Up: [[Intentions]] Created: 2023-06-12 Updated: 2026-01-23 Goals are problematic even if you don’t worry about whether they are SMART or not. Goals are future-focused. They put your happiness at the end, in contrast to intentions which allow you to focus on progress on a daily basis. And once a goal is achieved, we sometimes stop. For example, if your goal is to complete a marathon, when the marathon is over, the goal is done. It can be difficult to build on progress for the long-term because we end up yo-yoing between pursuing a goal and not. Finally, goals narrow. > [!Orbit] David Kadavy in *Mind Management, Not Time Management* > The more time you spend away from goal-directed thinking, the more expansive your thinking gets. (p. 155) However, both goals and intentions can help to inspire you to action in your day to life day. So if you are going to use goals, some suggestions: 1. Phrase your goal in the form of an overarching question. Our brains like questions and will go into search mode, seeking specific answers. 2. Set a goal that you trust can be achieved 85% of the time. That’s a good number for staying motivated. 3. Relate your goal’s metric to your Sensemaking Archetype (LYT) - Inner Guide — insights, actions from insights, habits - Synthesizer — information, significant information, accuracy, synthesis - Producer — quantity, frequency, practical applications, efficiency - Creative — projects, ideas made real, singular vision 4. Know when to pack it in. Base your decision either on kill criteria you set in advance — i.e., actors giving themselves five years to “make it” in Hollywood — or on your [[Values]]. When Stephen King was a kid, he pounded a nail into his wall and collected rejection slips. By age 14, the nail wouldn’t hold the slips anymore. He changed to a spike and kept writing.