Goal Setting and Execution

Why Most Goals Fail

We love setting goals because they make us feel powerful.
Writing them down gives us a sense of control, of clarity, of purpose.

But then… life happens.
Workload picks up. Energy drops. Distractions creep in.
And a few weeks later, the notebook closes. The resolution fades. The goal disappears into the chaos of daily life.

What if the problem isn’t you?
What if the problem is how we plan – and more importantly, how we execute?

Goal Setting Without Execution Is Just Hope

Let’s reframe the whole conversation.
Goal setting in isolation doesn’t work. And it’s not supposed to.

I’ve probably set a thousand goals in my life. You know how many I followed through on before I had a system? Very few.
But the moment I paired goal setting with two specific systems – one for planning, one for execution – things changed.

In reality to make real progress, you don’t need more goals. You need better systems.
One to define what really matters. One to make sure it happens.

Let me show you how.

Planning Systems: Where Goals Begin

Before you can follow through, you need to know where you’re going – and why.

At Phoenix, we work with seven layers of planning. Most people only use one or two. But if you want your goals to stick, you need a bigger view.

Here’s a breakdown – and a quick visual you can imagine:

1. Visionary Planning

This is your North Star. The kind of life you want to build.
Visionary planning is expansive, bold, and driven by purpose. It’s not about next month – it’s about legacy.

In business, it’s the realm of disruptive innovation. In life, it’s about asking: “Who am I becoming?”

2. Strategic Planning

Strategic planning takes that North Star and translates it into a 5-10 year roadmap.
It answers: “What needs to happen over time to get there?” Think big themes – financial independence, career reinvention, starting a business, building a family.

3. Tactical Planning

Now we zoom in. Tactical planning turns strategy into 6–12 month initiatives.
If strategy says, “I want to build a consulting firm,” tactical planning says, “I’ll write my first playbook and land three pilot clients this year.”

This is where most of your meaningful goals live.

4. Short-Term Planning

This is execution’s engine. Your daily and weekly planning.
It’s where progress is tracked, tasks are completed, and feedback loops begin.

Without short-term planning, even the best strategy will stall.

5. Emergent Planning

Life doesn’t always follow the plan.
Emergent planning keeps you adaptable – able to pivot when surprises, opportunities, or crises show up unexpectedly.

6. Crisis Management

This one is about resilience. When health, finances, or personal life gets shaken, crisis planning kicks in.
It’s not about growth – it’s about protecting energy and rebounding fast.

7. Financial Planning

This is the fuel.
Even the best goals need financial scaffolding – savings, investment, risk buffers – to support them.

Tactical Goal Setting: The Right Time Horizon for Action

This is where momentum begins.

Of all the planning layers we’ve explored, tactical planning is the one that gets the majority of your goals over the line. It’s the most practical, most actionable, and most immediately impactful. It’s not about dreaming in the clouds or reacting in chaos. It’s about building steady, measurable progress over a focused time horizon of 6 to 12 months.

Why is this horizon so effective?
Because it’s long enough to make meaningful change – but short enough to stay urgent. You can’t drift through a year like you can through a decade. You feel the pressure. You can track results. You can make decisions and adapt fast. That’s exactly why tactical planning is the ideal system for most personal and professional goals, whether it’s launching a new product, paying down debt, writing a book, or building a morning routine.

But here’s the catch most people miss:

Goal setting won’t work as a one-time effort.

You can’t set goals once in January and expect them to carry you through August. Life doesn’t work that way. Priorities shift. Resources fluctuate. New opportunities show up. And if you don’t have a rhythm to revisit, refine, and re-commit, your goals will quietly fall off the radar.

So the most critical part of this system, beyond the goals themselves, is cadence. A regular beat. A structured rhythm.
Think of it like a drumline behind your year, keeping you moving even when energy dips or distractions creep in. You set your direction once, but you review it constantly. That’s how you stay on track.

The first time you go through this system will be the deepest. You’ll audit, clarify, prioritize, and map out your next steps. But over time, it gets lighter. Smoother. More intuitive. Instead of resetting everything, you’ll tweak, update, and optimize. Think of it as your personal operating system – always on, always evolving.

Step 1: List all the goals you’d like to achieve this year

You begin by taking a hard, honest look at your life today.
Use a simple tool like the Wheel of Life exercise to evaluate where you stand – across work, health, relationships, money, purpose, fun, and growth. Which areas are draining you? Which ones are energizing you? Which ones have been ignored for too long?

Once you’ve mapped that out, write down all the goals you’d like to pursue in the next 12 months. Don’t filter at first – just capture them. This list isn’t about perfection. It’s about seeing what’s sitting just beneath the surface.  Sometimes our goals are hiding inside quiet frustrations or forgotten dreams.

Step 2: Prioritize the 4–5 goals that matter most

Then comes the decision phase.
For each goal, ask two questions:

1. How difficult is this goal to achieve?
2. Can I realistically begin working on it this year?

This will help you separate the “someday” ideas from the “start now” commitments. You’re not deleting anything, you’re just sequencing. Timing matters. You’ll be far more successful focusing on fewer goals you can actually act on than spreading yourself thin chasing too many at once.

From there, narrow your list down to the top 4–5 goals that you genuinely want to focus on this year. These should be the ones that feel both meaningful and actionable. They should stretch you, but not paralyze you.

Step 3: Break each goal into initiatives

And finally, for each of those goals, outline the key initiatives, actions, or milestones that would make it a reality.
Ask yourself:

• What would progress actually look like?
• What steps would I need to take, and in what order?
• Where are the dependencies, the blockers, or the early wins?

This is where clarity turns into momentum. You’re no longer just thinking about outcomes, you’re designing the architecture to make them happen.

Make Your Goals SMART

Now it’s time to test each goal using the SMART framework.

Specific

“I want to get fit” → “I want to run a 5K in under 30 minutes.”

Measurable

“If I can’t track it, I can’t improve it.”
Use data – sessions, dollars, timelines – to track progress.

Achievable

Stretch yourself, but stay realistic.
Going from 0 to 100K savings in 3 months? Unlikely. Going to 5K? Much better.

Relevant

Is this goal YOURS? Or someone else’s?
If it doesn’t align with your deeper values, it’ll quietly slip away.

Time-Defined

Set a deadline. Create urgency.
A goal without a date is just a hope.

Short-Term Planning: Zooming Into the Next 90 Days

You’ve got the big picture.
Now it’s time to zoom in.

Long-term goals are powerful – but progress happens in the short term. This is where real change begins. Not in some distant horizon, but in the next 90 days. That’s your window. Your runway. The space where you can test ideas, build habits, and generate tangible results.

Why 90 days?
Because it’s long enough to achieve something meaningful… but short enough to stay focused and agile. It’s not overwhelming like a year, and it’s not too rushed like a week. It gives you enough time to build momentum – without losing motivation.

So here’s how to design a high-leverage 90-day plan that actually moves your life forward:

Step 1: Choose 2–3 priority goals for the next 3 months

Look back at the 4–5 annual goals you outlined earlier.
Now ask yourself: “Which of these will make the biggest difference now?”

You’re not abandoning the rest. You’re just sequencing.
Trying to do everything at once kills momentum. Instead, pick 2–3 goals that are:

• Relevant to the season you’re in
• Clear enough to act on
• Connected to something that genuinely matters to you

For example:

• If you’re in a high-stress work season, maybe your top goal is rebuilding physical energy.
• If you’ve already stabilized your finances, it could be launching your side project.
• If your relationships have been neglected, it might be about reconnecting with loved ones.

Your short-term focus should serve your long-term vision.
But in the next 3 months, clarity and capacity matter most.

Step 2: Identify next steps for each

Now that you’ve chosen your 2–3 focus goals, it’s time to bring them down to earth.

Ask yourself:

“What is the very next small step I can take toward this goal?”

Here’s the trick: The step should be so small you can do it this week without resistance.

Don’t write “start a fitness routine.”
Write: “Buy running shoes.”

Don’t write “organize finances.”
Write: “Download my bank statements and look at the last 30 days of spending.”

You’re not trying to map out the whole staircase – just the next rung.

This is where many people stall. They overthink. They want the perfect plan. But the truth is, momentum loves simplicity. And progress multiplies when you stay in motion.

If you’re feeling stuck, ask:

• What can I do in the next 15 minutes to get this moving?
• What action would take this from “idea” to “in progress”?

That’s your next step. Write it down.

Step 3: Pick your core focus

Here’s where we dial in even further.
From the 2–3 goals you’re tackling this quarter, choose one single goal to make your primary focus this month.

This is the goal that gets your best energy, your calendar space, your creativity.
It becomes your anchor.

Why just one?
Because focus creates flow. When you try to juggle too many priorities, everything moves slower. But when you give one goal 80% of your attention, you’ll be shocked how fast it moves forward.

This doesn’t mean you abandon the other two. It just means you structure your execution around one main driver. It simplifies your decision-making and makes your progress trackable week after week.

Ask yourself:

• Which of these goals is most urgent or emotionally resonant right now?
• Which one, if solved, would unlock momentum in other areas?

That’s your core focus. Write it down. And now let’s build the rhythm to support it.

Execution Cadence: Building Rhythm Into Your Life

Let’s get one thing straight:

You don’t need more motivation. You need rhythm.

Motivation is a great starting fuel – but it’s unreliable. Some days it’s there. Most days, it’s not.
Rhythm, on the other hand, is dependable. It keeps going whether you feel like it or not.

That’s why we build a cadence – a recurring schedule of short meetings with yourself to stay aligned, reflect, and adjust. I teach this inside Phoenix because it’s one of the most powerful tools for sustained execution.

Here’s the system. Set it up today:

Quarterly Review (1 hour)

Once every 3 months, block one hour to zoom out.

Ask:

• What progress did I make over the past quarter?
• Which goals need to continue?
• What needs to change in my strategy?

This is where you reset your 90-day plan. You celebrate what worked. You adjust what didn’t. You come back to your vision and make sure you’re still aligned. It’s your “CEO moment” for your life.

Monthly Review (30 minutes)

Every 30 days, reflect on your core focus.

Ask:

• Am I making meaningful progress on my core goal?
• Can I layer in another goal now, or do I need to simplify further?

You’ll be surprised how fast clarity returns when you give yourself just 30 minutes of reflection.
Without this, you’ll end up drifting and wondering why nothing is moving.

Weekly Review (15 minutes)

Every week, set aside 15 minutes for tactical clarity.

Ask:

• What was my progress on my core goal this week?
• What is my next step?
• When will I do it  –  and is it blocked in my calendar?

This is the real engine of progress.
Each week, you take a small step. You block time. You eliminate ambiguity.
And over time, those weekly actions add up into life-changing outcomes.

Execution System: From Plan to Action

Here’s how to make sure the work actually gets done.

Weekly

• Decide your core goal for the week.
• Break it into bite-sized next actions.
• Block time on your calendar.
• Reflect at the end of the week and adjust.

Daily

• Start the day by asking: “What’s my most important next step?”
• Make that step so small, it’s impossible to avoid.

Example:

Instead of “Write blog post,” try “Outline 3 bullet points for post.”

Small steps beat grand intentions every time.

The Two Systems Working Together

Let’s zoom out:

• You set goals for the year (tactical plan).
• You break it into quarters.
• You pick 1–2 for this quarter.
• You zoom into your core focus for the month.
• You track and adjust weekly.
• You move the needle daily.

This system works. Not because it’s perfect. But because it’s consistent.

Apply It Now: Your 6-Step Checklist

1. Do a life audit with the Wheel of Life.
2. List all your yearly goals and shortlist the top 4–5.
3. Break each into initiatives and make them SMART.
4. Choose your top 2–3 for this quarter.
5. Set a single core focus for this month.
6. Lock in your review rhythm (quarterly, monthly, weekly).
7. Every day, take the next small action.

Systems Create Progress, Not Willpower

You don’t need to be more motivated.
You just need a structure that makes progress automatic.

The system above isn’t complicated.
But it works. Because it shifts your identity from “someone who sets goals”
to “someone who follows through.”

And that, over time, changes everything.

✨ Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re ready to build your planning muscle, I created a free Foundations of Planning training for you.

Inside, you’ll find practical tools to set your rhythm, reclaim your time, and get real momentum.