Annual Review + Goal Setting

At the beginning of every year, I take time to reflect on the year prior and set intentions for the one ahead. I've been doing this for several years now, and it's become a valuable practice I use not only for myself but with clients.

Most of the prevailing wisdom around New Year's resolutions is that they're a waste of time and that very few people stick with them for very long.

What I've learned, both personally and with clients, is that the intentions are important mostly as a way to ignite deeper patterns of change. Dry January might bring better sleep and health benefits, but the real value is building discipline that spills over into other areas of your life.

This year I put more focus on identifying the identity, behavior, and mindset changes that underpin our best intentions. The changes required to reach our goals are often worth more than achieving the goals themselves.

I've also simplified the process this year. You can work through it in a couple of hours, but the awareness it builds can shift how you move through the entire year. If it sparks even one meaningful shift in how you see yourself, it's worth the time.

Part 1: Annual Review (2025)

Take out a piece of paper and sketch three vertical columns. Label them:

1. What worked?
2. What didn't?
3. What surprised you?

Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and write as much as you can in each column. Optional: Once you're done, scroll through your photo roll and/or calendar from last year. Add anything you missed.

Circle the items (wins and lessons) that you want to carry forward into 2026. Keep these visible as you move to goal setting.

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Part 2: Goals (2026)

Write down 3-7 goals for the year.

Balance the difficulty. Rank on a scale of easy-medium-hard, and try to evenly distribute your goals across those three groups. Too many high-difficulty goals and you risk becoming overwhelmed and reaching none of them. Too many in the easy tier and you probably aren't pushing yourself enough.

Rewrite as present tense identity statements. Transform each goal from a future outcome into a present identity.

Examples:

• Instead of: "I will lose 20 pounds"
• Write: "I exercise daily, eat healthy, and maintain 180 lbs"
• Instead of: "I will finish my novel"
• Write: "I am a writer who writes daily and completes my manuscript by March 31st"

Write it in a way that feels right to you. The idea is to be more declarative about who you need to be, or what habits you need to maintain, in order to achieve your goals. Ask yourself: Would I want to become the person this process requires, even if I didn't fully achieve the outcome? If the answer is no, reconsider the goal.

Step away, take a walk, and then come back and do one more pass:

• Do these goals excite me?
• Do they scare me a little?
• Do they feel like me or like borrowed ambition?
• Am I willing to become the person these processes require?

Revise accordingly.

Total time: 30-40 minutes

Part 3: Implementation Plan

Now that we've got the goals, let's work on the process and structure. Most goals fail not because they're too ambitious, but because there's no clear path from intention to action.

For each goal, map out the following:

(note: some goals, particularly the easy ones, shouldn't require each of these steps)

Monthly targets (quarterly works too). The basic idea is to break the overarching goal into still large, but more manageable milestones. I'll return to the novel as an example. Say the completed reader's manuscript is 50,000 words, then I might set a target of 5,000 words for January. For a business owner, this might be a revenue or marketing lead target. It also gets us closer to the more impactful daily and weekly habits and behaviors.

Weekly focus (2-3 actions, every week). What happens every single week no matter what? These are your forcing functions that maintain momentum and build and strengthen habits. Examples: going to the gym 3x per week; finishing a chapter draft each week, or sending three marketing proposals.

Daily minimum viable action. What's the absolute smallest daily action you can take to inhabit your goal identity statement? Novel: 30 minutes of writing in the morning. Social/community: one meaningful connection. Fitness: a 20-minute walk. When motivation fails, the minimum viable action keeps you moving forward.

Total time: 30-45 minutes

Part 4: Reflection

The person you become in pursuit of these goals matters more than whether you achieve them all. The habits, behaviors, and mindsets you develop this year will compound far beyond 2026.

Take 15-20 minutes to reflect on the following:

• What strengths do I bring to these goals? What existing advantages or patterns make success more likely?
• What new capacity do I need to build? What behavior or mindset shift feels necessary but uncomfortable? What's the growth edge you're intentionally stepping toward?
• What pattern typically gets in my way? Name your predictable self-sabotage specifically enough that you can catch it happening in real-time.
• What accountability structure makes the work inevitable? What external commitment, deadline, or forcing function removes your ability to avoid?

Total time: 15-20 minutes

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Next Sunday

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