The Dog Ate My Goals! How To Follow Through On Goals That Matter (Part 2)

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Part 1 of this post covered the overview and first two parts of the M-A-D-E framework, four simple steps to follow through on goals:

1. Make your goals specific (see Part 1 of this article)
2. Address all aspects of your life (see Part 1 of this article)
3. Deep dive into your why
4. Expand “the how” by designing routines

Here, are the remaining 2 parts of the framework: Deep diving into your why and Expanding the how by designing routines.

D — Deep dive into your why (Values & Benefits)

Why => Values + Benefits

“Values are verbs — they are things we do.” — Simon Sinek

• VALUES: The “why” for a goal is the fire that keeps you going when you want to give up. To gain a deeper understanding of what drives you, start by reflecting and writing down values that define you and are important to you.
• Identifying your values takes internal reflection. If you don’t know where to get started or are hitting a wall defining, start thinking about what inspires you, what gives you joy —these are not verbs that are expected of you but things that really is you.

— — — For example: Learning is one of my values; over the past few years, I had a goal to learn the piano, and to enroll and start an MBA program — both very different goals but both spark my intrinsic desire to learn. — — —

• BENEFITS: Benefits are about identifying the impact your goal will have on the world and on the people around you.
• When you structure a goal by stating all the goodness and positive impact it brings — it is like rocket fuel for your motivation.

— — — For my goal of learning to play the piano, I listed the following benefits:

1. Learning new things gives me immense joy and a more fulfilled “me” means I show up energized for my family and team and give them my best.

2. I become a role model for my children and they see that learning new skills has no age limit.

3. I connect and bond with my children better by sharing musical interests, teaching each other and exchange tips and tricks. — — —

E — Expand “your how” by designing routines for goal tracking

• Establishing routines and rituals reduces the need for conscious decision making and can put you in an auto-pilot mode. Routines are known to be super powerful for goal achievement. I find that extending the principle of making routines for goal tracking is 10x more powerful than creating routines for specific goals.
• Establishing routines for goal tracking is extremely simple, yet there is beauty and challenge in the simplicity.

Annual Goals → Quarterly or Monthly Goals → Weekly 3 → Daily 3

• Step 1: Take smaller bites: As a first step, you can start with setting Annual and Quaterly goals. Then break them down — if you started with Annual goals, break them into quarterly or if you started with Quaterly goals, break them into monthly goals — so that you can focus on a handful at any given time.
• Step 2: Design your weekly routine i.e. The Weekly Planning: A weekly routine will make sure that you check in on goals regularly and so that you don’t go weeks without reflecting or making adjustments. It will also help determine which priorities you spend time on — one week at a time.
• For your Weekly Plan: Identify three high leverage tasks that take you closer to your goals for the upcoming week and then add those on the calendar or your task tracker for the upcoming week. We will call it the “Weekly 3”.

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” — Abraham Lincoln

• Step 3: The Daily Follow Up: You can plan all that you want, but the day -to-day execution is where the rubber meets the road.
• With the Weekly 3 in hand, next step is to create a Daily check routing in the morning — so that you identify the “Daily 3”, tasks you need to do that day to get you closer to your Weekly 3 and ultimately your Quaterly/Annual goals.
• Also use Daily Planning time to scan your long term goals and the “why’. The act of reviewing your why (i.e values and benefits) on a regular basis re-energizes and helps you keep focus despite the “busyness” of everyday life.
• Regular Post Mortems —In your weekly and daily planning, apart from looking forward, incorporate looking back and check in on to see how you did. This way you to make adjustments and reflect and celebrate on things that worked well.

— — — Breaking this routine with an example: My goal for learning the piano translated into practicing the piano 4x/ week and to performing a recital for my family by the end of December.

I set a quarterly goal to practice piano at least 4x every week for 30 mins or more. In weekly check ins, practicing the piano 4x became one of “Weekly 3” and I would schedule those 4 days on my calendar.

For daily check-ins, I would review what else I had going on that day and knew that I would show up on the piano at 8 pm. — — —

This may seem like a lot to do in the beginning — the reality is that structuring your week, day helps structure your thoughts, makes you intentional and gives you the freedom to fully enjoy your unstructured time.

Avoid an “all or nothing” mentality: As you do your weekly and daily planning, remember to add every upcoming key milestones, events, tasks, deadlines to your planning so that you don’t separate the reality of your daily life and try to cram your day — i.e. don’t be the “siloed-goal setter” I talk about in Part 1.

— — — For example: I had an important presentation coming up that needed extra time from me, instead of trying to lose my sleep practicing the piano 4 days that week for 30 mins, I updated my piano goal for that week to practice the piano for at least 5 minutes, 2 days. My “Weekly 3" goal fell short of my Quaterly goal to practice 4 days every week — but I knew I was staying consistent with the spirit of the goal. — — —

Still feeling unsure about this? Try this out for six weeks, what’s the worst that could happen! Hope this framework helps!

Here is to you breaking the excuse cycle of “the dog ate my homework”.

Drop a comment: I would also love to what worked well helped, any suggestions and things that have worked well for your goal follow through.