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In a nutshell, you want to answer a series of questions that, tips for forming strong habits that have the power to incremen-
combined, help you define your primary aim in a few sentences. tally — yet substantially — change your life.

Questions to ask yourself include: “Big changes are not going to stick. You’ve got to alter whatever
habit is preventing you from getting there in order to get what
● What do you want your life to look like and feel like? you want,” says Tony.
● What do you value most?
● What would you like people’s perceptions of you to be? Remember that not all your goals should be about work.
● What are your daydreams about? Nobody lying on their deathbed is wishing they would have
● Do you ever find yourself wishing you were different? worked a few more days.
● Of all the things you’ve done in your life, what has
given you the most satisfaction? Review Your Objectives Regularly
● If you no longer had to work, how would you spend
your time? Instead of setting goals every January, make it a point to think
● What is missing from your life? about your objectives regularly and revisit your primary aim.
● What is your greatest strength? Your greatest weakness? Every single week, Tony takes time to review his personal
● What don’t you want in your life? objectives and refresh his goals for the months ahead. He also
● takes time to mark off the goals he has already accomplished.
You’ll notice that many of the questions above are similar, and “It’s extremely satisfying to achieve these goals. And if you
that’s by design. The ultimate goal is to help you succinctly achieve one, it motivates you to get the next one and really
articulate what you value and what you want out of life. As you keeps your energy up,” he says.
write down your responses to these questions, you may start
to identify the barriers that are blocking you from achieving Our stockpile of energy is not endless, which is why it’s so
important goals. important to manage your energy effectively and divert it to
worthwhile things. If you feel like you’re struggling with identi-
It’s obvious that many of the things you want to do will require fying and achieving your goals, consider employing the services
money and resources. But instead of concluding that you sim- of a life coach who can help you consider new ideas and stay
ply need to “make more money,” think about how you can get accountable.
laser-focused on what matters, cut certain things out of your
life, and delegate other things. Every person has a limited lifespan — and you never know
when your time might be cut short. For some people, this fact
“You may dream about building a house or fixing up a classic makes them feel that planning for the future is pointless. For
car. And I think the answer is not always extra finances, but others, it’s a catalyst to do everything they can to make the
really using your money effectively. Because money can disap- most of the time they have.
pear if you’re not watching what it’s doing,” Tony says.

One unique follow-up exercise is to task yourself with writing
your own eulogy. What do you want people to say about your
life at your funeral — and how can you make that your lived
reality?

“When I drafted my eulogy, I wrote about having lots of great
vacations with my family,” Tony says. “Guess what I did? I now
plan four vacations every year with my family. So if your eulogy
says ‘he loved his family and had lots of great memories, in-
cluding big vacations,’ get some vacations going.”

Make Your Goals as Specific as Possible

Once you’ve articulated your primary aim, now you can start
setting specific goals for personal development and other cat-
egories that will serve your ideal life.

This is where the concept of SMART goals comes into play. You
need to set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-Bound. Otherwise, it’s not going to happen.

Think about the next 10-year window, which is fairly far in
the future but not so far that you can’t imagine yourself there.
Then, set incremental goals and modify your habits so you can
achieve them. Tony recommends the book Atomic Habits to get

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