Reader —

Last week's GEARshift took you through my process for setting values-aligned goals (you can read it here). This week, let's talk about the next crucial step: breaking down those big goals into actionable chunks.

Even my most accomplished clients stumble here, so if this is where your own goal-setting has come up short, you're in good company.

Fact: Goals are not Pie

Most of us were taught to break down big projects into equal parts. While that works beautifully with pie, it fails miserably with business goals.

Why? Because while you'll likely have room for another slice of pie tomorrow, business capacity isn't that consistent. Unless your business runs entirely without you, it's unrealistic to expect equal output across unequal time periods.

Think about it:

• Can you accomplish as much in a quarter with multiple holidays as one without?
• Should you expect the same productivity during a month when you're on vacation versus one when you're fully engaged?
• Do personal commitments, energy levels, and external factors affect your capacity?

A Better Approach: The "What Must Be True?" Method

Instead of chopping a goal into equal parts, I teach my clients to ask one powerful question: "What must be true for me to reach my goal?"

Let me show you how this worked for my own business this year.

My Goal: Develop a solid marketing strategy to support business growth.

First Question: "What must be true by Dec. 31 for me to have reached this goal?"

My Answer: We need messaging that:

• Aligns with who we are, who we help, and how we help them
• Is consistently communicated across all channels
• Is so clear, every team member can explain it in their own voice while maintaining the core message

Next Question: "What else must be true to make this happen?"

This led to a specific list including:

1. Our services are clearly explained on our website
2. We can discuss our offers in a way others understand
3. Our clients can explain their work with us in a way others understand

From there, I could prioritize tasks in a natural order and allocate them across quarters based on:

• Logical sequence
• Available capacity
• Seasonal considerations
• Team bandwidth

This approach led to dedicating most of spring and summer to testing messaging on social media while developing website copy - a timeline that made sense for our team's capacity and the natural flow of our business.

It also introduced a bunch of variables we hadn’t considered (like how sharpening our messaging would lead us to a visual rebrand).

The Key Difference

This method works because it:

• Starts with the end in mind
• Accounts for real-world constraints
• Creates a logical sequence of actions
• Adapts to your actual capacity
• Builds momentum through connected actions

And even with the surprises that bubbled up along the way, we hit our targets and got even more accomplished this year than expected.

This is what’s possible when you break down goals with an eye for strategic progression instead of equal division. When you understand what must be true to reach your goal, the path forward becomes much clearer.

To setting values-aligned goals,

Gwen

The CEO's Most Valuable Asset? It's You.

Are you treating your business like a million-dollar racehorse or running it into the ground?

As entrepreneurs, we often push ourselves to exhaustion while carefully managing everyone else's wellbeing. But here's the truth: you are the most valuable asset in your business. If you go away, the business goes away.

Today, Tonya Kubo and I wrap up the Solo to CEO series on The Business You Really Want with a conversation on the critical balance between leadership demands and self-care.

We explore why personal growth directly impacts your effectiveness as a leader, how to spot early signs of burnout before they derail you, and practical strategies for prioritizing yourself without sacrificing business performance.

You CAN create sustainable work routines and set boundaries that work for you and your business.