Goals · Productivity · Free
Every goal on its horizon, from who you want to become down to this quarter, each one rolling up to the bigger one it serves.
Set goals from lifetime to quarterly, break them into sub-goals and milestones, and see how far along each one is.
-
Six horizonsLifetime, 10 Year, 5 Year, Yearly, Quarterly and Monthly. A goal can only roll up to one on a longer horizon, so the tree always reads from far to near.
-
Progress that fills itselfA goal takes its progress from its sub-goals or from a linked habit, so it moves as the smaller pieces get done.
-
The small things count"Little by little" collects four weeks of tasks, focus sessions, Hours, habit check-offs and wins done toward a goal and everything under it.
Your first week with Goals
-
Start at the top
Tap + and write the one thing you are working toward. Pick "Lifetime" for who you want to become, then "Pin as North Star" on the last step.
-
Bring it closer
Add a yearly goal that serves it. On "Give it context", choose a life area and pick the North Star under "Rolls up to".
-
Give it a target
Open the goal, tap "Edit", and under "Add a target" set "Progress from" to "From sub-goals" or "From habit". Then add a sub-goal or two with +.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Tap + ("Add goal"), name the goal, and pick a horizon tile from "Lifetime" down to "Quarterly".
- 2 Tap "Next", choose a "Life area", and if it serves a bigger goal, pick it under "Rolls up to".
- 3 Add a line under "Why this goal?", or link a value or identity if you have set them up.
- 4 On "Does this look right?", open "Details & Options" to set a target date, add checkpoints, or "Pin as North Star", then tap "Create".
- 5 Open the goal and use the + buttons to add sub-goals, milestones, and decisions.
Five horizons, from the summit down to this quarter
A new goal starts with a horizon. The tiles climb from “Quarterly”, the trail under your feet, to “Lifetime”, the summit. Here is one sample goal pinned at each camp.
Sample goals
- Lifetime · North Star The summit — who you want to become Build a life of creative independence
- 10 Year The peak — major life transformation Write and publish three books
- 5 Year The ridge — meaningful progress Reach financial independence by 35
- Yearly Base camp — this year’s focus Be in the best shape of my life
- Quarterly Today’s trail — 90-day sprint Run a half marathon
Monthly is the sixth horizon. It has no tile; pick it in a goal’s “Edit Goal” sheet.
The goal you pin as your North Star leaves its horizon and sits in a banner at the top of the Goals page. There is one at a time; usually it is the lifetime goal.
Every goal rolls up to a bigger one
Under “Rolls up to”, a goal names the one it serves. The “Tree” view draws them together: the North Star on top, each goal opening into the ones beneath it. Open and close the sample.
Sample tree
NORTH STAR · LIFETIME
Build a life of creative independence
Be in the best shape of my lifeYEARLY33%
- Complete a 10K raceQUARTERLY100%
Run a half marathonQUARTERLY0%
- Run 3× a week for 8 weeksMONTHLY
- Long run to 18 kmMONTHLY
- Sleep 7+ hours consistentlyQUARTERLY27%
Launch my podcastYEARLY40%
- Pick a name and formatQUARTERLY100%
- Record three pilot episodesQUARTERLY100%
- Find a co-hostQUARTERLY
- Publish episode oneQUARTERLY
- Reach 100 listenersQUARTERLY
What may roll up to what
A goal rolls up to one on a longer horizon
Here, a quarterly goal choosing its parent. “Choose a parent goal” lists the horizons to its left, never its own or a shorter one.
- Lifetime (may be its parent)
- 10 Year (may be its parent)
- 5 Year (may be its parent)
- Yearly (may be its parent)
- Quarterly (this goal)
- Monthly (may not)
Where a goal’s progress comes from
In “Edit Goal”, “Add a target” sets “Progress from”. A goal fed by its sub-goals or a habit fills on its own, as the smaller things get done.
Sample goals
From sub-goals
Be in the best shape of my life
1 of 3 sub-goals completed33%
Each achieved sub-goal is one share. A sub-goal’s own sub-goals count toward it, not toward this one.
From habit
Sleep 7+ hours consistently
16 / 60 nights27%
Pick the “Linked habit”, and each time it is logged the goal moves with it. A habit that reads Apple Health fills it too.
Manual entry
Save for a sabbatical
$4,200 / $12,00035%
Amounts you log yourself, against a target and a unit. They are logged on the goal’s page in HourLife for Mac.
Value type
The same three entries, read three ways
A habit or logged goal also sets a “Value type”. Here, three runs in kilometres against a target of 100.
- Oct 312 km
- Oct 1018 km
- Oct 1715 km
- Total (adds up over time) adds them: 45 km 45%
- Current value (e.g. weight, balance) keeps the latest: 15 km 15%
- Achieved / Not achieved any entry counts 100%
What counts
Shorter goals start again each period
A monthly, quarterly or yearly goal counts only this month’s, quarter’s or year’s entries. Longer goals count everything. Progress from sub-goals never resets.
Little by little: the small things that add up
A goal’s page counts what was done toward it, and toward every goal under it, in the last four weeks. Nothing needs logging twice: a finished task, a focus session, an Hours block or a habit’s check-off counts where it happened.
Sample · Run a half marathon, Sep 23 to Oct 20
Little by little
26small things in 4 weeks
Showed up 15 of the last 28 days
- Habit 10
- Hours 10
- Task 4
- Win 2
- HABITGo for a runToday
- TASKPlan the 18 km routeSun, Oct 18
- HABITGo for a runSat, Oct 17
The same four weeks, by source
Runs on most days, with a task or a win between
Columns are days; the numbers mark Mondays. Highlights, gratitude, focus sessions and logged progress count the same way.
Milestones on the way, and a moment to mark each
Milestones are the dated checkpoints of one goal. Add them with the + beside “Milestones” on its page, or under “Checkpoints” when you create it. Tap a milestone’s circle when you reach it.
Sample · Run a half marathon
With four milestones or more, the chart button beside “Milestones” turns the list into a timeline.
“Save” marks the milestone reached and dates it, and the list strikes its name through. With “Log as a Win” on, the moment is kept in Gratitude & Wins as well, and shows on the goal’s page:
GRATITUDE & WINSReached milestone: Sign up for the race - Booked for December 13
Insights: where your goals are heading
“Insights”, in the ⋯ menu, looks across every goal: how many you finish, where your effort lands, and what is coming due.
Sample · 14 active goals
You’ve completed 4 goals in the last 90 days.
14 active, 7 completed, 1 paused.
Momentum · 6 months
About 1.0 goals finished per month.
4 finished in the last 90 days.
- in 6 mo
- 6
- new 30d
- 3
- per month
- 1.0
Portfolio
Where your goals stand right now.
- active
- 14
- completed
- 7
- paused
- 1
Where your effort lands
Most of your goals are in Health.
Balance by life area across active and completed goals.
- Health 5 active · 3 completed 3
- Craft 4 active · 2 completed 2
- Wealth 3 active · 1 completed 1
- Relationships 2 active · 1 completed 1
Planning altitude
Quarterly goals are taking most of your active attention.
A healthy system usually has a few near-term goals connected to longer arcs.
- Quarterly 6
- Yearly 4
- Monthly 2
- Lifetime 1
- 5 Year 1
On the horizon
2 active goals are due within 30 days.
Active goals with target dates, sorted by urgency.
- Run 3× a week for 8 weeks Health · Monthly in 11d
- Long run to 18 km Health · Monthly in 19d
- Run a half marathon Health · Quarterly in 54d
- Launch my podcast Craft · Yearly in 72d
- Be in the best shape of my life Health · Yearly in 72d
Milestones
You’ve reached 9 of 15 milestones.
Milestones make long goals easier to inspect before they are complete.
Goal health
79% of active goals have progress structure.
3 active goals have no target date yet.
- structured
- 11
- undated
- 3
- archived
- 2
Pace
Goals take you about 74 days to finish.
From the day you add one to the day you mark it done.
Before there is anything to count, Insights says “Nothing to show yet.” An overdue goal moves to the top: “N active goals need a date reset.”
Tips
- Set a default horizon and life area in Goals "Settings" so new goals start where you usually plan.
- In the Tree view, long-press a goal and choose "Add to Highlights" to mark a moment that matters.
- When a goal tracks a number, edit it, set "Progress from" to "From habit", and pick the "Linked habit". Each log of that habit then moves the goal.
- Once a goal has four or more milestones, tap the chart button next to "Milestones" to see them as a timeline.
Questions
About Goals day to day.
-
What is the North Star?
The one goal you pin as your guiding purpose. Pin it with "Pin as North Star" on the last step of a new goal, or from a goal's ⋯ menu. There is one at a time: pinning another asks "Replace North Star?". The Goals page shows it in its own banner, above the horizons.
-
Why can't I choose a goal under "Rolls up to"?
A goal can only roll up to one on a longer horizon. A quarterly goal can sit under a yearly, 5 year or lifetime goal, but not under another quarterly one.
-
Where is the Monthly horizon?
The tiles for a new goal stop at "Quarterly". To make a goal monthly, open it, tap "Edit", and pick "Monthly" under "Time horizon".
-
Does a goal's progress start again each year?
For a monthly, quarterly or yearly goal that counts a habit or logged amounts, yes. Only this month's, quarter's or year's entries count. A lifetime, 10 year or 5 year goal counts everything. Progress from sub-goals never resets.
-
How do I mark a goal achieved?
On HourLife for Mac, a goal's page has "Mark Achieved", and "Reopen" to take it back. A goal set to "Manual entry" has "Log" there too. An achieved sub-goal counts toward its parent's progress and toward Insights.
-
What counts toward "Little by little"?
Anything done toward the goal or one of its sub-goals in the last 28 days. That covers tasks finished, focus sessions, Hours blocks, highlights, gratitude and wins, logged progress, the linked habits' check-offs, and the tiny steps, notes and wins of intentions linked to it.
Works with
Where Goals hands off to the rest of HourLife.
-
Habits
A habit can be linked to a goal, and a goal set to "From habit" with a "Linked habit" takes its progress from that habit's logs.
-
Tasks
Link a task to a goal from the task sheet, and the goal's page lists it with a running completion percentage.
-
Projects
A project can link to a goal, and its page then reads "Serves Goal" with the goal's name.
-
Decisions
Record a decision from a goal's "Decisions" section with the + button, and it stays listed there.
-
Values
Ground a goal in one of your values, and the value statement appears on the goal's page.
-
Gratitude
"Log as a Win" on a reached milestone saves a Gratitude & Wins entry, which shows on the goal's page.
-
Intentions
An intention linked to a goal adds its tiny steps, notes and wins to the goal’s “Little by little”, and the goal’s focus time, Hours, highlights and gratitude join the intention’s thread.
Read and try
Books from the library that Goals puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
-
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey Covey's "begin with the end in mind", the reason Goals runs from lifetime down to the quarter.
-
Grit Angela Duckworth Duckworth on long-term goals held with passion and perseverance, the top of the goal tree.
-
Be Your Future Self Now Benjamin Hardy Hardy on deciding who you are becoming and acting from there, which is what a lifetime goal names.
Already have HourLife?
Goals is under Productivity in the module list. The ⋯ menu on the Goals page holds "Insights", "Archived" and "Settings", and the chips under the title switch between "All", "Active", "By area" and "Tree".
Goals is in the Library, under Productivity. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules.
What would you like to know?
Ask a question about this feature or tell us what’s missing.
