The enemy of achieving your goals is “how.”

I see it all the time — and I do it myself too.

The moment we set a bold goal, our brain immediately goes:

“Okay… but how on earth are we going to do that?”

And if the pathway isn’t clear, we tend to:

  • Shrink the goal to something safer

  • Put it off until “later”

  • Stay busy doing lots of things… without really moving closer to what matters

Sound familiar?

Why “How” Can Kill Momentum

As a trainer and coach working with leaders and teams, I’ve noticed something important:

Big goals aren’t meant to feel easy.

They’re meant to stretch you.
They’re meant to pull something out of you.
They’re meant to grow you.

But when we jump to “how” too quickly, it can stifle creativity and shut down possibility before we’ve even sat with the goal long enough to let it inspire us.

The real enemy of your goals is:

“Yeah… but how?”

That one question — asked too early — can quietly shrink ambition.

A Better Starting Point for Leaders

If you’re a leader with big KPIs to hit this quarter — or a target that’s sitting heavy on your mind — try this shift.

Don’t start with “how.”

Start with:

  • What do I want to achieve?

  • Why does it matter?

  • What would it make possible for my team, my customers, or my life?

Let the goal sit.

Let it breathe.

Let it expand your thinking before you reduce it to logistics.

Then — once the goal has clarity and emotional weight — bring in the “how” one step at a time.

Because most of the time, you don’t need the full plan.

You just need the next right step.

Watch: Highlights from a Recent Ultimate Goals & Vision Session

In the short video below, you’ll see highlights from a recent Ultimate Goals and Vision session where we explore this idea in action with leaders and teams.

These sessions are designed to help individuals and teams step out of reactive mode and think more intentionally about what they’re building — and why.

A Simple Leadership Litmus Test

Here’s a powerful reflection:

If you already know exactly how to achieve your goal…
it might be more of an action list than a real goal.

Real goals stretch you.

They require growth.
They require courage.
They require stepping into uncertainty before the path is fully mapped.

And that’s where leadership begins.

A Question for You

When you set goals:

Do you start with the “how”?
Or do you allow the “what” and “why” to sit first?

The difference can shape everything that follows.

If you’d like to explore this further with your team, our Ultimate Goals and Vision workshops are designed to create clarity, alignment, and momentum — without getting stuck in premature logistics.