I used to write down goals and not hit them. For years.
I had the vision boards. I had the journal entries. I wrote "I will earn $100,000 by December 31st" on index cards and put them in my wallet. I visualized my goals every morning. I did affirmations.
None of it worked.
Not because goal-setting is stupid. Because most people stop at the goal. They set the target and think the target is the strategy. It's not. The goal tells you where you want to go. The steps tell you how to get there. And the mindset work tells you why you've been avoiding going there in the first place.
After 23 years of building businesses — failing at some, succeeding wildly at others — I've narrowed goal achievement down to three non-negotiable steps.
Step One: Get Obscene Clarity On What You Actually Want
Most people set vague goals and wonder why they don't hit them.
"I want to make more money." Cool. How much? By when? From what activity? "I want to grow my business." Great. By how much? Which part of the business? With what offer?
Vague goals create vague action. Obscene specificity creates precise action.
Instead of "I want to make more money," say: "I want to add $5,000/month in recurring revenue by September 1st, through my coaching program, by acquiring 25 new monthly members at $197/month."
That goal tells you exactly what to do: you need 25 members. That means you need approximately 250 leads (assuming 10% conversion). That means you need to reach 250 people somehow. That means you need to post content, send emails, or run ads that reach 250 people. Now you have an action plan, not just a wish.
Step Two: Take Relentless, Small-Win Momentum Actions Daily
Goals are achieved through daily actions, not monthly sprints.
If you want to add $5,000/month in revenue, you don't need to do one big thing. You need to do 5-10 consistent things every single day that move you toward that goal. One extra outreach message per day. One extra piece of content per week. One extra follow-up email per day. Small things compound.
This is what most goal-setting programs get catastrophically wrong. They tell you to "take massive action." Massive action is unsustainable. Consistent small action is how ordinary people build extraordinary results.
I have a rule: every day, I do at least one thing that moves the needle. Just one. But I do it every single day without fail. Over 23 years, that daily discipline has compounded into something I couldn't have imagined when I started.
My counter-intuitive productivity approach is built around this principle: small, daily, non-negotiable actions beat sporadic heroic efforts every time.
Step Three: Eliminate the Internal Block That's Stopping You
Here's the part nobody wants to talk about: most people don't fail at goals because they lack strategy. They fail because there's a subconscious belief that's blocking them from taking the action the strategy requires.
I see this constantly in coaching. A client wants to hit $10K/month but every time they get close, they self-sabotage. They drop a client they should keep. They raise their price and then feel guilty and lower it. They have a good month and then go silent on content for three weeks.
The strategy is there. The block is internal.
Common blocks: fear of being seen as "too expensive," fear of success (what happens if I actually have to deliver?), fear of judgment if the business fails, belief that wanting money is greedy, belief that they're not actually qualified.
These are not fixed. They can be identified, examined, and released. But you have to be willing to look at them honestly. You can't hit a goal you're subconsciously trying to avoid.
Why Most People Fail at Goals (And Why You Won't)
They confuse planning with doing. Writing a goal is not working on the goal. Reading about goal-setting is not working on the goal. The goal is only worked on when you're in action. If your calendar doesn't reflect your goal, you don't actually have that goal — you have a fantasy.
They quit at the first failure. Missing one day of action is not failure. Missing one week is not failure. Failure is stopping. The people who hit goals are not the people who never struggle — they're the people who keep going despite struggling.
They surround themselves with people who don't support their goals. Your environment shapes your actions. If everyone around you thinks goal-setting is woo-woo nonsense, you will internalize that. Find your people — whether that's a mastermind, a coaching group, or accountability partners who actually want to build something.
Here's What Nobody Tells You About Goals
The goal you set is probably wrong.
That's not a bad thing. The goal is a direction, not a destination. You set it because it feels stretchy and exciting. You might hit it. You might exceed it. You might realize halfway through that you actually want something different. All of those are fine.
The goal isn't the point. The person you become while pursuing the goal is the point. The skills you develop, the beliefs you upgrade, the discipline you build — those are what actually change your life. The goal is just the vehicle.
So set the goal. Get obscenely specific. Take daily action. Do the internal work. And trust that the process will take you somewhere better than the specific destination you imagined.
If you want help setting goals that actually translate into business growth — and building the internal capacity to pursue them — I walk through my full framework inside the Wealthy Coach Academy. Start with a $4.95 starter class to see how it works.
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Join Wealthy Coach Academy — my \/month coaching program where I help you build a business that actually works. Or start with a \.95 starter class and see what happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stay motivated when I'm not seeing results quickly?
Results take longer than you expect in the beginning. The key is to separate your identity from your outcomes — you're not a failure because your business isn't hitting goals yet, you're a person in process. Celebrate small wins (one new subscriber, one completed task) and track those religiously. The big results come from compounding the small ones.
Should I share my goals with others?
Yes — but selectively. Share with people who will hold you accountable, not people who will pat you on the back before you've done anything. The accountability of telling someone specific, time-bound goals creates social pressure that increases follow-through. Just don't share with naysayers who will talk you out of your ambitions.
How do I handle goals that feel impossible right now?
Break them into 90-day segments. What's the one thing I need to achieve in the next 90 days to move toward that impossible goal? Then break that into monthly milestones. Then weekly actions. Then daily tasks. An impossible 3-year goal becomes a completely achievable 90-day sprint when you zoom in close enough.
What do I do when I hit a goal and feel empty instead of excited?
This happens more than you'd think. Usually it means the goal was the wrong goal — it was what you thought you should want, not what you actually want. Pause and ask: now that I've achieved this, what do I actually want? The answer might surprise you. Let the goal evolve as you evolve.
How do I balance multiple goals at once?
Most people shouldn't have more than one or two major goals at a time. If you have a business goal, a fitness goal, a family goal, and a personal development goal all running simultaneously, you'll make mediocre progress on all of them. Pick one primary goal for the quarter. Everything else is secondary and gets attention only after the primary goal is achieved.
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About Jeremiah Krakowski
Jeremiah Krakowski is a coaching business mentor who helps coaches, course creators, and consultants scale from $3k/mo to $40k+/mo using direct response marketing, AI systems, and proven frameworks. He runs Wealthy Coach Academy and has 23+ years of experience in digital marketing. Learn more →