Your notebook
Follow along, chapter by chapter.
Fill each section as it comes up in the session. Everything here is saved automatically, only on this device, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off.
Your starting confidence
Circle a number. Be honest, not hopeful. You'll come back to it at the end.
How confident are you that you can execute your most important goal?
The execution problem
Think of one goal you genuinely wanted and didn't reach.
The goal that didn't happen
One or two lines is enough.
Where did it actually break down?
Check what applies. There's no wrong answer.
In your own words, what happened?
Focus: choose the battle
Write down everything competing for your attention. Then choose one.
My current priorities
Don't filter. Don't rank yet. Then tap the circle beside the one that matters most.
My Wildly Important Goal (WIG)
Structure: from a starting point, to an arrival point, by a finish line.
Test your WIG
What I'm willing to say no to
Be specific. Name three things you'll stop, delay, or decline.
Leverage: find your lever
A lag measure tells you what happened. A lead measure tells you what to do this week.
My lead measure
A good lead measure is predictive and influenceable. If you can't move it yourself, it isn't one.
Engagement: your scoreboard
The test: could someone tell if you're winning or losing in five seconds?
Your WIG, for reference
From — to — by —
Five-second check
Accountability: the cadence
A commitment you made yourself, that you return to every week.
The one or two things I'll do this week that will move the scoreboard
My accountability partner
The person who will actually ask you about it.
Leave with a commitment
Not a goal. A decision for the next seven days.
Your confidence now
What moved between your two numbers?
Reference
Guidelines to keep nearby.
The rules behind each discipline, in one place, so you don't have to remember them mid-session.
Setting a Wildly Important Goal
A WIG is the one or two results that would matter most if nothing else changed.
Rule 1
No team, and no person, focuses on more than two WIGs at the same time.
Rule 2
The battles you choose must win the war — they should serve the bigger goal, not distract from it.
Rule 3
Your WIG is something you want to significantly improve, not just maintain.
Rule 4
Every WIG needs a finish line, in the form: from X to Y by Z.
The X, Y, Z structure
| X — starting point | Use data from the same period as the one you're planning for (last year's same months, for instance). |
|---|---|
| Y — arrival point | A number beats a percentage. It sets a clear direction and makes progress easy to track. |
| Z — finish line | A specific deadline. It tells you, at any point, whether you're on time or behind. |
The lead measure test
Before you commit to a lead measure, check both boxes.
Predictive
If it moves, your result is likely to move with it.
Influenceable
You, personally or as a team, can move it directly this week.
The five-second scoreboard test
A good scoreboard shows your WIG, your lag measure, your lead measure, and the time remaining — nothing else. Someone should be able to tell if you're winning in under five seconds.
Running the weekly cadence
| Account | Report on what you committed to last week, and what you actually did. |
|---|---|
| Review | Look at the scoreboard. Understand why you're winning or losing on each measure. |
| Plan | Clear the path for the week ahead and make one or two new commitments. |
Keep it brief, brisk, and energetic — twenty to thirty minutes is enough. Keep the whirlwind out of the session; this time is for the WIG alone.
Look back on these later
Case studies.
One story followed all the way through, and a few quick examples across different kinds of goals.
Salma, from week 3 to week 12
Final year at university. A part-time job, a student association, a family. One goal: her first graduate job by December.
Lag and lead, across different goals
The same pattern, wherever you look: a result you can only observe, and an action you can actually take.
| Domain | Lag — the result | Lead — the lever |
|---|---|---|
| Career | Interviews secured | Tailored applications sent per week |
| Studying | Exam score | Active-recall sessions per week |
| Fitness | 5 km time | Training sessions per week |
| Entrepreneurship | Clients signed | Qualified outreach conversations per week |
| Teams & associations | Event attendance | Personal invitations sent per week |
Beyond today's session
Bonus material.
For when you want to take this further — on a team, or on your own, weeks from now.
Adapting this for a team
One WIG, shared
A team WIG works best when it's owned by everyone in the room, not handed down. Build it together.
Sub-WIGs by role
Break the team WIG into smaller "battles" per person or sub-team, each with its own lag and lead measure.
The leader goes first
In the weekly session, the leader reports their own commitment first — it sets the standard for everyone else.
Celebrate the scoreboard
Call out wins on the lead measure publicly, not just the final lag result — it's what keeps the team engaged week to week.
Common pitfalls
If you're stuck, revisit the discipline that matches the symptom
| What it feels like | Likely gap |
|---|---|
| "I have too much going on to make progress" | Focus — you haven't chosen yet |
| "I'm working hard, but nothing is changing" | Leverage — wrong lead measure, or none |
| "I have no idea if I'm on track" | Engagement — no visible scoreboard |
| "I keep meaning to get back to it" | Accountability — no weekly cadence |