Tag: how to set goals and achieve them

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BE YOUR OWN BOSS

How to Set Goals You Actually Achieve — Including When You Have ADHD

Most goal-setting advice fails because it treats all brains the same. SMART goals, quarterly OKRs, vision boards — these work for some people and completely fall apart for others. Understanding why your brain responds the way it does to goal-setting is the first step to building a system that actually holds.

This is post 7 in the Be Your Own Boss series. For context on the broader self-employment journey, start with the hub post.

Why Most Goal-Setting Frameworks Break Down

The standard approach — write down a goal, break it into steps, track progress — works well for people with consistent motivation and strong executive function. For everyone else, and especially for people with ADHD or high novelty-seeking personalities, it falls apart in week three when the initial excitement fades.

Goal Framework Why It Works Initially Why It Breaks Down
SMART goals Clear, measurable, specific — easy to start No intrinsic motivation mechanism — relies entirely on willpower
Quarterly OKRs Structured, time-bound, trackable Too corporate for solo operators — feels disconnected from personal meaning
Vision boards Creates emotional connection to outcome Abstract — no bridge between the image and the daily action
New Year’s resolutions Socially reinforced start point No system behind them — motivation evaporates when life disrupts the routine
Accountability partners Social obligation drives short-term action Depends on another person — unreliable at scale, uncomfortable for many

The North Star Goal Framework

The approach that works for self-employed professionals, creators, and neurodivergent thinkers is simpler than any of the above: one clear, emotionally connected North Star goal that makes the hard days worth it.

Not ‘earn more money’ but ‘build an income that means I never have to ask permission to be at a school play.’ Not ‘grow my YouTube channel’ but ‘build an audience of 10,000 people who trust me on [specific topic] by [specific date] so I can launch a course that replaces my salary.’

Specificity creates resilience. Vague goals collapse under pressure because they have no weight. A specific, emotionally connected goal has gravity — it pulls you back on course when disruption hits.

ADHD and Goal Setting — What Actually Helps

Alan Spicer spent years in the ‘jack of all trades’ pattern — bouncing between goals and projects — before understanding this was primarily driven by undiagnosed ADHD. The ADHD brain is drawn to novelty and loses stimulation once something becomes familiar, even when it is working.

The goal-setting adjustments that work for ADHD:

  • Shorter review cycles. Monthly reviews are better than quarterly ones. Weekly is better than monthly for maintaining momentum. The ADHD brain loses the thread over long intervals.
  • Progress visible at a glance. A simple tracking system you can see without opening a spreadsheet — a physical tally, a habit tracker, a number on a whiteboard. Out of sight is out of mind.
  • Novelty within consistency. The goal stays fixed but the method can vary. You can reach the same YouTube subscriber milestone via different content formats each month — the consistency is in the direction, not the exact approach.
  • Environmental design over willpower. Remove the friction between you and starting. Set your filming setup ready the night before. Open your writing doc before you close your laptop. Make the next action obvious.
  • Micro-commitments. ‘I will record for 20 minutes’ is easier to start than ‘I will make a video today.’ Starting is the hardest part for ADHD brains — once started, hyperfocus often takes over.

The 90-Day Goal Template for Self-Employed Professionals

This is the template Alan Spicer uses with consulting clients who are setting up or growing a self-employed income:

  1. North Star (12 months): One specific, emotionally meaningful outcome. What does success look like in 12 months and why does it matter to you?
  2. 90-Day Milestone: The most important thing to achieve in the next 90 days that moves directly toward the North Star. One thing only.
  3. Monthly Focus: The single most important activity this month. Not a list — one thing.
  4. Weekly non-negotiables: The 2–3 activities that must happen each week regardless of how busy or low-energy you are. The floor, not the ceiling.
  5. Daily anchor habit: One small, specific action that keeps you connected to the goal on days when nothing else happens. 15 minutes of content research. One paragraph written. One email sent.

For the full self-employment system: The Side Hustle Blueprint, How to Get Your First Client, and Jack of All Trades vs Master of One.

WORK WITH ALAN SPICER

Want help building a 90-day self-employment plan that fits your brain?

YouTube Certified Expert · 500+ channels audited · UK-based consultant

Book a Free Discovery Call →

Sources: ADDitude Magazine: ADHD and goal setting  ·  Fast Company: why adults with ADHD thrive as entrepreneurs  ·  ADDA: self-employed and freelancers with ADHD  ·  Alan Spicer: 15 years of self-employment and 500+ client coaching sessions

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HOW TO SET YOURSELF GOALS AND ACHIEVE THEM – #STARTCREATINGPODCAST 009

HOW TO SET YOURSELF GOALS AND ACHIEVE THEM - #STARTCREATINGPODCAST 009

I noted in my last podcast that you have more time that you realise. Now it’s time to make the most of that time by setting yourself goals you want to achieve and doing the hard work to achieve them! The best way to achieve your long term goal is understand WHAT you want to achieve and WHY you want it. Will it help you? Will it help your business? Is it good for your mental health? Will is lay a solid foundation for your future?

Once you know the WHAT and WHY you need to look hard and deep into the HOW. What is your goal? And be honest with yourself on what you would need to have in place in year 5 to achieve that. Write it down, rip it apart and make a play on all the tiny little steps you will need to take and micro milestones you will need to achieve in week 1, month 1 and year 1 to achieve this. Build one step at a time, and you will get there.

How To Set Goals and Achieve Them

  1. Decide. Think of something you want to do or work towards. It doesn’t matter what, as long as it’s something you want to do – ideally something you’re interested in or feel excited by. It should be something you want to do for its own sake not for something or someone else. It can be a big thing or a small thing – sometimes it is easier to get going with something small. And it often helps if it’s something that’s just a little bit beyond what you currently can do – goals that stretch us can be motivating!
  2. Write it down. Carefully. Writing down our goals increases our chances of sticking with them. Write down how you will know you have reached your goals and when you’d like to have achieved it by. Ask yourself: what it will ‘look’ like and how will you feel when you’ve done it? How does it connect to who or what you value in your life? Describe your goal in specific terms and timescales e.g. ‘I want to plant lettuces, carrots and peas in the empty patch in my garden by the end of May’ rather than ‘I want to do some gardening.’ Write your goals in terms of what you want, not what you don’t want. For example: ‘I want to be able to wear my favourite jeans again’, rather than ‘I don’t want to be over-weight anymore’.
  3. Tell someone. Telling someone we know about our goals also seems to increase the likelihood that we will stick at them.
  4. Break your goal down. This is especially important for big goals. Think about the smaller goals that are steps on the way to achieving your bigger aim. Sometimes our big goals are a bit vague, like ‘I want to be healthier’. Breaking these down helps us be more specific. So a smaller goal might be ‘go running regularly’ or even ‘to be able to run around the park in 20 minutes without stopping’. Write down your smaller goals and try to set some dates to do these by too. Having several smaller goals makes each of them a bit easier and gives us a feeling of success along the way, which also makes it more likely that we’ll stay on track towards our bigger goal.
  5. Plan your first step. An ancient Chinese proverb says that the journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. Even if your goal isn’t to walk 1000 miles, thinking about the first step on the way will really help to get you started. Even if you don’t know where to start there’s no excuse – your first step could be to research ‘how to…’ on the internet or think of people you could ask or to get a book on the subject from the library. Then think of your next step…and the next…
  6. Keep going. Working towards our goals can sometimes be difficult and frustrating – so we need to persevere. If a step you’re doing isn’t working, think of something else you could try that still moves you forward, even a tiny bit. If you’re struggling, ask people you know for their ideas on what you could do. They may help you see a different way. Thinking about different ways of reaching our goals makes it more likely we’ll be successful. If you’re really struck – take a break and then re-read the goal you wrote down when you started. If you need to adjust your goal – that’s ok too. Then have another think about a small next step…
  7. Celebrate. When you reach your goal take time to enjoy it and thank those that helped you. Think about what you enjoyed and learned along the way. Now, what is your next goal or project going to be?