Goal Setting Is Highly Overrated. Here's What I Do Instead.

Ev Chapman
June 12, 2021

I hate goals. There I said it.

I don't have a 10-year plan. I hardly even have a 1-year plan. Sure, goals can be good aligning you to your future and giving you the motivation to get there. But for me they make me feel boxed in, locked into a future I'm not even sure I'll like.

Does that mean I'm wandering aimlessly through life? Nope. I have an idea of WHO I want to be in the future and each day is an opportunity to iterate on that future.

Does that mean I'm not ambitious? Have you seen me writing and launching products? I'm quite obviously a high achiever.

But there's a couple of problems with goals that I see.

Goals don't account for changes in life. Life can change so quickly. If I was still working towards goals I set 10 years ago my life would look completely different to what it is today... and not in a good way.

Secondly, we tend to set unrealistic goals. I'm all for ambition, but I've seen people set the loftiest goals and have no idea how they will achieve them. Entrepreneurs are great at this. Expecting some kind of magic to happen. Over and over they are disappointed.

Here's what I do instead of setting goals

  • I'm obsessed with iterating daily until I'm the person I want to become.
  • I believe anything is possible when you apply effort daily.
  • If something doesn't work, I pivot. I'm not locked into any single destination
  • I'm not so concerned with the goal as I am with the process and actions it takes to get me there.

In short, I live in the daily and I let each day be a fresh start to becoming the person I want to be.

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