Why Is It So Hard to Finish Things?
Learn about the strategies needed to stick to a long-term project and discover who working with others can help you get things done.
We’ve all been there… especially in January.
We set big, bold, ambitious goals. We think, “This is it. This is the year I get my sh*t together. It’s going to be the best year ever.”
And then—what happens around week two or three of this “new you”?
You go back to your old habits.
Why do we do that? Is it because we don’t care enough about our goals to work hard? I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s because we’re just meant to be lazy creatures who only run when a bear chases us.
The problem with achieving big goals is that we get too focused on the end result. This means we fail to notice the progress we’re making along the way. We don’t take the time to acknowledge the days when we actually did stick to the plan. We fail to measure those small, daily actions—the ones that stack up over time but take a while to make a noticeable impact.
That’s why a lot of goal-setting systems fail.
When people set big goals, the “thing” they’re working toward is a lag indicator. It’s a result that comes after days, weeks, or months of work.
But to know if you’re heading in the right direction, you also need to track your lead indicators—the tiny moments, movements, actions, and decisions that move you toward your goal.
If you only measure lag indicators, you’ll quickly feel like your end goal is never going to happen. But if you only measure lead indicators, you’ll see how busy you are—without knowing if your actions are actually effective.
How Goals Are Traditionally Measured
Too often, we define our goals by the end result. We set a target toward an outcome that happens after we’ve put in the work. That’s why it’s called a “lag” indicator.
- It’s the ideal weight we want to reach.
- It’s the amount of money we wish we could generate in a month.
- It’s the fame that comes after gaining an absurdly high number of followers.
- It’s the A+ we want on our next exam.
The problem with setting goals focused solely on lag indicators is that we often have no direct control over them.
- We can’t change the number on the scale just by wanting it to change.
- We can’t force people to give us money just because we set a revenue goal.
- We can’t pressure strangers to become our biggest fans.
- We can’t magically ace an exam.
So if we can’t control our goals directly… does that mean we’re doomed? Will we never, ever, ever achieve our dream goals?
Of course not.
What we can control are our lead indicators. These are the actions that tell us not just where we want to go, but how we’ll get there.
A More Encouraging Way to Set Goals
For every lag indicator (your target goal), there’s a multitude of tiny (and not-so-tiny) actions you can take. These are the actions people often forget to measure—or when they do, they forget to celebrate as achievements in themselves.
If you didn’t lose any weight this week, but you walked 10,000 steps per day, cooked all your meals, and finally started that new yoga class—you should count those as huge wins.
If you didn’t make a sale this week, but you contacted five potential clients each day, reworked your website, and offered free samples in exchange for testimonials—those are great steps toward a steady income.
If you planned a week of content, engaged with your audience, spent an hour each day giving advice freely, and sent a newsletter to your subscribers—again, those are key indicators of progress.
And if you studied for an hour each day, had the guts to email your professor about a question, and found additional resources to better understand a concept—you’re making progress toward that A+.
None of these actions guarantee you’ll reach your goal in a set timeframe. But they add up. And instead of waiting for that one big win to celebrate, you can take time each day (or each week) to recognise the steps you did take.
Making Your Lead and Lag Indicators Work Together
I learned how to make these work together through the 12 Week Year process (from the book by Brian P. Moran).
Each week, you need to review your progress. But this isn’t just about checking your target goals and updating your current status. That’s where things start to go wrong—because you’re only measuring things that are out of your control.
Instead, you compare your lead and lag indicators and adjust accordingly.
In other words:
- You score yourself on how well you completed your daily/tiny actions (lead indicators).
- You update your target goal (lag indicator).
- You compare both, reflect on whether your lead indicators are still effective, and adjust your strategy if needed.
A few important things to keep in mind:
💡 For the perfectionists!
Achieving 100% on all your lead indicators isn’t necessary. In most cases, if you complete 80% consistently over time, you’ll still see progress—even if you don’t hit every single action.
⏳ For the impatient ones!
If your target goal doesn’t budge in week one, it doesn’t mean you’re doing the wrong actions or that the process isn’t working. Some results take time. Stick with your habits long enough before making drastic changes. Be patient. Trust the process.
How Can You Do This with Notion?
There are a few ways to track this. Here’s how I manage it inside my personal Notion system.
My Notion workspace is a mix of methods I learned from August Bradley (PPV system), Thomas Frank, and Notion Mastery by Marie Poulin and Ben Borowski. I also incorporate elements from the PARA system (by Tiago Forte).
In practice, here’s what this looks like for me:
✅ I track two types of goals:
- SMART Goals (measurable with lead and lag indicators)
- Identity Goals (long-term aspirations without a specific target)
✅ SMART Goals are broken into projects with milestones.
- Each project milestone is a lead indicator, so when a project is done, there’s a reason to celebrate. 🎉
- Each project has a set of mini lead indicators—daily, weekly, or monthly tasks that move me toward completion.
✅ Weekly reviews keep everything on track.
- I update my progress on SMART Goals.
- I review project progress.
- I adjust tasks and strategies as needed.
I also use the 12 Week Year method when tackling bigger projects. For this, I focus on just two or three goals at a time—any more than that, and I don’t have enough hours in the day.
If you want to try the 12 Week Year approach—especially if you want a structured way to track both your lead and lag indicators—you might find my Notion template helpful. It’s free!
In this template, this is what comparing your lead an lag indictors looks like:
Final Thoughts
The key to making progress isn’t just setting big goals—it’s tracking and celebrating the small actions that get you there. And adjusting them along the way.
When you look at either in isolation, it’s too easy to think you’re not making progress. But you are. You’ve just forgotten that your daily actions are as important as the numbers from your final goal target.
So, are you measuring the right things? 🚀
Related Posts
6 Signs Your Notion Workspace Needs a Clean-up
Is your Notion workspace starting to feel messy? Or is it fine as it is. Find out if it’s time to roll-up your sleeves and give your workspace some attention.
Three Lessons After 6 Months Using Notion
After six months of playing around with Notion, here’s what I learned.
Made with Bullet