How should your Goals be? | Must Watch | By Sawan Kumar - Best Motivational Speaker

If you want to learn how to set goals that actually pull you forward instead of sitting dead in a notebook, the framework below is the exact one I have used to train 79,000+ students and build seven income streams from Dubai. The outcome you get by the end: a goal written in a way your brain cannot ignore, with a deadline, a number, and a daily action attached to it.

Direct Answer: How Should Your Goals Be?

Your goals should be specific, measurable, written in present tense, time-bound, and emotionally charged enough that missing them feels physically uncomfortable. A correctly written goal contains four non-negotiable elements: a number, a deadline, a daily input you control, and a reason that is bigger than the goal itself. Vague goals like "I want to be successful" fail because the brain cannot rehearse them; specific goals like "I close AED 50,000 in coaching revenue by 31 December through 3 discovery calls per week" succeed because the brain can simulate the path.

Why Most Goals Fail Within 90 Days

As a Chartered Accountant who has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and real-estate agents in Dubai, I have audited why goals collapse. It is rarely a discipline problem. It is a design problem. Most people commit three errors:

• They set outcomes, not inputs. "I want 100 leads" is an outcome. "I will send 25 cold DMs daily" is an input. You only control inputs.
• They confuse a wish with a goal. A wish has no deadline. A goal has a date next to it.
• They make goals too small to inspire and too big to start. The sweet spot is a goal that scares you a little but breaks down into a 30-minute first action.

In my experience, 80% of people who quit by day 90 quit because they never defined what "winning this week" looks like. They only defined what winning the year looks like — and a year is too far to feel.

The Four-Layer Goal Framework I Teach

Here is the structure I use personally and inside my coaching programs. Every serious goal must pass through four layers before it is allowed onto your calendar.

Layer 1: The Outcome Goal (12-month horizon)

This is the one big number for the year. Revenue, students enrolled, kilos lost, books published. One sentence, one number, one date. Example: "I will publish 10 books on Amazon KDP by 31 December 2026."

Layer 2: The Quarterly Milestone

Break the 12-month outcome into four 90-day chunks. The 90-day window is short enough to feel urgent and long enough to produce real output. Example: "By 30 June 2026, books 1–3 are live with at least 50 reviews each."

Layer 3: The Weekly Lead Measure

This is the input you can fully control. It should be repeatable, schedulable, and binary — done or not done. Example: "Write 5,000 words per week, every week."

Layer 4: The Daily Non-Negotiable

One action, under 60 minutes, that moves the lead measure. Example: "Write 1,000 words before opening email."

How to Write a Goal So Your Brain Cannot Ignore It

The wording matters more than people realise. The reticular activating system in your brain filters information based on what you have told it is important. Vague language gets filtered out. Use this exact formula:

• Present tense — "I am earning AED 100,000/month" not "I will earn."
• A precise number — not "more clients" but "12 new coaching clients."
• A precise date — not "this year" but "by 31 October 2026."
• An emotional anchor — the reason behind the goal, written below it. "Because my parents will never have to worry about money again."
• A daily input — "by recording 1 podcast episode and sending 10 outreach emails per day."

Write the goal by hand every single morning. This is not woo-woo. The physical act of writing forces your brain to re-encode it. I have personally written the same set of three goals every morning for the last four years.

The Tools and Numbers That Actually Move Goals

Goals without instrumentation are theatre. These are the exact tools and review cadences I use:

• Notion or a paper journal — one page per goal, updated weekly. Notion is free and works on every device.
• A Sunday 30-minute review — score the week 1–10 on each lead measure. Less than 7 means redesign next week.
• A monthly P&L check — for revenue goals, reconcile the number against the bank. Wishful tracking is the enemy of accurate goals.
• One accountability partner — someone who gets a screenshot of your scorecard every Sunday. Without external accountability, completion rates drop by roughly half in every group I have coached.

The Mistake Almost Every Goal-Setter Makes

They set too many goals. Three is the upper limit for one quarter. More than three and none of them get the daily attention required. If you have seven priorities, you have none. The hardest part of how to set goals properly is not adding — it is subtracting. Pick the one goal that, if achieved, makes the other six easier or irrelevant. Build the entire week around it.

I also see people set goals based on what looks impressive on social media instead of what genuinely changes their life. A goal you would not pursue if no one was watching is the wrong goal.

Closing

Goals work when they are specific, written daily, broken into 90-day chunks, and protected by a single daily non-negotiable action. Your next step today: take 15 minutes, write your one big 12-month goal in present tense with a number and a date, and schedule the 30-minute daily action on tomorrow's calendar before you sleep tonight.