Session 8
Strategic Goals
From a 10-year vision to a 90-day rock. Cascade or die.
Founder Files
For years I set yearly goals at the start of January and forgot about them by February. The problem wasn’t the goals. The problem was the gap between “12-month goal” and “today’s calendar.”
The shift that changed everything: I stopped thinking in years and started thinking in 90-day sprints. Each quarter, we pick 3–5 things that must happen. Those things ladder up to the 1-year plan, which ladders up to the 3-year picture, which ladders up to the 10-year vision. When you can see the line all the way down, the team gets pulled forward instead of pushed.
Strategic Goals Sit Between Vision and Action
In Session 2, you set a 10-year vision. In Session 9, we’ll build the weekly cadence that runs your daily action. Strategic goals are the bridge — they translate a multi-year vision into 90-day chunks that humans can actually act on.
The horizon for strategic goals is 90 days to 12 months. Closer than the vision. Further than next Monday. The sweet spot of “specific enough to plan, far enough to matter.”
Two Ways to Set Strategic Goals
Both work. Use whichever feels more natural — or both, and reconcile.
1. Top-down (Vision → Goals)
Start with your 10-year vision. Ask: “What vital goals does the business have to hit this year to be on track for that vision?” Work down from there.
2. Bottom-up (Metrics → Goals)
Start with your key metrics from Session 7. For each one, ask: “Where does this number need to be by end of quarter or end of year for the business to be winning?” Those targets become your goals.
How Many Goals?
The sweet spot for strategic goals is 3–7. Fewer than three and you’re under-ambitious. More than seven and nothing gets done because everything is a priority.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution authors argue effective teams focus on no more than two big goals at a time. As an entrepreneur across all your Areas of Focus, you’ll likely have five-ish. The rule: every goal needs a clear owner, a clear number, and a clear deadline.
Make Them SMART
SMART is old. SMART still works.
- Specific — what exactly are we doing?
- Measurable — what's the number?
- Achievable — is this realistic with current resources?
- Relevant — does this actually move the needle on the vision?
- Time-bound — by when?
SMART Goal Examples
- Hit $20K MRR by December 1.
- Add 75,000 qualified email subscribers by Q2 end.
- Increase email open rate from 22% to 30% by November 1.
- Sign 3 new enterprise clients in Q3 at $50K+ ACV.
- Launch the operator hire process by January 15, with a signed offer by March 1.
Notice what they have in common: real numbers and real dates. “Grow the business” is not a goal. It’s wishful thinking.
Borrowed Brilliance
EOS / Gino Wickman · Traction
Rocks
EOS calls 90-day priorities “Rocks.” The framing is from Stephen Covey: if you have to fit big rocks, pebbles, sand, and water into a jar, the only way it all fits is to put the big rocks in first. Same with your quarter. Identify the 3–5 Rocks. Assign each one an owner. Track them weekly. Everything else is sand — it’ll fit around the Rocks if you do this right. If you don’t, the sand fills the jar and the Rocks never go in.
"Start with the horizon: 10-year vision, 3-year targets, and 1-year goals. Then zoom into the quarter — reset every 90 days, define the big projects, assign owners, and make sure each move pushes the company toward that larger vision."
The Quarterly Stop-Start-Continue Reset
Every 90 days, run a clarity checkpoint with your leadership team — or alone if you don’t have one yet. Three questions:
- What do we STOP doing? What’s draining time and producing nothing?
- What do we START doing? What new thing does the next 90 days demand?
- What do we CONTINUE doing? What’s working that we should pour more fuel on?
This reset is one of the most underrated rituals in business. It keeps operations lean and aligned, and it prevents the slow accumulation of “stuff we just do” that quietly suffocates the company.
Goals Cascade — From Quarter to Calendar
Once your quarterly goals are set, each one needs to break down further:
- Quarterly goal → 3–5 monthly milestones
- Monthly milestone → 2–4 weekly outputs
- Weekly output → daily Big 3 actions (we'll build this in Session 9)
That’s the cascade. When every daily task ladders up to a weekly output that ladders up to a monthly milestone that ladders up to a quarterly goal that ladders up to the 1-year plan… you have an organization that’s pulling in one direction.
The Owner Rule
Every goal has exactly one owner. Not a team. Not “we.” One name. If two people own it, no one owns it. The owner doesn’t have to do the work — they have to make sure the work gets done. That distinction is everything.
The $10K Question
If you had to delete two of your current quarterly goals to triple the focus on the third, which one would you double down on — and what does that tell you about which goals shouldn’t have been on the list in the first place?
Action Steps for Session 8:
- Brainstorm 10–20 possible goals using both top-down (vision) and bottom-up (metrics) approaches.
- Narrow to your top 3–5 strategic goals for the next quarter and the next 12 months.
- Make each one SMART. Real number, real date, single owner.
- Run a Stop-Start-Continue exercise for the current quarter.
- Add your strategic objectives to your CEO Snapshot.
