What You Don't Know About Goal Setting

Daily Boost Podcast What You Don't Know About Goal Setting August 25, 2026 | Episode 5527 Host: Scott Smith Episode Description Yesterday I told you I wasn't going to teach goal setting. Today I'm going to teach you how to set goals. Sort of. Most of what you were handed about goals has quietly fallen apart. The 21-day habit. The Harvard study everybody quotes. Smart goals. Gone. Disproven. And yet you're still sitting there in August wondering why the thing you decided in January never happened. Two words fix most of it, and one measurement that explains why you quit. Ten minutes, and you'll never look at your goal list the same way. Featured Story I mentioned to my wife the other day that I'm in the mood to get a Tesla. Just shopping around. Looking. She got quiet. Then a little scared. Because after all these years, she knows exactly what that sentence means in my house. She knows my brain already flagged it. She knows the velocity has started. And she knows that if I keep drifting in that direction, week after week, there will eventually be a Tesla in the driveway and nobody will remember deciding on it. That's not a car story. That's the whole mechanism of how you get anything, running right out in the open. Important Points Start your morning retrospectively. Not what you did yesterday, but what really happened and how it honestly felt. Then go prospectively. Ask what you'll create today to close the gap you just found, and only three goals max. Velocity keeps motivation alive, so chop any goal more than six months out into segments you can actually feel finishing. Memorable Quotes Velocity is the key. It's more important how fast you're getting to your goal than if you're getting to your goal. The daily awareness diary will hold you to your honesty forever. It exposes what you said you want and what you're doing. Remember the Harvard study where people who set goals are 93% more effective—never done, ever. It's a wives' tale. Scott's Three-Step Approach Tomorrow morning, ask retrospectively how yesterday actually went, and be honest about whether it matched your want. Then ask prospectively what you'll create today, and write down the single adjustment that closes that gap for you. Now break your big goal into velocity segments close enough together that you feel you're finishing one each week. Chapters 0:02 - A twist on the goal setting I said I'd skip 0:38 - The obsession behind everything I teach you 1:47 - Goal setting myths that got quietly disproven 3:22 - The retrospective question I ask every morning 4:48 - Prospection, the one thing only humans can do 6:09 - Why velocity beats the goal itself every time 8:36 - The Tesla my wife is hoping I forget about Connect With Me Search for the Daily Boost on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify Email: support@motivationtomove.com Main Website: https://motivationtomove.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/dailyboostpodcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/heyscottsmith Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/motivationtomove Facebook Group: https://dailyboostpodcast.com/facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices