How I set goals

The Sunday Night Review #173

It’s still January, so it’s still goal setting time.

Maybe your first three weeks haven’t gotten off to the best start, but having a great 2025 is all to play for.

Last year, I came across a YouTube short that changed my life.

It was a video of Brian Tracey, an OG personal development bro, talking about how to set goals.

Here’s the essence of what he said:

1. Imagine yourself in December 2025, sitting at dinner with a great friend.

2. List the 10 most important things you would love to have achieved by December, but in the present tense. E.g. I can run a 25 min 5k, I earn 20% more, I have 5,000 followers on Instagram etc

3. Ask yourself “If I could wave a magic wand and have anything on this list within the next 24 hours, which of these would have the greatest positive impact on my life?”

4. That’s your goal. Forget the other 9 for now.

5. Write down your one goal.

6. Set a date you want to achieve it by.

7. Write down the 5 main things you need to do to achieve that goal.

8. Look at your goal daily.

9. Track your progress weekly.

I watched this 59 second short walking through these steps about 25 times last year. I loved the idea so much I set it up so that it appeared in my email inbox every 2 weeks. Random, but it worked.

As far as I can tell, this is how you make real needle-moving progress towards something that matters to you.

You get clear on what you want, you focus only that and you remind yourself you want it (most people forget about their goals).

And one of the interesting things I’ve realised about goals, is that most people want similar things. Or similar categories of things.

So to get your creative juices flowing, here are some things I’ve written down in the past (almost all of which I’ve not achieved):

1. I can do 5 muscle ups.

2. I can play Your Song by Elton John on the piano.

3. I’ve achieved the full bonus at work.

4. I can do a backflip.

5. I posted 52 videos on YouTube for a full year.

6. I’ve saved £X.

7. I’ve broken 90 on a golf course (yeah I play golf, come at me).

8. I’ve done 10 cognitive behavioural therapy sessions.

9. I’ve earned £X through side hustles.

10. I’ve spent 5 weeks abroad this year.

11. I have a girlfriend.

12. I read a book a fortnight.

13. I have 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.

I tested this system out last year with my goals and it worked super well. I realised a profound truth in the process.

It’s much more satisfying to make lots of progress on one thing, than it is to make slow progress on a few things.

I now attempt to interrogate myself to figure out what I truly, deeply, legitimately want, so that I can focus on making progress in that area and ignore any distractions. And I tend to do this for health, work and relationships separately.

Write down what you want by when, make a plan, look at it daily, track your progress, and the results will probably shock you.

Here’s the short if you want to take a look.

Have an epic week!

Tintin 🫡

P.s.

I posted a YouTube video today about 8 habits that made 2024 a great year for me, which I’m taking into 2025.

It’s the video version of a newsletter I wrote a few weeks ago.

If you’re interested, give it a watch here.

Thanks for reading The Sunday Night Review!