Happy New Year! I’m excited for the start of a new year and the relaunch of the To-Do’s Day newsletter. Today I’m going to share the OMG framework of goal setting. The beginning of a new year is a perfect time to plan your goals and set intentions for who you want to be and what you want to achieve. Let’s get started!
O.M.G. Framework
Long-time subscribers will remember my original goal setting acronym was QMWD, but that was a little too structured and confusing. It stood for Quarter-Month-Week-Day, and I won’t go into the details but you should know what it meant.
O.M.G. — besides being more fun to say — stands for Outcome-Milestone-Goal and can cover any duration of time over one week. Though I recommend breaking down bigger goals into 6-8 week cycles. More on that in my next YouTube video.
Regardless of the timeline, the completion of the set goal is a successful Outcome (being the O). M still equals Milestone, because you know you’re on the right track. G is the Goal of the week, which informs the actions of the day.
- O = Outcome achieved
- M = Milestone reached
- G = Goal(s) for the week
- D = Daily actions
In this framework, I break the big goal into smaller chunks and actions that can be done in a day. If I’m consistent with my daily actions each week, then I’ll complete the goals, reach the milestone, and achieve a successful outcome.
As a newsletter subscriber, you can get early access to my next YouTube video! It’s coming out any day now, just as soon as I can add the overhead shots of the bullet journal and music. But you’ll get the full explanation of the O.M.G. and G.A.P. concepts ahead of everyone else.
G.A.P. Method
The “Goal” in O.M.G. also translates directly to the weekly goal in G.A.P. — because you’re taking a specific action towards a successful outcome of what you want to achieve in the upcoming work cycle. Again, you can see more about this in the YouTube video, but for this week let’s focus on planning out the bigger goals you have for the first 6-8 weeks of 2024, ok?
For example, my Cycle 1 Outcome is a successful online summit and launch of a creator community. So I need to define what each week’s goal is that will move me closer and closer to reaching that successful outcome, and what milestones let me know I’m on the right track.
Finally, to the best of my ability I will schedule each week’s primary goal and action items, then protect time to work on those action items so I can achieve my goal. See the G.A.P. process?
- Goal of the week
- Action items to achieve goal
- Protect time to work on actions
Thanks for reading the newsletter today, I know it’s a busy back-to-work day and I appreciate your time and attention. Keep an eye out for the complete video on YouTube on Wednesday or Thursday. I had hoped to have it out on January 1st, but prioritized rest and family time instead.
If you like, reply to the email or comment below and let me know a goal or intention you have for 2024. I’ll share a few of my favorites in next week’s newsletter, where I’ll share my 3 step habit system.
Happy New Year! 🎆
Matt Ragland