.
  • Ex: “I hit all my health goals. I could stretch myself more there.”
• I consider my annual goals.
  • Ex: “I still haven’t started that online course.”
• I watch out for the constraints of the next month.
  • Ex: “I have a tight deadline at work in two weeks and my friend is visiting soon.”

Example: My 2019 Goals

I wanted to focus my 2019 on improving in areas of life outside work. I tried to get either work-life balance or career progression. In practice, work ended up taking too much of my effort without enough reward. After seven months, I realized I had to change my job to achieve my goals.

“Best-looking physical shape of life” is the favourite goal I’ve ever had. It’s so ambitious and achievable, it’s also opinionated and clear. My health goals in July clearly reflect it. I was finishing a bulk-and-cut cycle, engaging health professionals to do it better the next time.

Goal Categories

Health Physical wellbeing (exercise, eating, sleep) Mental wellbeing (mindfulness, stress) Why? My health affects my performance in other areas of life. I also enjoy the activities involved in being healthy.	Work & Industry Current/future jobs Networking and industry context Why? So that I maintain a healthy separation of my career from my personal life. So that I can choose what proportion of effort I want to invest in my work life.
Relationships Family, Friends, and Romantic Why? Relationships are important to me, but I don't put effort into improving them. I need to bring my relationships to the forefront, so I put in the effort they deserve.	Personal Development Getting better at everything Why? I am continuous personal improvement, incarnate. I am always thinking about how to become better.

Example: My 2020 September Goals (click to expand)

I’m in a good place when most of my goals have to do with building or maintaining habits.

In meat-space, how do I write goals? Sometime between 6am-6pm, I get a tea or coffee and sit in my favourite place to drink it. I write, pen and paper, for 20-60min. What I write usually sucks, but I get better at it over time. I learned to enjoy the activity and now I look forward to it.

Short-term planning

Daily planning is admin overhead. I don’t enjoy admin - I plan because it makes me more effective. I found that when I don’t plan I’m more likely to waste my time. Moreover, it’s the only way for me to be productive when I’m not going to work or classes every day. All my plans were overzealous, and they taught me my limits.

I plan my day in the morning after eating, maybe filling in the next two or three days. Sometimes I don’t plan a day. The sun still rises, unscheduled.

Tasks and Admin

I used to track tasks and initiatives with post-it notes (both work and personal). I switched to a virtual Trello Board when my desk filled up. A mentor looked at it and said,

“Douglas, that’s a mess. You’re doing too many things, so you’re doing them poorly. You should be more focused.”

Life admin has to live somewhere. I make plans every week or two. I check in on my monthly goals, write a to-do list, and fill in my calendar. Every week or two is a good frequency to consider life admin - frequent enough that I get things done on time, without distracting me from what’s important.

Conclusion

Long-term compass, medium-term checkpoints, and short-term steps.

Long-term goals highlight what I’m aiming for, but the path there is unclear. The further into the future I look, the cloudier it gets. I need medium- and short-term goals to steer me on the visible path, adjusting my direction as the clouds part.

This framework came from a place of anxiety, but it grew into something that empowers me and how I want to live life. I believe everything I do is intentional and that I should always be improving myself. Some of my friends express that I’m not living life to the fullest - that serendipity is missing. I think I can plan “just the right” amount of spontaneity.

I enjoy getting better at things. I get more enjoyment when I exercise great intent.

Goals | Habits