Want to achieve your dreams? Join the club.
Why a goal-setting club is extremely effective, highly recommended, and a great excuse to eat carbs.
Last weekend, I traveled to Charlotte, NC for the quarterly meeting of Girls with Goals, the goal-setting club I started with some friends a few years ago. While a goal-setting club might seem a little nerdy, a bit Type-A, and kind of intense, I am here to tell you: yes, you’re right, it absolutely is. But it’s also fun, motivating, and effective. There’s a reason I eventually accomplish (most of) my goals!
Three of us form the core of our club (hi, Emma and Kat!), with other folks dropping in for a season or two. Each year, we begin in January with our kickoff meeting, which is hands-down our most intense gathering. We do goal-setting exercises, brainstorm our words or themes for the year, and share our one-, five-, ten-year plans, no matter how extravagant or impossible they may seem. We set a timer and spend ten minutes writing down our hopes and dreams, ideas and to-dos, wishes and wants, and then we take turns reading them out loud. We manifest, baby.
Once we know how we want our lives to feel, we get more practical. We look at our lists, our themes, our words, and then we think about the next three months—Q1, as we call it, because we all work desk jobs and corporate speak is regrettably insidious. Which of our many wants can we reasonably accomplish by April? How will we progress on our big, ambitious goals over the next few months? What will we do to stay true to our themes and ensure our lives align with our dreams? Some goals are time-bound, so those are easy. Others are long-term and ongoing, and must be broken down into stages or steps. As I listen to my friends talk through their ideas, I inevitably add more to my list—goals can be addictive.
By the end of our January meeting, I have three documents: my yearly theme and overarching goals (big, ambitious, categorized, often shared in this newsletter); a long list of specific to-dos I want to accomplish in the next twelve months (some fun, like go rollerskating, others practical, like finally wash my car); and a solid plan for Q1.
Once we wrap up our retreat (which usually includes a bougie dinner and an extravagant brunch—goals are a marathon, and thus require carbs) we head back into the world. Over the next few months, we share updates and wins via a group text. Because we know everyone’s goals so intimately, we also share things that might help one other—resources, connections, articles, accountability. Your goals are just as important as mine!
And then we meet again, once per quarter, to review our progress, adjust our plans, eat more carbs, and discuss how to best spend the next quarter inching closer to our dreams.
Do you have any questions about starting a goal-setting club? Leave a comment and let me know! In the meantime, I’ll be scheming, dreaming, and achieving my way though Q3.
Snack Break
I wasn’t kidding about the carbs. For our Q3 Girls with Goals dinner, Emma booked us a table at Ever Andalo, a cute and cozy Italian restaurant in NoDa. Because “dream big” is always the theme of these gatherings, we also ordered big—antipasti, primi, contorni, dolci, and plenty of wine. The grilled focaccia with burrata and orange marmalade, pictured on the right, was my favorite dish—pure heaven. New goal: learn how to make it and eat it every day, forever. 🍊
Relatable Recommendations
Publishing: Me, publishing? Yes, it’s true! A few weeks ago, I was invited to contribute to Lens, a magazine about “the cultural trends driving creators, the business of creativity, and the art of the craft.” My first two essays (which expand on newsletters first published here) are now live, and I’d love for you to check them out:
Reading: I enjoyed this article, about the rise of tech worker fiction. I work in tech, and a lot of the story plots I’ve come up with during my July Idea Streak (which is going very well!) are about tech workers and corporate life. A quote: “Like most coming-of-age stories, these novels chart a path from naiveté to self knowledge, crashing against the rocks of complicity along the way.” I mean, if you have to be part of a trend, that’s a pretty good one to latch onto!
Watching: We just finished S2 of The Bear, and I could not have loved it more. As I said on Threads (lol), it was the ideal meal of a story.
Eating: Basil on everything. Seriously, we have so much basil in the garden. If you have recommendations for basil-forward recipes (other than pesto) please send them to me immediately.
Coffee Club Contributions
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Leave it to a group of women to come up with something so logical/effective/fun/collaborative. I'm envious.
This sounds amazing!! I’m going to see if I can drum up some interest among my friends to implement a goal setting club of our own.