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 real life. We all have resources, but they’re limited — 24 hours in a day, a certain amount of money, energy, attention, and talent.
Even if you’re running a company, you still have a limit dictated by how many people are working for you and their skillset. That’s it. Everything we do is about managing limited resources — not just money, but time, energy, skillset, reputation, relationships. And yet, we have unlimited options for how to use those resources.
Limited Resources, Unlimited Options
In the video, I had a dental appointment, but I arrived half an hour early. So I had thirty minutes of free time — and unlimited options for how to spend it.
I can scroll Instagram, watch something education on YouTube, check work emails, record this video, go for a walk, take a nap, or call a friend. So many options.
Even within this small window of time — just thirty minutes — the number of choices is overwhelming.
Goals help narrow that pool of options. Without goals, every decision becomes exhausting because every moment feels like a brand-new “how should I spend my time?” question.
And it’s not that Netflix or social media are bad — it depends on your goals. If you’re a film director working on your next show, watching Netflix might actually help you achieve your goals.
Goals as Filters, Not Outcomes
If we stop looking at goals as an all-or-nothing, “gotta hit it or fail” kind of thing, and instead see them as a filter — a strategy for narrowing down options — life becomes so much calmer.
Goals are like a funnel: unlimited options go in, and a few aligned choices come out. They help us decide how to spend our time, money, energy, and attention.
Real-Life Example: Decluttering Through Goals
When we moved to Toronto a few months ago, I had to pack everything — which is always a great opportunity to declutter.
I looked at my kitchen tools and asked: Do these baking supplies help me achieve my current goal of losing weight?
The answer was no. Baking doesn’t help me lose weight — quite the opposite. When I bake, it’s sweet, it’s delicious, and I eat it all. Since it was clearly going against my goal, I donated all the baking tools.
Maybe later, if I decide to become the next great baker, I’ll buy them again. But right now, they don’t align with my goals.
The same thing happened when I started my entrepreneurial journey. I no longer needed my old office clothes. My goal wasn’t to go back to a 9-to-5 job or attend interviews. So I let them go.
Choosing What Not to Pursue
Goals aren’t only about what to do — they’re also a tool for deciding what not to spend time, money, or attention on.
For example, recently decided it wasn’t my goal to become a great chef. I’m okay being good enough to feed my family nutritious dinners most days of the week. The simpler – the better. So I stopped investing energy and time in culinary shows, cookbooks, and researching new recipes. It was a difficult choice to make because I seem to be surrounded by great cooks among my friends. But it just wasn’t something I was ready to trade my time for.
When you know your goals, you can make these small, confident decisions without guilt or second-guessing.
The Shopping Analogy
Think of going shopping without a plan. It’s chaotic. You’re surrounded by colours, styles, prices, ads — and without a goal, you’re overwhelmed.
When you don’t have a clear goal, the marketer’s goal becomes your goal. You end up buying the loudest, most advertised product because you have no internal filter.
It’s the same with time, money, and attention. If we don’t have goals, we’ll get swept into someone else’s priorities.
A Funnel for What Matters
So I invite you to look at your goals not as pressure or perfection, but as a useful tool.
A filter.
A funnel.
A strategy for allocating your limited resources toward what truly matters.
Look at your budget, your calendar, your home — and ask: what can I remove that doesn’t serve my goals right now?
A Free Tool to Help You Define Your Next Three Goals
Before I wrap up, I want to share a free tool I created — a step-by-step process to help you decide your next three goals.
Confusion and ambiguity are huge obstacles for many people I work with. So I took the exact process I use with my paying clients and turned it into a Google document you can copy, fill out, and end up with one clear page showing your next three well-defined goals.
These aren’t vague “life vision” goals — they’re practical and concrete.
I made it because I’m tired of being told what to do or what to want. We all deserve a chance to pause, turn down the noise, and decide what’s truly important to us — what we actually want to spend our time, money, and energy on.
In today’s world, that’s harder than ever. But this simple exercise can help.
It’s free. No paywall, no gimmicks. Just the exact framework I use with my clients.
👉 Get the free “Focus Finder Guide” here
