Reflections OnWhen Goal Setting Became My Lifeline (and a goal setting template to get started)

I began writing down my goals after listening to Brian Tracy’s Psychology of Achievement (on CD!) in 2002. Married and toting around a baby boy, others my age were starting university, pursuing degrees and typical college life in America, but my situation was unique and the simple act of writing down goals became a lifeline that would see me through the difficult years ahead.

I grew up middle class, with a father who went to college on the GI Bill and a mother who, after a childhood with some difficulty and a young mother herself, achieved her degree in her 40’s–a first among her Mexican-American family. Both determined to take full advantage of the American dream, they worked hard to put my brothers, sisters and me in the best school districts they could afford in Texas. I excelled in school, and though becoming a young mother was not the expected path, after high school I was determined to create the best life possible with the education, opportunities, and privilege I had been given.

To support my family and have the flexibility to care for my young son, I started a home daycare after moving to Austin. I managed to enroll in community college and pursue the basics during off hours, eventually transferring to the University of Texas. But a couple of years later I was restless and needed to earn a better living. I had learned the basics of forming and running a business through my home daycare, but believed that I was capable of operating on a larger scale if I could find a way to get my foot in the door at a bigger business.

Nokia phones and early generation iPods were all the rage at the time but tech startups were far from mainstream and did not seem to be a viable option for a young woman in my position. But after scouring Craigslist in Austin, I ran across an ad for a “startup” looking for a marketing intern and felt the Adobe Pagemaker skills I had acquired as an editor on the high school newspaper could be applicable. With help from a friend, I created a resume and eventually became employee #1. I would spend five years soaking up everything I could–watching as the founders went on to raise tens of millions of dollars and ultimately get acquired.

This exposure to entrepreneurship was the experience I would need to go on to found my own companies and, nearly two decades later, find my way into venture capital. But before that would happen, in 2004, my father and my brother passed away. I fell deeply into mourning, the tragedy and challenges of working, going to school, and taking care of a toddler meant it was everything I could do to stay afloat. Writing down my goals became the ritual I needed to manage my anxieties and remind myself that there were many outcomes that remained in my control. Worried about making rent, helping my son manage school with his dyslexia, company formation, raising money–whatever it was, I focused on breaking down every worry into a bite-sized step toward progress. Every box ticked made me feel stronger and more in control.

As a result of my personal journey, goal setting and founder psychology are subjects that I have become passionate about and now have the opportunity to share with founders from all over the world as Chief Operating Officer of 500 Startups. I recently shared this simple goal setting framework I created with one of our SF Accelerator batches. Since it’s been my experience that managing one’s psychology and goal setting (especially as a founder!) are inextricably intertwined, I’ve taken to including a list of significant anxieties alongside my goals as a reminder to break them down and move to action. The framework itself is basic, but a useful tool to get started with.

In addition to the framework, I use this list of questions as a gut check and to reflect on goal setting progress. I recommend working through these questions with a cofounder or other partner.

1. Do you have goals?
2. Have you written your goals, in clear, precise details?
3. Have you set a deadline for attaining your goals?
4. Do you believe you have the ability to accomplish your goals?
5. Does the use of your time reflect your goals?
6. Are those closest to you (i.e. your co founders, partner, friends) aware of and supportive of your goals?

Of course, there are times when simply writing down goals is not enough, and other interventions are needed to effectively manage clinical anxiety, depression and other circumstances. But for the day-to-day, nearly twenty years later I still find myself writing down my goals each January and going back to list out my anxieties when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

Goal setting is a lifelong skill. There are many other fantastic resources available to those wanting to learn more about goal setting and managing their own psychology. I’ve included some that have influenced my own practice and thinking below. I’m happy to share this framework and would love to hear what has worked for others.

Resources

• Access (free) to my Simple Personal Goal Setting Framework
• The Psychology of Achievement (Note many outdated cultural references.)
• The One Thing (I’m biased having worked with authors, Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, but The One Thing shares an excellent maxim for deciding what to focus on first.

• Tim Ferris’ Fear Setting Exercise
• Enneagram Test (Take the $12 test and use the results to better understand how our primary motivations affect every aspect of our life.)