Why your first goal doesn’t matter (and what actually does)
January 5, 2026
This time of year, we tend to obsess way too much about picking the perfect first goal. But here’s what I’ve learned after 10+ years
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Have you ever wondered why people choose to pay for a gym membership when they can work out for free at home? After all, there are more free workouts on YouTube than a person can do in a lifetime.
During the pandemic, experts predicted that the traditional gym industry would never recover as people would embrace the convenience of at-home workouts. Yeah, right.
This time of year, we tend to obsess way too much about picking the perfect first goal. But here’s what I’ve learned after 10+ years
This year I realized something counterintuitive about Black Friday, and—strangely—it helped me understand New Year’s resolutions from a completely new angle. It also helped me
We’ve all heard it before: “You should break your goals into small, manageable subtasks.” It sounds logical, even professional. But today, I want to make
Why do we set goals? I think goals are our strategy for managing limited resources against unlimited options. It’s kind of like playing Monopoly in
Recently, I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts, Rework by the founders of 37signals, the software company behind Basecamp. I’ve always admired their
Every fourth week inside the Focus Room, we take what I call a Cool-Off Week. It’s a week that looks a little different from our
After a long break from podcasting, I’m officially back! This episode marks my return, and I thought it would be fitting to use one of
As an adult, you have one major privilege: You don’t have to do anything if you don’t understand why you’re doing it. You’re not a
It’s the start of my cool-off week. Things are a bit busy in my neck of the woods, but I’m still finding small ways to
We just finished our sprint retrospective call inside The Focus Room, and I want to share an idea that was heavily discussed during today’s call.
You know the phrase: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and hoping for a different result.” I agree with this quote, but
One of the misfortunes of my childhood was eating homegrown fruits and vegetables every summer. Having tasted a sun-ripened tomato straight from my grandmother’s garden
I’m in the middle of my cool-off week, and you bet I’m in a good mood. Having extra time on my schedule and an empty
Overwhelm is one of those emotions you can feel deeply but struggle to understand logically. Where does it come from? What’s the root cause of
Instead of setting ambitious, outcome-based goals for the year that are often doomed to fail (more on this here), I’ve been asking myself different questions
Over the last few years, I’ve been seeing video recommendations with titles like, “Disappear for a year. Come back unrecognizable.” From the very beginning, those
I finished grad school in just 5 semesters instead of the suggested 6, while the average among my cohort was 7 or even 8 semesters.
When I immigrated from Russia to Canada 15 years ago, I learned that heroes are less common here. And that’s a good thing. A call
Have you ever wondered why people choose to pay for a gym membership when they can work out for free at home? After all,
As the year comes to an end, I want to share an experiment I ran this year. As you know, I’m not a fan of
It’s becoming a tradition to share my thoughts on New Year’s resolutions every year (you can see previous posts here, here, here, and here). So,
Over the years, I’ve tried countless productivity systems. While they worked for a short while, they inevitably failed because of one stubborn obstacle: my inner
I’m in Rome right now. Surprisingly, the most striking thing isn’t the Colosseum or Vatican City—it’s the suburban area where we’re staying. It’s a quiet
In a traditional job, you have a boss—a human boss—who tells you what to do, when to do it, and sometimes even how to do
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I’m based in Toronto, Canada but work with clients around the globe.
The Focus Finder helps you filter out the noise, ignore random internet advice, and choose the goals that are actually yours.
This is the exact system I use every single month to get clear on my own goals.
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