Goal guide
How to achieve your goals, starting with today's list
To achieve your goals, start with today's to-do list: find the tasks that belong to something bigger, write that goal in your own words, give it a milestone and a next step, and put one task for it on today's list. Here are the five moves, an example and a first week, for goals that keep losing to busy days.
Five moves, from your list to your goal
Work up from today, not down from someday. It's the order LeapSteps is built around: a to-do list first, with goals as the layer some tasks link to.
-
Write down what's on your plate
All of it: errands, work, the thing you keep meaning to start. A goal you can't see next to your real day is easy to forget.
-
Find the tasks that are part of something bigger
Most tasks are just tasks. A few belong to a goal you care about, and those are the ones to link.
-
Write the goal in your own words
"Make my online shop my full-time income" works better than "grow the business", because you'll know when you've got there.
-
Give it a milestone and a next step
A milestone for the next few months, and a short-term step for the coming weeks. In LeapSteps, AI can draft three options for each; you keep, edit or replace them.
-
Put the next step on today's list, with a time
Give one task tied to the step a day and a time. When the step is done, mark it done and set the next one.
One goal, from the big aim to today
Here is the method on one goal, the online shop from our home page. The task at the bottom is the one you'd do today.
Example goal
- Long-termMake my online shop my full-time income
- Mid-termReach 30 orders a month
- Short-termList 10 new products with photos
Today's taskPhotograph 3 products
We wrote this example ourselves. In LeapSteps you write the long-term goal in your own words. Tap Generate on the mid-term or short-term step and AI drafts three options; keep one, edit it or write your own.
The app's draft set 50 paid orders a month as the mid-term goal and three new product listings in ten days as the first step. I kept both as written, because three listings is small enough to start tonight.
Your first week
Seven tasks, none longer than 15 minutes. Together they turn a goal you think about into one you're working on.
- Write down everything on your plate15 min Don't sort it yet.
- Mark the tasks that are part of something bigger5 min Two or three is plenty.
- Write the long-term goal those tasks share10 min In your own words, specific enough that you'll know when you're done.
- Choose a milestone for the next few months10 min Big enough to matter, close enough to picture.
- Choose a short-term step for the next few weeks10 min Start it with a verb: finish, sell, book, send.
- Give one task a day and a time5 min Write when and where you'll do it. The McGill study below shows why.
- At the end of the week, mark what's done10 min Then set the next step, or give this one another week.
What goal research says
Three findings the method leans on, and what LeapSteps does with each.
-
University of Toronto and University of Maryland
Goals work better with a reason and a scoreboard
A review of 35 years of studies found people do better when they know why a goal matters and can see their progress. That's why each task can show the goal it serves.
Read the review -
McGill University
A concrete plan helps most when the goal matters
Students who planned when and where they'd act reported finishing more of their goals, especially ones that mattered. That's why each task can have a due time and a goal.
Read the study -
Carleton University
Go easy on yourself
Students who forgave themselves for putting off one exam procrastinated less before the next. That's why late tasks just show how late they are, and streak alerts never scold.
Read the study
These studies test the ideas behind LeapSteps, not the app itself.
When you fall behind
Everyone falls behind. What matters is the next move.
-
You missed a day, or a week.
Late tasks stay on Today and show how late they are. In the Carleton study, students who forgave themselves for putting off one exam procrastinated less before the next. Forgive it and start again.
-
The next step is too big to start.
In LeapSteps, edit the step in your own words, or tap Generate on it with an area of focus and a time frame for three smaller options. Make it smaller until you could start it today. A 30-minute step you finish moves the goal more than a weekend-sized one you keep postponing.
-
Today is full of other things.
Press and hold a task that can wait and drag it onto Someday, out of the way until you need it. Keep one task that's linked to your goal, even a short one.
-
You don't want the goal anymore.
Edit the goal in your own words, or replace it, and link the tasks that still fit to its new next step. Then change it.
Questions, answered
Why is it important to set goals?
Setting a goal gives your effort a direction and a way to see progress. A review of 35 years of studies by the psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham found people do better when they know why a goal matters and can see their progress. A to-do list on its own tells you what's next, not what it's for. Linking a few tasks to one goal fills that gap. On a busy day you can tell which task moves something you care about, and at the end of the week you can see how far it moved. You don't need a grand goal for this to work. One you'd still care about in a year is enough to start with.
How do I set goals for myself?
Start from your week, not from a blank page. Write down everything on your plate, then look for the two or three tasks that belong to something bigger. Write that bigger thing in your own words, specific enough that you'll know when you've got there: "Make my online shop my full-time income" beats "grow the business". Then pick a milestone for the next few months and a short-term step for the next few weeks, and start the step with a verb, such as finish, sell, book or send. Last, put one task for that step on today's list with a day and a time. The rest of this page walks through the same moves with an example and a first week.
What are SMART goals, and do I need them?
SMART is a common checklist for writing a goal. Most people spell it out as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound, though versions differ. You don't need the acronym to set a good goal, but the first two letters are worth keeping: a goal that says what done looks like and roughly when is one you'll know you've reached. "Grow the business" fails that test; "Reach 30 orders a month by June" passes it. What a checklist like SMART doesn't give you is the next step, so add a milestone for the next few months and a short-term step you could start this week. That step is where the goal turns into today's tasks.
What's the difference between a goal and a task?
A goal is a result you want, and a task is one action you can finish in a sitting. "Make my online shop my full-time income" is a goal; "Photograph 3 products" is a task. Between them sit the steps: a milestone for the next few months, like "Reach 30 orders a month", and a short-term step for the next few weeks, like "List 10 new products with photos". Most of a to-do list is tasks that belong to no goal, and that's fine, because errands and replies still need doing. The trouble starts when none of today's tasks belong to the goal you care about. Linking one task a day to it keeps the goal moving without turning your whole list into a project plan.
Do I need an app to achieve my goals?
No. Paper works, and so does any to-do list, as long as the goal and today's tasks sit where you'll see them together. LeapSteps is our app, built around this method: a to-do list where any task can link to a goal's next step, and AI drafts the milestone and the step when you ask. Its limit is the same as paper's: it can't do the work for you, and it can't tell you which goal matters. If you'd rather not add another app, write the goal at the top of the list you already keep and put one task for it on each day you plan. The method works the same way.
Start with today's list
LeapSteps lets the to-do list you already keep move one goal forward a step at a time, with no separate planning system to look after. LeapSteps is out now on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows.
Get LeapSteps
Free to start. Pro comes with a 7-day free trial.
Goal plans and guides
One goal per page, each with its three steps, a first week and what to do when you fall behind. Or see LeapSteps with a goal like yours: a side project, a career change or when starting is the hard part.
- Free tool Goal setting worksheet Write one goal at three levels, add this week's tasks and print it on one page.
- Goal guide Short-term goals examples Twenty examples, each tied to the long-term goal it serves.
- Goal plan Start a bakery business from home From your kitchen to a market table, with the rules to check first.
- Guide How to stop procrastinating Six moves to start the task you keep putting off, and what to do after a slip.
Paper, an app or both
The method works on paper or in any to-do list. These comparisons say which kind of tool suits which problem, including where paper or a plain list does better.