Wellbeing: Building Bold Goals In-line with your Values
Founders Intro
We’re thrilled to welcome Nick Hall back for the next instalment in our Wellbeing series, where this time he’s tackling the art of goal setting.
Goals, goals, goals—I love them! From simple daily to-do lists to monumental achievements like scaling Mount Everest, goals give our lives direction. They come in all shapes and sizes, as unique as the people who set them. Personally, I’m a firm believer in aiming high. Reach for the stars as they say.
But here’s the thing: life isn’t just about reaching the destination. It’s about the journey. In truth, it’s the pursuit of our goals—the striving, learning, and growing along the way—that brings the greatest happiness.
For a little perspective, I’m going to have to reference a true British classic: Only Fools and Horses. (If you’re anything like me, you’re already picturing Del Boy and Rodney as Batman and Robin, running through the fog.) The show wasn’t really about the Trotters hitting it big, it was about their journey. Their dream of success, the unwavering belief that “this time next year, we’ll be millionaires,” and the shared struggle with their quirky community is what made us fall in love with them. When they finally made their fortune, sitting in their separate mansions, it didn’t feel like the payoff we expected.
The lesson here? Set your goals, map out the steps to achieve them, but don’t lose sight of the joy in the everyday grind. And if there isn’t enough joy in what you do, accelerate your plans for change!
Ultimately, our greatest goal should be to find happiness in the present moment, since that is where life happens.
James.
Building Bold Goals In-line with your Values
By Nick Hall
In my last article I explored how our values evolve and why aligning our lives with them is key to finding fulfilment and clarity.
Now, let’s take it a step further: how do you create a life that feels fulfilling and enjoyable every day?
When it comes to changing your life, you can typically choose between two different strategies: The Away Strategy and the Towards Strategy.
1. The Away Strategy
This approach is all about moving away from what no longer serves you, whether it's an unfulfilling job, a toxic relationship or financial stress.
You might decide to change your roles or companies, end that bad relationship or finally take control of your finances.
An away strategy is most useful when urgency is required because staying put is causing physical, mental or emotional stress. Sometimes, the quickest way to feel better is to remove what’s draining you.
But here’s the problem:
If you're always focused on what you don’t want, you risk drifting aimlessly, without a clear direction. You’re moving, but not necessarily forward.
This is where a Towards Strategy comes in.
2. The Towards Strategy
This approach is about moving towards the life you truly want, making decisions based on a compelling vision of your future.
When you have a clear picture of where you want to go, you can work backwards, breaking it down into smaller, actionable steps that make growth feel achievable and exciting.
Instead of settling for easy, short-term fixes, you take bold, intentional action that aligns with your values and long-term vision.
For example, instead of blindly jumping into the first new job you can, you take the time to define the role, environment and lifestyle that will keep you motivated and engaged.
What Do You Really Want?
It’s easy to chase superficial goals - money, titles, material possessions - believing they’ll make us happy. But life isn’t happening in some distant future, it’s happening now.
To create a vision for a life that excites you every day, ask yourself:
→ What does my perfect day look like?
→ Who would I love to spend my time with?
→ How would I feel if this were my life every day?
When you know what an ideal day feels like, you’ll see how it aligns with your core values and helps unlock your untapped potential.
Bridging the Gap: Where Are You Now?
Once you have your ideal day in mind, reflect on these questions:
- How close is my current life to this vision?
- What elements are already present, even in small doses?
- What’s completely missing?
This exercise brings clarity to the gaps and opportunities in your life. And clarity is the first step to bold, intentional change.
Taking Action: The Biggest, Smallest Step
Now having a plan is great, but plans mean nothing without action.
So where do you start? With the biggest, smallest step.
It’s an action that’s:
→ Big enough to feel meaningful
→ Small enough that success is guaranteed
List out potential actions, pick the one that feels right and take it on. I like to pick a task that lays down some structure or simply opens up new actionable tasks once complete.
Once you take action, you’ll gain feedback on what works and what doesn’t for you. And here’s the secret: there’s no failure, only learning.
Keep Moving Forward
The more you repeat these small steps, the more momentum you build. And interestingly, when you focus on creating the life you want every day, the external achievements - titles, money, recognition - all start to fall into place naturally.
Because at the end of the day, we’re not chasing things, we’re chasing how we want to feel.
So why not start feeling that way now? You can, with the first step. (or maybe “with a first step”)
By Nick Hall
