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Why I stopped setting yearly goals (and what I do instead)
My social media feed is stuffed full of influencers sharing their big goals for 2025.
Earn a million dollars working four hours a week. Get jacked. Climb Kilimanjaro — that type of virtue-signalling.
Good luck to these pontificating gurus!
I don’t like planning goals for an entire year.
I read study after study, saying only 8% of people stick to their goals for the entire year.
Even if 8% is wildly off the mark, I hate the odd moment after achieving a goal when I wonder, “What next?”
That happened last year when I got a personal best in a marathon.
Or worse, when I miss a goal and ask myself at three A.M., “What now?”*
That happened last year when Google killed my SEO goals with a brutal series of algo changes.
I stopped setting annual goals for a few other reasons, too. 12 months is long enough to over-plan, lose motivation and procrastinate. That’s what happens to me when I plan that far out.
A few years ago, I worked with a mindset coach who suggested breaking the year into blocks of about fifteen weeks or a three-act play.
