Why Write This Post?
I noticed something important. My strategy continues to change. I have three strategy documents that I have created in the past year and they all differ.
Curiously enough, the long term goal is the same for all of them but the short term goals keep shifting as technologies and priorities shift. It’s chaotic and frustrating. Why? Because how am I supposed to achieve my goals if I keep creating new ones?
This post will give you the structure I now use to conceptualize and guide my goals. This is the overall composition of the document I use:
Life Mission and Values
Principles
Long Term Goals
Quarterly Goals
General Weekly Architecture
Metrics & Progress Tracking
Daily Action Plan
Life Mission and Values
Description
We begin with our life mission or values. Otherwise known as purpose. This is the mission statement. Our why. It is the reason from which everything else stems.
Example
My life mission and purpose is to maximize the creativity and wellbeing of the world through teaching essential concepts that help create more resources. This will create a more conscious and happier planet.
Principles: Maxims for How to Work
Description
Principles are rules for how to act in situations that continuously arise. Having a set of principles that you use to guide your decision-making can save you time and decision fatigue.
The world loops. Same holidays, same seasons, similar goals. But we gain knowledge, we level up. We continuously learn more about the ways of the world.
Principles are our way of storing what we have learned and using this knowledge to make better decisions. To be less wrong.
Examples
Here are a few general principles I use:
Avoid information overload. Deep work creates better work. Learn to be bored.
Taking 10 minute breaks with mindfulness and breathing exercises resets me when I’m overwhelmed.
I stay away from working with complicated people. I prefer smooth operations.
Reading fiction at night helps me sleep.
I am very creative after a run or the gym… especially when I work out in silence. After workouts, I go straight to the keyboard and write down everything bouncing around in my head.
Mornings are the time where I have the most energy. Early mornings are perfect for deep work.
Never miss a key habit twice or it will fall by the wayside. Don’t let the lazy you win.
I always regret indulging in desserts in opportune settings, but never regret abstaining from them.
Long Term Goals
Description
Long term goals are the dreams that may seem unrealistic to others. Think big.
Ensure that you have action steps and any resources you will need defined for clarity. Additionally, schedule sessions weekly to review your long term goals and the precise progress you are making towards them. In this age of infinite information overload, we require precision and excellent accountability.
Example
Be recognized as a world class developer, writer, and idea visionary that creates a company that does $20M in revenue and actually helps the world become a better place by improving the minds of people and the environments they live in.
Write a best selling book
Create an extraordinary set of apps
Build a permaculture farm
Quarterly Goals
Description
Set quarterly goals and focus on them. When your energy is allocated to too many things at once, it can dilute. Keep these quarterly goals aligned with your longterm goal. Quarterly timelines ensure you don’t spend too much time dilly-dallying.
Example
Master front end web-development by completing a course on it and building one extraordinary app in parallel that involves AI agents.
General Weekly Architecture
Description
The general weekly architecture is what helps you ground everything. Why? It allocates time blocks to complete your goals and keep everything in balance. It is essentially a way to divide your weeks in a relatively consistent pattern. It leaves room for the reality of dynamic weeks, but creates essential blocks that keep you moving in the right direction.
Example
Monday
Morning (90 min) → Deep programming work. Learn new AI agent concepts. Review Strategy Document.
Evening → Write draft content for Substack and book.
Tuesday
Morning (90 min) → Deep programming work. Build out client demos. Review Strategy Document.
Evening → Coding session on a small open-source project.
Wednesday
Morning (90 min) → Deep writing work. Work on innovative ideas for building AI agents. Review Strategy Document.
Thursday
Morning (90 min) → Deep work. Review Strategy Document.
Evening → Record and create a podcast episode.
Friday
Morning (90 min) → Deep work. Review Strategy Document.
Mid-morning → Build client demos. Plan for next week.
Saturday
Morning → Midday → Deep recovery: yoga, napping, long hikes.
Afternoon → Review Strategy Document.
Evening → Creative play: drawing, gaming, or freewriting.
Sunday
Morning → Meal prep for the week.
Afternoon → Review Strategy Document.
Evening → Watch a movie.
Metrics & Progress Tracking
Description
Metrics and progress tracking will keep you working towards your goals. “What’s measured is managed”.
Example
Keep these metrics simple:
Mark an x each day you stick to a habit.
Write a certain number of words.
Write a certain number of lines of code.
Daily Action Plan
Description
Set out to complete one big thing every day, and do the necessary administrative tasks to keep everything else in motion. The reality is that you will need to prioritize your time.
Example
6am-7:30am: Work on the app and ship x feature.
8am-10am: Build client demo’s and progress one deal forward.
10am-12pm: Strategy & meetings.
1pm-5pm: Deliver Demos & Learning.
7pm-8pm: Write.
Reflection & Learning
Every evening, reflect on your progress, write down what you are grateful for, and meditate on what you could have done better. The secret is conscious, consistent, and at times exponential improvement.
I find this post to be a fantastic blueprint for my goal setting!!!