Goal setting, Leading and Lagging Indicators

📌 Many of us set goals like we’re sticking a wish on the wall. Tick. Hopeful. Optimistic. Then we wonder why as the year goes by, we shift the goal posts, didn’t come anywhere near our ambition and don’t know what we’ve done in the year.

🤔 Something useful is to use your goals to set your direction but create the systems that help you create progress (thanks again James Clear)

Many leaders, talk about 🛣️ LEADING and 🚩LAGGING indicators.

🚩 Lagging indicators tell you what already happened.
The promotion you achieved. The money you make. Burnout you’re experiencing.
Some are satisfying, others telling, but they’re rear-view mirrors.

🛣️ Leading indicators tell you what is likely to happen next.
The behaviours, habits and conditions that better set you up.

🏢 At work, that might look like:
🌿 Prioritisation on 2–3 things that actually move the strategy
🌿 Quality regular feedback conversations, not just performance reviews
🌿 Protected thinking time instead of back to back meeting

💓 In life, it might be:
🌿 More sleep and boundaries in the diary for me
🌿 Committing to a development opportunity eg. a speaking or networking event
🌿 Getting an accountability partner like a coach or mentor
🌿 A short break with friends or family once a quarter

⁉️ Too often we focus on the lagging indicators and hoping motivation and other factors fill the gap.

Those that consistently perform, do the opposite.They design systems that create the behaviour that builds momentum.

➡️ So instead of asking:
“What do I want to achieve this year?”

➡️ Ask:
“What would I need to do consistently for that result to become inevitable?”

Here are a few sustainable ways to design your progress.

🍥 Shrink your habit, not the ambition

Keep the goal big, create small habits, if its all too hard, you’ll procrastinate. Try Five focused minutes, one page, one conversation, one decision. Set a time frame. Consistency compounds.

🍥 Track effort, not outcomes

Outcomes fluctuate. Effort can be reached.
Instead of “Did I hit the target?” try “What steps did I take?”
Effort-based tracking reduces guilt and increases momentum.

🍥 Build in recovery as a metric

Rest is not the opposite of progress. It’s a leading indicator.
Sleep, thinking time and digital breaks deserve the same status as deadlines and deliverables.

🍥 Design for your real life, not your ideal one

Sustainable systems assume travel, sick kids, low-energy weeks and competing priorities. If your system only works when life is calm, it’s fragile by design.

🍥 Create friction for what you’re trying to do less of
Log out. Put the phone in another room. Block the time.
Make the unhelpful habit slightly annoying.

🍥 Reflect monthly

Daily reflection is too reactive. Annual reflection is too late.
A short monthly check-in lets you adjust without self-criticism or overcorrection.

🙌 Progress over perfection is something many leaders work on with their teams. If you respect your energy, make consistent moves, reflect on your progress, you shouldn’t be surprised at all at what you’ve been able to achieve!