Minimum Viable Days And Level 1, 2, 3 Goals

The way I plan my daily goals — has evolved over the years.

Looking back, I see 3 Phases, and today — I’m entering Phase 4.?

Phase 1 — When I was a noob, I simply created a list of ‘Things to Do’.

Not smart… I basically set up myself up to feel bad, when I didn’t complete ALL of them.

Phase 2 — Then I progressed to a list of ‘Top 3 Non-negotiables’, and ‘Additional 3 Bonus Goals’

I thought in this way, I would feel better about my day — even if I didn’t fulfill the ‘Bonus Goals’.? Well… I ended up failing my ‘Non-negotiable Goals’. ?

Phase 3 — So I adopted the ‘One Big Goal’ for the day, followed by all the tasks I don’t feel bad about if I didn’t complete them.

Guess what? … Failed to achieve that ‘one goal’ on some days too!

But… there were some bright days when I listed 7-8 ‘Non-negotiables’ and did them all…

Now Entering > Phase 4

Given my track record right now — I’m not sure you’ll want to trust any new ideas I have about Daily Goal Setting.

But — I think I’m getting close!?

?? Here’s my new system.? There are two parts to this... ?

First — Create Level 1, 2 and 3 Goals

This is inspired by Sahil Bloom’s ABC Goals.? And I’ve made some modifications.?

1. For each day of the week, I list my ‘Top 3 Goals’.?
2. For each of these goals, I’ll create 3 versions (3 Levels) — each expressing a different degree, or quality, of outcome.?
3. For instance — a “Run a Marathon Goal” will have 3 Levels: “Complete Under 2.5 hours, Under 3.5 hours, and Simply Complete.”
4. Sahil calls them A, B and C goals.? I prefer to use Levels 1, 2 and 3.? #1 is the most ambitious goal, while #2 is ‘good enough’, and #3 is what you settle on — just to get it done as you said you would.?
5. I’ll then list all the other tasks and goals for the day — such as ‘Do a 1:1 with Teammate X’. ?

Setting my goals in the above manner will do a few things for me...

1. If, during the day, I realize that some other important matters suddenly showed up, or if something is going to take more time than expected — And I wasn’t going to perfectly achieve my goal, I can ‘fall back on’ achieving a Level 2 or Level 3 outcome on that goal instead.?
2. This enables me to feel good about having still accomplished a top goal, rather than feel bad about having failed to achieve it. ?
3. Sometimes situational factors can keep us from achieving goals… if we’re traveling, for instance, and don’t have access to a gym to work on our fitness goals.

Second — Define a Minimum Viable Day.

And Achieve it by 10 am.?

I’m borrowing the phrase from product management thinking.?

After I’ve set all my Top Goals (expressed in 3 Levels each), and my Other Goals for each day… I will ask myself...

What does a Minimum Viable Day look like?? And how can I ‘ship it’ before 10 am that day?

For instance — I’m planning for Monday, a start to a busy week.? And I have 10 things I want to accomplish by the end of the day.?

But what can I do by 10 am Monday — that would leave me satisfied enough… such that even if I were to be drawn into a bunch of unplanned meetings for the rest of the day, I would feel that I still made meaningful progress that day?

I’ll look at the list I just made — including my Top 3 Goals (with their 3 different ‘levels’). I would then pick all the goals I’d like to accomplish before 10 am, and make them my ‘MVD’ Collection.?

And that’s it!?

When I wake up on Monday morning — like an experienced Product Manager, I will aim to ship my Minimum Viable Day as soon as possible.?

When I’m done, I can still “go back” to the goals I worked on earlier… and raise the bar on some outcomes — from a Level 2 achievement on Goal X, to a Level 1.?

So — that’s my ‘1% Better’ for today.? It’s to make this important change to my daily goal-setting practice.?