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Crush Your Year with These Goal Setting Frameworks



This year, instead of picking one goal-setting method, let’s combine three complementary approaches:



When you stack these together, you get goals that are clear, measurable, motivating, and meaningful.


Step 1: Start With MT Goals (Clarity Beats Motivation)


MT Goals are refreshingly simple and that’s why they work.


A solid MT Goal is:

  • Measurable

  • Time-bound


Instead of saying: “I want to get in better shape.”

Try: “I will complete 4 miles today.”


Why this matters: vague goals create vague action. Clear goals reduce decision fatigue and give you something concrete to aim at.


MT Goals answer the question:

What exactly am I trying to accomplish, and by when?


Step 2: Layer in Huberman’s Elements of Goal Setting & Goal Pursuit


Andrew Huberman emphasizes that successful goals align with how our brain tracks effort, progress, and identity. He breaks this down into three critical components:


1. Identify the Specific Thing You Want to Attain


Your brain works better when the target is clear and visualizable.


Not: “Be healthier.”

But:“Complete 4 workouts this week.”


Your nervous system needs a defined “win condition.”


2. Assess Progress Frequently (But Simply)


Progress tracking releases dopamine, not when you achieve the goal, but when you see yourself moving toward it.


Simple tracking works best:

  • Miles logged

  • Workouts completed

  • Days in a streak


This is why mileage challenges, habit streaks, and checklists are so powerful—they give your brain regular evidence that effort is paying off.


3. Focus on Goal Execution, Not Just Outcomes


Execution lives in your daily environment:

  • When will you do the thing?

  • Where will it happen?

  • What might get in the way?


Instead of relying on willpower, design the path:

  • Lay out your shoes the night before

  • Schedule workouts like meetings

  • Reduce friction wherever possible


Consistency beats intensity over the long term.


Step 3: Use Graham Weaver’s Genie Exercise (Meaning Drives Consistency)


Now comes the part most people skip and the one that often determines whether a goal lasts.


Graham Weaver’s Genie Exercise asks you to imagine that a genie guarantees success, but you must choose wisely.


Ask yourself: If I could wave a magic wand and guarantee success in one area of my life this year… what would I choose?


Not what sounds impressive.

Not what other people expect.What would actually improve your life?


Then go deeper:


  • Why does this matter to me?

  • How would my day-to-day life be different if I achieved it?

  • Who would I become as a result?


This step anchors your goal to identity and values, not guilt or pressure.


Bringing It All Together: A Simple Framework


Here’s what this looks like when combined:

  1. Use the Genie Exercise to choose a goal you genuinely care about

  2. Turn it into an MT Goal that is measurable and time-bound

  3. Apply Huberman’s principles by:

    1. Defining the exact target

    2. Tracking progress simply and often

    3. Designing an environment that supports execution


Example: “By the end of the year I will complete 1,800 of walking and running. For the month of January I will complete 150 mile, and every day in the month of January I will complete 5 miles.”


This goal is:

  • Clear

  • Trackable

  • Aligned with biology

  • Connected to identity


Final Thought


Great goals don’t rely on hype, discipline, or perfect weeks.They work because they’re clear, measurable, biologically realistic, and personally meaningful.


If you build your goals this way, you don’t just set resolutions, you create systems that carry you forward all year long.


Get After It This Year!!


Austin

Fonder & CEO, Fly Bodies Inc.



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