If Your Goals Don’t Make You Uncomfortable, They’re Too Small
I keep hearing the same message repeated by people with big platforms: “You don’t need goals, you just need action. Just start. Just move. Just trust the process.”
I understand the intention. Action matters and momentum matters.
But direction matters more.
Without a goal, you can work incredibly hard and still end up somewhere you never consciously chose. You can fill your diary, grow revenue, build something that looks impressive from the outside and still feel off track. A goal is not a corporate tick box exercise. It’s your satnav. It decides the direction of travel for you and your business. Without it, you’re driving fast but potentially in the wrong lane.
The real issue is not that people set goals. It’s that they rarely set the ones that actually matter.
They set the polite goals. The socially acceptable ones and the ones that won’t get them judged by their friends and family, or at a networking event. They shrink the numbers so they don’t feel embarrassed and water down the ambition so it sounds reasonable.
But the goals that transform your life are the ones that make you feel exposed. The ones that feel slightly ridiculous. They are the ones you almost don’t want to admit out loud because someone might roll their eyes.
Those are the ones worth setting.
If you reach as high as you can possibly see, you will land somewhere between where you are now and that vision. That alone changes your trajectory. Staying still because the bigger vision feels uncomfortable guarantees one thing: absolutely nothing.
I always say, it’s better to achieve 50% of something than 100% of nothing.
Here’s the five-step pathway I use and teach when it comes to setting and achieving meaningful goals.
1. Set the impossible moonshot
Give yourself permission to write down the goal that has been sitting in the back of your mind for years. The income level. The role. The scale of impact. The lifestyle shift. The freedom.
Don’t get tangled in the mechanics and the ‘how’. The moment you ask “but how would I ever…?” you give fear the centre stage. The how is important later, but in the beginning when you’re setting your big bold goals, it’s often the ‘how’ that talks you out of it.
Start with clarity. Decide what you want without negotiating against yourself.
2. Choose the one that matters most
Ambition is not the problem. Dilution is.
Trying to pursue five major goals at once usually means none of them move forward meaningfully. Ask yourself which one, if achieved, would make the biggest difference to your life and work. Which one changes the game?
Commit to that as your primary focus. Depth creates progress. Scattered effort creates exhaustion.
3. Break it down and examine who you must become
Once the destination is defined, then you reverse engineer it. What needs to happen over the next year? What skills need strengthening? What conversations need to be had? What decisions have you been postponing?
And the question that most people avoid: who do I need to become to live at that level?
Your current results are a reflection of your current standards, habits and beliefs. A bigger goal demands growth. That might mean stronger boundaries. Braver pricing. Greater visibility. Sharper focus. More resilience.
Growth is uncomfortable by design.
4. Be first. Do next. Then have.
There is an order to this, and most people get it wrong.
They think when I have the money, I’ll feel confident. When I have the promotion, I’ll act like a leader. When I have the recognition, I’ll speak up more.
In reality, you choose to be that person first. You adopt the mindset, the standards and the behaviour of the person who already operates at that level. Then you take action from that place. The results follow.
Being informs doing. Doing creates having.
5. Create monthly, weekly and daily alignment
A moonshot without structure becomes a daydream.
Translate the big goal into monthly targets. From there, identify weekly priorities. Then decide what must happen today. Keep your actions aligned and simple.
And keep asking yourself one question: does this serve me and my goal?
That single check in will save you from distraction, comparison and busy work. It keeps you anchored when doubt creeps in and when shiny opportunities try to pull you sideways.
Above all, belief underpins everything. If you secretly think it’s not possible for you, you will unconsciously sabotage your own progress. Belief is not blind faith. It’s a decision to back yourself while you build evidence.
Set the goal that stretches you. The one that makes your heart beat faster. The one that requires you to grow.
Because moving towards something bold will always take you further than playing safe and calling it sensible.
Let’s Stay Connected
If you’re ready to find the limitless and more confident version of yourself, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s connect on Instagram or follow me on Facebook - you don’t have to do this alone. And I’m here for you on LinkedIn.
If you want more inspiration - tune in to my Limitless by Dee Airey™️ Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
You are more capable than you think, and the only permission you need is your own.