Someday, One Day Goal Setting

As a powerful, purpose-driven person in this world, I’m sure you have some big ambitions. You have visions to complete that incredible athletic feat, elevate to the top in your career, lead a world-changing movement, go on the trip of your life… The list goes on.

But from the context of the here and now that day might feel many days away. It’s something that you’ll put effort into someday, one day, when the time is right. 

That far off ‘someday’ goal doesn’t need to wait. In fact the only way you get there is by taking steps toward it every day until you’re there. Just like taking action tomorrow will always be a day away, achieving your ‘someday goal’ will always elude you if you don’t pursue it now.

One of my favorite goal-setting practices is Gary Keller’s “Goal Set To Now” process that he features in his book “The One Thing”. Essentially You first  get clear on what that macro ‘someday’ ambition is and orient your entire life around it. You do so by determining what needs to happen in the next 5 years to be on path for your ‘someday’ goal…

What needs to happen in one year to be on track for your 5 year goal…

What you need to do this month to reach that goal you set for the next year…

The goal for the week to achieve the goal for the month…

And finally the goal for the day to meet the goal for the week.

That is “Someday, One Day Goal Setting”. Not ‘one day’ as in a day way off in the future, but setting a series of one day goals every day of the week as you work your way forward. This gives you a clear action to take and plan to execute, so that every day you take one step toward your ‘someday’ goal.

This is what my “Goal Set To Now” process looks like today: My ‘someday’ goal is to be Time Magazine Person Of The Year. My ‘one day’ goal is to finish following up with the impact organizations I want to partner with.

There’s no secret to living an extraordinary life and making an extraordinary difference. It happens as the byproduct of consistent, highly-aligned, hard-work. And the best way to orient what you need to focus on today is to make sure your actions connect to the overall goal in a way that you believe in.