Here’s how
Three years ago, I shared my three-year plan.
It detailed my business goals, travel dreams, and finances.
It also detailed two scenarios: likely and unlikely. Likely is what I thought would happen in the next 12 months. And unlikely was if my plans crashed and burned:
Why am I telling you this?
Well, reflecting on the plan, I can slap myself on the back.
I achieved many of the things I set out to achieve.
I became self-employed, travelled to five countries, self-published a book, hit my $7.5K+/month goal, grew my email list, bought a property, launched a course, offered 1–2–1 coaching, got in better shape with the help of a PT…
*Jeez, Scott — enough already!*
The thing is, my Google Doc can take most of the credit.
Let me explain.
The 12-Month Plan (In A Nutshell)
My Google Doc has gone through many changes over the years.
Here’s the finished thing we’re shooting for:
Let’s break it down.
At the top, list your 3–5 main goals for the year.
I’ve highlighted mine in yellow:
Underneath, include links to other Google Docs.
(We’ll go through these shortly.)
The aim of your 12-month plan is to put all your goals in one place and remind you of what you’re working towards.
Bookmark your doc and review it once a week:
Bucket List Ideas
This is a separate Google Doc.
Mine currently has 42 items on it. I’m taking action on some of them. Others are for another day.
Either way, they won’t be forgotten:
Finances
Lots of people hate spreadsheets — but I can’t get enough of ‘em!
My “Finances” Google Sheet breaks down my:
- Monthly income
- Personal & business expenses
- Investments
- Tax bill (corporation and dividends)
The levers I can use — the cells highlighted green — are the items I change each month as my income grows or shrinks.
And the numbers adjust automatically as I “pull” these levers.
If spreadsheets aren’t your thing, don’t worry about this step.
But if they are, have some fun!
2026 Goals
I break my year into quarters.
And for each quarter, I write down the actions I’ll take to work towards my “yellow box” goals (i.e. flat improvements, business, etc.)
These are some of my actions for Q2:
Attend Google University if you’re not sure how to hit your goals. Here’s the TLDR:
- Jump on Google
- Search “how to [FILL IN THE BLANK]”
- Pick out the juicy & practical steps
- Paste your learnings into a separate Google doc
And that’s it.
I don’t know all the details for the next 12 months. Just the broad strokes. You lose excitement for something when you know all the answers.
So plan, but don’t over-plan.
“If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work toward getting it.’”
— Paulo Coelho
However, I encourage you to detail your plan.
To do this, attach dates to your goals by working backwards, and write down what you need to do each week/month.
For example, one of my goals in 2021 was to make £1,000/month from Udemy courses, so I needed to make an additional 13 courses.
To achieve this goal in six months, I had to produce two courses a month:
I broke this down further. What would I need to do each week to stay on track?
As it turns out, I didn’t have to make this many courses to hit my income goal.
Other opportunities popped up.
What you’ll discover is God, the Universe, coincidence — whatever you want to call it — seems to work in your favour when you’ve got clarity on your goals.
5-Year Goals
These are longer-term plays I’m either actively working towards or plan to act on in the near future.
I don’t know how exactly I’ll hit these goals.
I just know I want to.
Takeaways
Planning and focus.
That’s what this Google Doc is about.
Feed it with ideas, stick to the guides, and you’ll soon be smashing your 12-month goals.
And once you’ve done this once?
Rinse and repeat!
You’ve got this.