Big Dreams, Small Steps: ADHD Goal Setting Made Simple

Do you ever feel like you’re busy all the time, yet not really moving forward in your life?

Maybe you have a long list of things you want to do and experience, but time just keeps whizzing by.

This is where goal setting comes in.

But! when you have ADHD, your relationship with goals can feel complicated.

On one hand, they sound helpful.

On the other hand, past experiences may have left you feeling disappointed like goals work for other people, but not you.

Here’s the good news: goals can be incredibly helpful for the ADHD brain.

And if you’re willing to give them a second chance, you might be surprised at how motivating (and even fun) they can be.

Goal setting is super helpful when you have ADHD because…

Having a goal gives you daily direction and focus.
It is easy to prioritize and make decisions when you have a goal you are working towards.
The tasks you need to do to reach your goal might not be enjoyable, yet you are motivated to do them because they are part of a bigger picture.
Confidence in yourself increases, as every action you take brings you a bit closer to reaching your goal.
Every time you reach a mini milestone you feel like you are winner.
Whenever you complete something, big or small, you get a little shot of dopamine. Since the ADHD brain has less dopamine than non-ADHD brains, this feels extra good.

There are lots of ways to set goals, such as 5-year goals, 10-year ones, etc.
Over the past 20 years as an ADHD coach, I’ve developed a simple 3-tier formula that works really well with the ADHD brain. It helps make goal-setting feel doable and sets you up for success.

Tier One

Your Blue Sky Goal.

Dr Charles Garfield studied peak performers for decades.

He was particularly interested in people who achieved a huge success in a short amount of time after years of very average results.

What Dr Charles discovered was that every one of those people had used blue sky thinking (although it didn’t have that name at the time).

Blue sky thinking is where you imagine what the future holds for you…your dream life. However! You don’t think of any of the practical how to’s or limit yourself in any way, including what has happened so far in your life.

You might picture yourself in a house by a lake that you share with your loved ones or jetting around the world with Lou Vuitton luggage.

Everyone’s blue sky goal is different, and it should be, because you want to feel genuinely excited and motivated by your goals.

Tier Two

Your 2 (ish) Year Goal.

Your blue sky goal is exciting because it gets you to think about what you really want, with no limits.

The slight problem with that is that it can feel soooo far removed from where you are now.
As amazing and exciting as it is, it’s hard to know what practical steps to take today.

This is where your 2-ish year goal comes in.
Two-year goals are goals on the way to your blue sky goals.
However, because your 2-year goals are smaller and nearer, it’s much easier to feel motivated to take action.

Why 2 years?

A common number in the goal-setting world is 5 years. The problem with 5-year goals when you have ADHD is that 5 years sounds like a long way away.
There is no urgency to start acting now.
A 1-year goal isn’t that great for big goals either, because it’s easy to think what you could ‘realistically’ achieve in a year and underestimate what’s possible.

Realism has its place, particularly for ADHDers when you are trying to figure out how much you can get done in a day.
However, with goals, sometimes there is exponential growth.

You see results much more rapidly than expected. So, you want to allow room for some of this magic to happen.
This is why 2-year goals are perfect.

They’re close enough to feel motivated to take action, but big enough to stretch you.

Some of your 2-year goals might happen sooner, and others may take a little longer both are perfectly fine.

And that’s why I always add the “-ish” after 2 🙂

Tier Three

Your Monthly Goal.

Now that you have your blue sky and 2ish year goal, we zoom into the here and now and think about the monthly goals.

What are your goals for this month?

What practical actions will you be taking to achieve them?

It’s harder to think about specific practical actions for the blue sky and 2ish year goal, but when you are only looking ahead 1 month it’s easy to be precise.

II set my goals for the month on the first of the month every month in my journal and encourage you to do the same!!! You can write them in a notebook, a Google Doc, or wherever feels good to you. The key is to write them down, rather than have them floating in your head.

However! It’s important to set your blue sky and 2ish year goals first. Otherwise, your monthly goals end up feeling like regular to-do’s because there is no special energy behind them.

But here’s the thing — it’s important to set your Blue Sky and 2-ish Year goals first. Without them, your monthly goals can feel like just another to-do list, instead of being powered by the energy and excitement of your bigger vision