Ditch Regret and Achieve Your Dreams with Jon Acuff’s Proven 3-Step Goal-Setting Plan

The 3-Step Plan to Ditch Regret and Tap Into Your Massive Potential. In his transformative book “All It Takes Is a Goal,” renowned author and motivational speaker Jon Acuff reveals his game-changing 3-step plan to help you ditch regret, unleash your massive potential, and turn your dreams into reality. Packed with actionable strategies and inspiring stories, this must-read guide provides the roadmap you need to set and achieve meaningful goals.

Discover the secrets to ditching regret and tapping into your full potential – keep reading to learn Jon Acuff’s proven 3-step goal-setting plan that has transformed countless lives!

Genres

Self-help, Personal development, Motivational, Inspirational, Goal setting, Career development, Success, Productivity, Psychology, Business

Recommendation

Why do so many people fail to make progress on their goals? Glean tips and tricks on how to achieve your goals and improve your life from self-help guru Jon Acuff. Contrary to popular belief, says Acuff, you can guarantee your success if you set goals the right way. Hint: If you feel stressed and burned out while pursuing your aspirations, you’re going about things all wrong. Working toward your goals should feel like playing a game, explains Acuff. The ball is in your court: Will you throw in the towel or play to win?

Take-Aways

• Connect with an authentic vision for your future by reflecting on your past.
• Don’t play it too safe or overcommit yourself; find a happy medium.
• Gamify your goals to elevate your chance of success.
• Pursue “easy goals” to gain momentum early on.
• Choose a game you can realistically win, then spend 15 minutes on it.
• Staying in your potential zone requires the right kind of motivation.
• Learn to set “guaranteed goals,” whereby every small effort builds progress.
• Unleash your full potential by creating individualized scorecards for your goals.

In “All It Takes Is a Goal,” Jon Acuff presents his powerful yet simple 3-step approach to setting and achieving goals. He argues that regret often stems from not pursuing our true potential and that the key to a fulfilling life lies in strategic goal-setting.

Acuff’s 3 steps are:

1. Imagine – vividly envision your ideal future and set specific, meaningful goals aligned with your values and dreams
2. Ignite – develop an action plan, build momentum, and cultivate the habits and mindset needed to make consistent progress
3. Implement – take bold action, navigate obstacles, learn from setbacks, and keep pushing forward until you reach your goals

Through relatable anecdotes, research-backed insights, and practical exercises, Acuff guides readers in defining their goals, overcoming mental roadblocks, and developing the confidence and determination to turn their aspirations into achievements. He emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort, seeking growth opportunities, and celebrating small wins along the way.

Ultimately, Acuff’s message is one of empowerment – by aligning our thoughts and actions with our deepest goals and values, we can create the lives we want, find greater fulfillment, and make a positive impact on the world. With the right goal-setting strategies, he asserts, anyone can tap into their massive potential.

Review

“All It Takes Is a Goal” is an empowering and pragmatic guide to turning dreams into reality through intentional goal-setting. Jon Acuff’s engaging writing style, vulnerability in sharing his own struggles and triumphs, and wealth of experience as a motivational speaker make this book both highly enjoyable and impactful.

Acuff excels at distilling complex concepts into clear, actionable steps that readers can immediately implement in their own lives. His 3-step approach provides a adaptable framework for goal-setting that can be applied to any area, from career aspirations to personal development to health and relationships.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is how it addresses the psychological barriers and self-limiting beliefs that often hold people back from pursuing their goals. Acuff validates common fears and insecurities while offering strategies to reframe challenges as opportunities. His emphasis on self-compassion, resilience, and maintaining a growth mindset is both refreshing and inspiring.

Another highlight is the way Acuff illustrates his teachings through stories – both from his own life and from people he has coached. These examples make the concepts more concrete and show how the 3-step process has worked for real people in various circumstances.

While the core ideas may not be groundbreaking for readers well-versed in personal development, Acuff presents them in a uniquely accessible and motivating way. His distinctive voice, humor, and insight make the content feel fresh and relevant.

The one criticism is that some may find certain sections a bit repetitive, as Acuff tends to reiterate key points. However, this arguably serves to reinforce his messages and make them stick.

Overall, “All It Takes Is a Goal” is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to set and reach goals, overcome regret, and live up to their full potential. Acuff’s 3-step plan, combined with his infectious enthusiasm and faith in the reader’s abilities, make this book a powerful tool for personal transformation. I highly recommend it to anyone feeling stuck or searching for a proven roadmap to turn their dreams into achievable goals.

Introduction: Master motivation and achieve your dreams

All It Takes Is a Goal (2023) is a transformative guide that empowers readers to achieve their dreams. It demonstrates how setting effective goals can help individuals escape their comfort zones, make measurable progress, and ultimately reach their full potential.

Have you ever felt a pang of regret over missed opportunities or wasted potential? The author certainly has. While touring his daughter’s prospective college campus, what should have been an exciting moment turned into frustration as he reflected on his own wasted college years. But rather than stew in bitterness, he  became curious. Could he change his future, even if he couldn’t change his past?

In this summary, we’ll look at one author’s unique approach to pursuing your dreams. You’ll see how to set effective goals, get unstuck, and start reaching your full potential.

Your absolute #1 goal

Many people feel like they’re not living up to their potential. Indeed, according to the author, a shocking 50 percent of people report that fully half of their potential remained untapped. It was as if they could see a pile of unopened gifts, but for some reason felt unable to unwrap them.

Why does it have to be this way? What if each day could feel like a gift, with every year progressively better than the last?

First, we need to get specific. Potential is a poorly defined concept. And it’s hard to take action on something you can’t clearly articulate. So that’s why we start with goals.

Goals provide the concrete finish line that potential lacks. They allow you to orient yourself in the right direction, measure progress, and stay motivated. By distilling the nebulous potential into specific goals, you can trigger a cascade of accomplishments.

One obstacle? We tend to overestimate what we can achieve in the short-term while underestimating our capabilities in the long run. One year feels like forever, so we pile on a mountain of goals and New Year’s resolutions to accomplish right now – only to abandon them in despair when, inevitably, we fall behind schedule.

The problem isn’t with having goals, but with how we set them. Most people’s goals are too vague, too numerous, and too disconnected from their day-to-day realities. We say we want to “lose weight” or “write a book,” but don’t break those aspirations down into bite-sized, executable steps. And we treat goal-setting as a once-a-year event rather than an ongoing process.

To really move the needle, you need a different approach to goal-setting. You need a system – one that is specific and measurable; focused on a few top priorities; reviewed and adjusted regularly; connected to your passions and values; and bolstered by supportive habits and behaviors.

This is the basis for the author’s goal-setting framework. At its core is identifying your number-one goal for the year. Not your top ten goals, or even your top five. Just one, single priority that you commit to above all else.

The beauty of choosing one goal is that it forces you to cut through the noise and focus on what matters most. It prevents you from spreading yourself too thin or chasing someone else’s definition of success. Your number-one goal becomes your North Star – the fixed point you can use to navigate through decisions and align your efforts productively.

Of course, you’ll still have other responsibilities and aspirations. But by getting crystal-clear on your top priority, you create a powerful filtering mechanism. Whenever a new opportunity or obligation arises, you can ask: “Does this align with my number-one goal? Will it move me closer to or farther away from my target?” Anything that’s not a “Hell, yes!” on moving closer becomes a no.

To bring your number-one goal to life, the author recommends breaking it down into 90-day increments. Twelve months is too long to stay focused, but anyone can commit to three months of dedicated effort. Within each 90-day period, you identify the two to three key actions that will produce the greatest results. Then it’s just a matter of relentless execution, followed by a brief period of rest and recalibration, before launching into the next 90-day sprint.

By adopting this approach of targeted goal-setting combined with disciplined follow-through, the author was able to make massive strides in his business, health, relationships, and personal growth. What once felt like untapped potential became a series of tangible wins through the power of clear goals and committed action.

Potential isn’t a finite resource allocated at birth, but an expandable reserve that grows with each milestone you achieve. All it takes is a goal – or, more precisely, the right goal pursued in the right way.

So what’s your number-one goal that will unlock new possibilities and move you closer to your full potential? Define it, commit to it, and get to work. Your future self will thank you.

Harness the power of games

Do you ever struggle with motivation? If so, you’re not alone.

We may understand the benefits of growth perfectly well. The problem is that we all have a “stuck self” – that stubborn part of our psyche that resists change and clings to comfortable routines.

So how can we overcome this internal adversary and tap into our full potential? The author found an answer in an unexpected place: his childhood.

In 2008, he started a new blog on a whim, with no real strategy or expectations. To his surprise, it quickly gained traction, attracting thousands of readers within weeks. As he threw himself into this new passion project, he had a revelation: This is just a game.

Instead of a routine work task, his blog became an exciting challenge with clear rules and rewards. The more he posted, the more traffic and engagement he generated. Suddenly, previously daunting tasks, like waking up early or limiting TV time, felt easy. Why? Because they were in service of a game he loved playing. He had stumbled upon a powerful truth: turning goals into games makes them far more achievable.

Games, it turns out, are an antidote to our natural resistance to change. They provide the structure, motivation, and dopamine hits that make hard work feel fun and rewarding. When we’re absorbed in playing a game we enjoy, distractions lose their power and discipline comes more easily.

The author shares the story of a mom who overcame her kids’ aversion to chores and homework by creating a game with a giant flip chart and post-it notes. By turning mundane tasks into a chance-based challenge, complete with silly rewards, she changed her children’s attitudes and got results – without having to nag or play the bad guy.

What about the corporate world? One woman, tasked with the unenviable job of managing a team of resentful employees, found her saving grace in a metrics-based raffle game. By offering gift card prizes for improvements in key performance indicators, she got her disengaged team invested despite their initial resistance. The result? Doubled efficiency, a promotion – and the biggest raise in company history.

The lesson is clear: if we want to outsmart our stuck selves and follow through on our goals, we need to turn them into games. Not just any game, but one we genuinely enjoy, with clear rules, regular feedback, and juicy rewards. When the joy of playing overpowers the inertia of standing still, our potential is unlocked.

Here are some guiding principles:

The first step is to find what motivates you. Do some reflection and write a “Best Moments List” – a collection of experiences, accomplishments, and rewards that have brought you fulfillment.  Then use this list to pinpoint the elements to weave into your games.

Simplicity is also essential. The author’s blogging game wasn’t elaborate – it just involved writing, posting, and engaging consistently. Similarly, the chore chart one mom used consisted of just a flip chart, some post-its, and a dash of silly fun. Resist the urge to overcomplicate your games with too many rules or moving parts.

Giving your game a visual and tactile dimension can also enhance its appeal. Being able to see and interact with your progress tracking in a concrete way makes games feel more real and engaging.

Another tip is to incorporate elements of surprise and novelty. The post-it chore system kept its creator’s kids engaged partly because they never knew which task they would uncover next. Even the author’s blogging journey came with unexpected twists and rewards he couldn’t have predicted at the outset. By building some variability and randomness into your games, you keep things fresh and ward off boredom.

Finally, the most motivating games are those that provide frequent feedback and rewards. The manager who turned around her department’s performance didn’t wait until the end of the year to recognize progress – she implemented prize drawings weekly. When designing your own goal games, look for ways to give yourself regular “wins” and dopamine hits along the way, rather than reserving all the celebration for the finish line.

Ultimately, crafting the perfect game is a personal and creative process. What works for one person may not resonate with another. The most important thing is to keep experimenting and iterating until you find an approach that makes growth feel less like a grind and more like an absorbing adventure. By staying attuned to your own quirks and passions, and applying the principles modeled in these success stories, you’ll be on your way to becoming your own favorite opponent – and your own most unstoppable champion.

The power to change, it turns out, doesn’t come from ironclad willpower or superhuman discipline. It comes from the simple, timeless magic of play. When we approach growth with a spirit of curiosity and adventure rather than grim determination, breakthroughs happen. So the next time you’re staring down a daunting goal, don’t just grit your teeth and bear it. Design a game you can’t wait to win, and let your stuck self be your first opponent to beat. On the other side lies a life rich with realized potential – and a lot of fun along the way.

What are your Middle Goals?

Have you ever felt like a rabbit in a world built for turtles? The author certainly has. As a self-proclaimed “goal nerd” with a penchant for ambitious projects, he’s always been more of a sprinter than a marathoner. But in his quest to unlock his full potential, he discovered that the classic fable of the tortoise and the hare holds a powerful truth: consistency beats speed every time.

The problem, the author realized, is that most of us operate in just two gears – the Comfort Zone and the Chaos Zone. We’re either stuck in the familiar, low-expectation rut of the Comfort Zone, or we’re frantically chasing a dozen goals at once in the Chaos Zone, bouncing from one shiny object to the next without ever making real progress. What we’re missing is the middle path – the Potential Zone.

To escape the Comfort Zone, the author recommends starting with what he thinks of as “Easy Goals” – bite-sized challenges that can be accomplished in a week or less, with obvious first steps and minimal cost. These quick wins build momentum and self-awareness, helping us identify the activities that truly light us up.

But there’s a danger here. As we start to taste success, there’s a strong temptation to over-correct and bite off more than we can chew.

That’s where “Middle Goals” come in. Spanning 30 to 90 days, these mid-range objectives are designed to cultivate consistency and avoid burnout. The key is flexibility – having a wide array of actions to choose from so that progress can happen anywhere, anytime. Middle Goals should be challenging enough to keep us engaged, but not so rigid that missing a day derails the whole endeavor. They’re about developing a sustainable rhythm, not achieving perfection.

Of course, even the most well-crafted Middle Goal can’t succeed without one crucial ingredient: time. In a world of endless distractions and competing priorities, carving out space for our goals can be hard. But the author insists that scattered minutes matter more than we realize. Success, it turns out, is often hiding in the seconds we waste waiting for Zoom meetings to start, sitting in the school pickup line, or mindlessly scrolling through social media.

The solution is to “steal back” those in-between moments and invest them in intentional action. By breaking our Middle Goals down into bite-sized steps that can be tackled in 15 minutes or less, we make progress possible no matter how packed our schedules seem. The author himself wrote an entire book in stolen increments, a testament to the power of small, consistent efforts over time.

As we start to value our minutes more highly, an interesting shift happens. We become less willing to give our precious time away to activities and emotions that don’t serve our goals. Worry, stress, and distraction start to lose their grip as we redirect our energy toward the things we really care about. Discipline becomes less about white-knuckling our way through temptation, and more about devotion to our highest priorities.

This is the essence of living in the Potential Zone – not a state of perfect productivity, but a commitment to consistent forward motion aligned with our deepest values. It may feel uncomfortable at first. But as the results start to speak for themselves, the initial awkwardness gives way to a new kind of ease and flow.

The author’s own experience is proof of the transformative power of this approach. By trading his boom-and-bust work style for the steady pursuit of Middle Goals, he turned his once-floundering career around, writing books and running half-marathons with previously unimaginable consistency. The secret, he discovered, wasn’t some superhuman willpower or motivation, but a willingness to honor his time and trust the process.

Summary

Connect with an authentic vision for your future by reflecting on your past.

According to most self-help books, you must create a detailed long-term vision of your life to achieve your highest potential. But many people struggle to visualize what they want to accomplish in minute detail. This phenomenon is known as hitting your “vision wall.” Other self-help manuals suggest mustering motivation by living your life as though you only have six months to live. But who would bother with the details of day-to-day living when facing imminent death? Imaginary near-death experiences don’t promote long-term change.

“A best moment is when your vision and your reality overlap. It’s when how you hoped life could be actually matches how life is.”

Fortunately, there’s an easier way to connect to your desires: Instead of looking to the future (the realm of fantasy), evaluate your past (your real-life history). Jot down a list of your favorite experiences and achievements over the past two decades. Your “best moments” could include traveling to a far-flung destination or becoming a parent, for example. Don’t place any restrictions on what counts as a best moment; simply identify the times when you experienced joy. Even seemingly trivial moments matter. Your list will instill a sense of hope, gratitude, and self-awareness; highlight the things you cherish; and ground you in the present.

Once you’ve crafted your list, sort each moment into one of the following four categories: “experience” (a moment you participated in); “accomplishment” (an achievement resulting from your hard work); “relationship” (a moment made special by the presence of another person); and “object” (a physical item that brings you joy). Which list is the longest? This exercise will help you understand what kind of moments you cherish most of all. As you reflect on your best moments of the past, you’ll crave more such moments, which will help you plan for your future.

Don’t play it too safe or overcommit yourself; find a happy medium.

Perhaps you are a hard worker, and you feel constantly busy. Alas, being a “high performer” doesn’t equate to being a “high achiever.” High performers flit among the following three “performance zones”:

1. “Comfort zone” — The comfort zone is “an amazing place to visit but ultimately a terrible place to live.” When you lack ambition or motivation, you get mired in the comfort zone. People leave this zone for two reasons: They face a crisis, such as a health scare or failed relationship, or they voluntarily move into less-comfortable territory, knowing that the return on investment will be worth the temporary distress.
2. “Chaos zone” — You enter the chaos zone — a booby trap for high performers — when you try to tackle too many goals simultaneously. Perhaps one day you decide to overhaul every aspect of your life: You resolve, say, to lose 10 lbs [4.5 kg], earn a promotion, improve your marriage, become more financially savvy, start a side hustle, and take up meditation. All these goals are appealing, but making progress on them all at once is unrealistic. Don’t overestimate your capacity or make too many promises.
3. “Potential zone” — This zone is a happy medium between too safe and too volatile. In this zone, you feel motivated to improve. You resolve to challenge yourself and try new things but set realistic expectations. In the potential zone, you seek out more best moments, bringing you closer to your vision.

Shift from being a high performer to being a high achiever by bidding farewell to the safety of the comfort zone and the messiness of the chaos zone and choosing instead to reside in the potential zone as much as possible.

Gamify your goals to elevate your chance of success.

Treat the journey toward your goals like a game. Playing deceives your brain into perceiving work as fun. For example, if you’re trying to launch a successful blog, watch your blog traffic increase on Google Analytics, which functions as a scorecard. According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, work, more than any other daily activity, exhibits game-like traits: It has goals, rules, and challenges to overcome. Achieving career goals, such as hitting your monthly sales targets, releases dopamine — the feel-good neurotransmitter central to the brain’s reward system — just like playing your favorite video game.

“Games are easy…You learned how to play games before you could even walk: peekaboo, hide-and-seek, tag.”

Before setting out to achieve big life goals, identify which of the following “games” you are playing. Pick one, and figure out what you need to do to win:

• “Career games” — Play a career game if you want to focus on work-related goals, like snagging a big promotion.
• “Finance games” — Play a finance game to escape debt or get on the property ladder.
• “Relationship games” — Gamifying relationships might involve aiming to be a better spouse or make more friends.
• “Health games” — Health games could help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol, or train for a marathon.
• “Fun games” — This category describes any goal that doesn’t fit neatly into the first four categories, such as learning a new craft or language.

Pursue “easy goals” to gain momentum early on.

When setting goals, people often advise you to “go big or go home,” but setting more attainable goals can help you shift out of your comfort zone. For example, it’s unlikely that you’ll suddenly get off your couch to write a best-selling trilogy of books. But if you set a small initial goal of, say, writing an email, you’re more likely to turn it into a middle goal, such as writing a chapter, and ultimately into a guaranteed goal, such as finishing your book.

Achieving big long-term goals requires you to break them down into easy goals that have the following characteristics: They have short time frames (ideally less than one week); there’s no ambiguity about what first steps to take; they are affordable (achieving these goals should not come at great personal expense); and you can squeeze them in without altering your current schedule. Once you get a taste for easy wins, you feel driven to pursue more. Avoid the temptation to take on bigger goals before you’re ready, as you could easily catapult yourself from your comfort zone to the chaos zone, failing to hit your stride in the potential zone.

“Easy goals help you escape the comfort zone. Middle goals help you avoid the chaos zone.”

Once you’ve focused on easy goals for at least several months, transition into “middle goals” with time frames of one to three months. Aim for flexibility of execution, a lack of rigidity (because sometimes life gets in the way, and it’s OK to have an off day), and intentionality when pursuing these goals. You need patience to achieve your middle goals, as you can’t make the progress you need to make all at once. The magic of middle goals is that, if you stick with them, you’ll eventually achieve a big goal, such as writing your book, without burning yourself out in the process.

Choose a game you can realistically win, then spend 15 minutes on it.

You might feel tempted to play a game that you’re likely to fail: Perhaps you engage in deliberate self-sabotage (maybe deep down, you don’t believe that you deserve happiness); you lack self-awareness about your own needs and capabilities; or you feel guilty when you succeed because an easy win feels like cheating. Remember that it’s a good thing to choose games you can easily win; they drive success.

“Most goals are optimistic lies.”

Instead of waiting until you have freed up some time to dedicate to your goal (which might never happen), get started immediately by spending 15 minutes on it. A quarter of an hour may not sound like much, but it’s better than nothing and can have a profound impact. You’ll likely discover that the first step is the hardest.

Staying in your potential zone requires the right kind of motivation.

High achievers tap into a “fuel,” or motivation, that sustains them over the long term and aligns with their authentic desires and values. Short-term fuels — such as the pursuit of money — aren’t sustainable, as they don’t trigger long-term happiness and well-being. Warren Buffett’s original fuel might have been to become wealthy, but philanthropy motivates his work today. Avoid the temptation to rely on a destructive kind of fuel, such as a crisis. For example, maybe you know a leader who excels at “putting out fires” but gets agitated during calm periods. Such individuals often end up setting new fires to feel useful again. Newsflash: That’s not the behavior of a true leader; that person is an arsonist who revels in the chaos zone.

“At some point in the journey, high performers always make a switch from short-term fuel to long-term fuel if they want to stay in the potential zone.”

Only four types of fuel can help you thrive in the potential zone:

1. “Impact” — Refer back to your “best moments” list. If you reap the most happiness from your accomplishments, then let the effects of your achievements act as your fuel. For example, say you want to pay off your credit card debt: Remind yourself that getting rid of your debt can put you in a financial position to help others via charitable donations.
2. “Craft” — If experiences bring you the most joy, let the pursuit of your craft fuel you. “Craft” refers to a broad range of skills, from playing musical instruments to running marathons. You execute your craft for the sheer joy the effort brings you. In the workplace, a connection with your craft is called “engagement.” Workers will even accept substandard pay and conditions if they garner meaning from their work.
3. “Community” — If your happiness depends on your relationships, let your community motivate you. For instance, the support of a running group can inspire you to go jogging in less-than-ideal weather conditions. Technology has consigned “accidental” community to history; nowadays, you rarely run into friends at the store or colleagues in the break room due to the popularity of online shopping and remote working, respectively. Thus, your efforts to connect with others must be deliberate.
4. “Stories” — Objects tend not to be the most populated category on best moments lists, as materialism isn’t a long-term fuel. But if the objects on your list have a story, they can serve as a potent source of motivation. Objects have the power to weave stories that spark positive feelings of youth, success, trendiness, inspiration, or connection within you. Once you become aware of the objects that bring you joy, you know what type of items to let into your life in the future.

Learn to set “guaranteed goals,” whereby every small effort builds progress.

If you want to ensure your success, then pursue guaranteed goals: Any effort you put in is a win. Guaranteed goals can even help you accomplish tasks you’ve been avoiding or dreading, such as getting your finances in order, if you precede them with easy goals and middle goals.

“Make your guaranteed goal as big as possible but the distance between your deadlines as small as possible.”

Guaranteed goals share the following characteristics:

• They have longer time frames — Guaranteed goals have time frames of between three and twelve months. If you commit to writing a certain number of words each day, you’re guaranteed to have written at least a draft of a book at the end of your time frame. While you can’t guarantee that your book will sell a million copies, you can ensure you write it by taking regular action toward your goal.
• They are within your control — You’re the only one responsible for achieving guaranteed goals. While becoming a New York Times bestseller is out of your control, you can choose the best team to launch your book and maximize your exposure via podcasts before your book launch.
• They are quantifiable — Use easy metrics to gauge your success. For example, aim to read a book every week for a year or to be kind to your family 365 days a year.
• They require a more “deliberate” mindset — You must schedule sufficient time to pick away at your guaranteed goals and navigate the initial disruption they cause in your life. On average, an easy goal requires 1% of your time (two hours per week); a middle goal, 3% (about five hours per week); and a guaranteed goal, 5% (eight hours per week).
• They sound “impossible” — Others may say your guaranteed goals sound overly ambitious. Happily, the only person you need to convince that you have the power to achieve your goal is yourself.

Unleash your full potential by creating individualized scorecards for your goals.

As you work toward your goals, it’s natural to compare progress with others’; remember, your journeys are not comparable. Be kind to yourself if you get caught in the comparison trap; your brain is simply looking for a way to measure your progress. Don’t begrudge other people’s successes. Instead, invent a scorecard for yourself. The beauty of your personal scorecard is that it’s unique to you, and you get to decide what counts as progress. The only criteria are that your scorecard is visual and that you use it. A mindfulness app that logs the number of times you’ve meditated per month can act as a scorecard, just as a smartwatch can tell you the distance you’ve run.

“At the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the year, or even the end of your life, I want you to have a really easy answer to the question, ‘Did I live up to my potential?”

Create your scorecard with a pen, ruler, and paper and affix it to a wall where you can see it, just as you would display a child’s reward chart. Consider what you will measure (time spent on an activity, actions taken, or results achieved). Update your scorecard to accommodate any significant life changes, such as a new job or the birth of a child, instead of taking a past, redundant scorecard to measure your current self. Once you’ve decided what game you’re playing and the scorecard you will use, get ready to embrace the potential zone and start transforming your “someday” into “today.”

Conclusion

Unlocking our potential is a journey of clarity, consistency, and engagement. By setting specific goals, turning them into absorbing games, and committing to steady progress through “Middle Goals”, we give ourselves the tools to overcome resistance and achieve extraordinary results.

The ultimate reward isn’t just external success – it’s the deep sense of alignment and joy that comes from becoming our best selves. Embrace the power of goal-setting, gamification, and consistent action to break out of your Comfort Zone.

Honor your time, trust the process, and know that a life of rich meaning and boundless growth is within your reach.

About the author

Jon Acuff is a New York Times best-selling author who has written nine books, including the Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller Finish. He is also a popular podcast host and one of INC’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers, having spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at events worldwide.