How to stick to a plan: not everything is a goal.

“How do I make a plan and stick to it?”

“Do you want to know tactics or strategy?” I asked.

“Ehm, both, I guess,” he said.

“My strategy is to settle down this year.”

“I’ve formulated my goals as Objectives and Key Results,” I explained to my brother.

“Right.” It sounded hesitant.

“But as specific as my goals are, I found that my daily plan can only get so granular.”

Now I hesitated for a moment and added:

“I only plan goals for the first 4 hours of my day. The rest is fluid but habit-oriented”.

“Is that your tactic?” he asked.

“It is. Strategy is big picture thinking. Tactics are how you execute daily”.

“What’s the difference?”

I took some time to think before I replied.

“Objectives and Key Results made me want to create daily goals for everything. That’s just not feasible”.

“Right,” he said. It sounded more confident now.

“Goals are big and unmeasurable daily. Tactics are daily methods like habits and routines, small enough to determine how you implement your goals”.


To me, it made a big difference. Hope it helps ya’ll as well.

Thanks Eddie Shleyner for inspiring me to write a dialogue
Not everything is a goal
I made that pic in Koh Lipe, Thailand. Highly recommended.

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