Setting Goals

Hi friend,

"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems". - James Clear

I stumbled on this quote back in 2023 and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Everyone has goals that they would like to achieve. What separates the best from everyone else is their willingness to be disciplined to stick through the hard times and achieve the goals they set for themselves.

This involves:

• Moving past the challenges

• Being open to a new path

• Showing up consistently

4 months back, I’m sure you heard everyone share their New Year’s resolutions. What’s alarming is that almost 88% of people fail their New Year’s resolutions by the end of January.

Today, I’m sharing a simple goal-setting framework that I use to smash my goals. It’s a simple 5 step process that will help bring you closer (and hopefully) even achieve your goals.

1. Decide on what you want

   You have a goal, that’s great.

   But let’s dive deeper into that.

   Be as specific as possible about what you want.

   Make it defined by adding details: dates, quantities, and the outcomes you want.

   A good example of this is, “I want to run the London Marathon on April 25th, 2025 and finish with a personal best timing of 3 hours 30 minutes.”

   Now that’s super specific and detailed.

   That’s a goal with a due date.

2. Reverse engineer the goal

   What are the steps you need to take to achieve your goal?

   Draw up action steps that you need to do.

   Define them clearly and be open to experimenting with different methods.

   For example, for the goal above, an action step could be “Run at least 3 times per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

   I recognise that the steps sometimes don’t seem that evident but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to start walking and then watch the path unfold.

3. Build systems

   Systems are what differentiate achievers from planners.

   If goals are the “what”, your systems are the “how”.

   When you shift your focus on to the systems you need to follow, the likelihood of you achieving your goals increases.

   Going back to the marathon example, some of your systems will include recovery periods, diet plans, and focusing on strength training.

   Your systems make you show up.

4. Track yourself

   One of the best bulletproof ways to achieve your goals is to track yourself ruthlessly.

   Put up a huge calendar on your wall. Download a habit-tracking app. Write it down in your diary.

   Whatever works for you, do that.

   You’ve got to be completely honest with yourself here because no one else will keep you accountable.

   When you reflect, you will understand why you made or didn’t make progress toward achieving the goals you set for yourself.

5. Review and adjust your sails

   When necessary, adjust the path to get to your goals, not the goal itself.

   One of the best ways to do this is to review yourself weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

   You can then identify what’s working, what isn’t and what needs to be changed.

   Doing this over time will reveal the best practices that you should be doing more of.

   The simple act of reflection can make a world of difference.

I hope this simple goal-setting framework helps you achieve the goals you desire.

Love always,

Deveshi x