The Art of Aligning Your Goals with Your Time

It happens in February just as often as it happens in October– you look at the goals you set back in January and realize that some of them just won’t happen.

It’s fine, really.
No judgment here.
But we can help.

One thing we see over and over with the top performing members of our community and the clients we work with is that they align their goals with their time.

This skill breaks down into 3 easy steps.

1. Set your goal. Whatever method you use and whatever size goal or hairiness level you choose is fine. Just pick something to stretch towards.

2. Make it a habit. Writing a book doesn’t just happen if you will it to. Losing weight isn’t magic. The bigger the goal, the more it requires breaking down and turning it into a habit. Ask yourself how often do you need to do this task to reach your goal? Daily? 1x/week? What will it take? Be conservative and assume there will be setbacks (did you learn nothing from 2020?).

3. Calendar it. Which days? At which time will you do it? Theme your days or block off a little time every day and schedule it. Think of it like a meeting with your goal. If you ghost, you’re letting your goal (and yourself) down.
   
   Now, you just have to show up at those times and do the thing.

There’s a secondary hidden skill you will learn while doing this. which is breaking down a goal into tasks. Now that you’ve got a schedule to follow to work on this goal, what will you work on each time?

Breaking down big goals and projects into tasks is how they get done. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

Dig in.

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Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.