Goal Clarity Worksheet

Goal Setting Tools

Move from a stated goal to one you can actually build a plan around.

About This Worksheet

Most goal statements contain hidden assumptions. "Get better at strategic thinking" sounds like a goal - but it has no defined end state, no way to assess progress, and no indication of what's actually preventing it now. When a coach hears a goal like that, the work begins with excavation: what does the client actually mean, what do they really want, and what's driving the desire to change?

This worksheet does that excavation before you arrive. Working through these nine questions surfaces the assumptions embedded in your stated goal, forces you to define what success looks like in concrete terms, and brings forward the internal obstacles and emotional resistance that will shape how the work unfolds. The answers here won't resolve the goal - they'll make it real enough to actually pursue.

Questions 3, 7, and 8 tend to slow people down. That's where the real material lives. Don't shortcut them.

How to Use This Worksheet

  1. Write your goal at the top before answering any question. Use the words you'd actually say to someone - not polished language.
  2. Work through all nine questions in order. Sequence matters: later questions build on what earlier ones surface.
  3. If a question stops you, stay with it. The resistance is information. Note what comes up, even if it's just "I don't know yet."
  4. Bring this completed worksheet to your first coaching session. Your coach will use it to design the work, not rehash the basics.
  5. If your goal shifts while you're completing this, note both the original and the revised version. The shift itself is worth discussing.
1

Goal Clarity Worksheet

My Goal:
Question 1

What do I really want to achieve?

Question 2

What value will completing this goal add to my life?

Question 3

What would happen if I don't achieve this goal?

2

Goal Clarity Worksheet (continued)

Question 4

When do I see this goal as completed? Is that realistic?

Question 5

How will achieving this goal change my day-to-day life?

Question 6

Does this goal align with my core values? How and why?

Question 7

What actions or thought patterns might work against my progress on this goal?

Question 8

How do I genuinely feel about this goal - and what would help me build more positive energy toward it?

Question 9

Three concrete ways I can strengthen my commitment to this goal:

1.
2.
3.
3

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