Hopefully, you’ve started 2026 with momentum, and you’re making solid progress on your goals for the year.
However, statistics have shown that by this point in time, 80% of people have already given up on their goals and resolutions for the new year.
That’s not because people lack motivation…
It’s because they don’t have an effective goal-setting system that keeps them focused and consistent.
That’s why, in this workshop for our private community, The LINK, we’ve shared the exact goal-setting system that we personally use to tackle our biggest goals - whether in business, health, finances, or other areas of life.
This goal-setting system consists of three elements:
Clear goals
Strong systems
Regular feedback loops
Here’s how they work together.
#1: Outcome Goals
Most people practice some form of goal-setting, but they only set “outcome” goals.
Outcome goals are things like:
“I want to grow my Substack to 5,000 subscribers.”
“I want to earn $100,000 from my business.”
“I want 100 paid subscribers by the end of the year.”
These goals are useful because they give you a clear direction.
But they also come with a big limitation: they’re not fully within your control.
Subscriber growth, revenue, and conversions depend on external factors you don’t directly control.
That’s why outcome goals are great for setting direction, but terrible for taking action.
That’s where systems come in.
#2: Systems
Most people set their outcome goals… and then stop.
But in order to achieve the outcomes you want, you’ll have to set up systems that help you consistently make progress towards those outcomes.
That’s where “process” goals come in.
Process goals focus on your actions, the things you can actually control.
A useful way to think about it:
Outcome goals = direction
Process goals = vehicle
When people say they’re “overwhelmed,” it’s usually because the goal is big, but the next action is unclear.
Process goals help you fix that.
If your outcome goal is to “grow your Substack to 5,000 subscribers by the end of the year,” examples of your process goals could be:
Publishing two high-quality posts per week
Writing one Substack Note per day
Reaching out to three creators per week for collaborations
Optimizing your profile or About page this week
Doing two Substack lives per month
These are the inputs that create the outcome you want.
The best way to use process goals is to set them across different timelines:
Quarterly goals
Monthly goals
Weekly goals
Daily goals
Your daily goals should support your weekly goals.
Your weekly goals should support your monthly goals.
Your monthly goals should support your quarterly goals.
And those should all point toward the outcome goal you’ve set for the year.
#3: Feedback Loops
Even the best system needs regular check-ins.
That’s where feedback loops come in.
A feedback loop is simply a weekly and monthly review where you ask yourself a few honest questions:
Did I do what I said I would do?
If not, what got in the way?
Was the goal unrealistic, or did I avoid the work?
Am I on track toward my yearly goal?
What’s working really well right now, and how do I do more of that?
Without feedback loops, it’s easy to keep postponing goals and telling yourself, “I’ll do it next week.”
Feedback loops also help you spot patterns and blindspots early (instead of after months), and course-correct your goals if necessary.
All in all, with feedback loops, you’re forced to confront reality, and that’s where growth happens.
Bringing It All Together
All in all, you:
Set a clear outcome goal
Build a system of process goals that lead to the outcome
Use continuous feedback loops to adjust, improve, and stay on track
Even if you don’t fully hit your goal, you’ll end up far ahead of where you started - because you stayed consistent, intentional, and adaptive.
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