Forget Goal-Setting → Use Growth Anchors Fast-Track Progress Free From Burnout...
Goal-setting is the enemy of progress - a lesson most entrepreneurs learn too late...
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That statement is true for any entrepreneur - but especially if like me you have ADHD.
I'm talking about the type of goal-setting that's built on outcomes and deadlines.
You know the ones...
The SMART goals, the 50k months, the 10,000 followers.
That kind of goal setting...
The kind that by its own design sets you up to fail because measuring progress against it's outcome only leaves space for two options...
You can succeed or you can fail - there is nothing in between.
This rigid criteria ignores any actual human experience.
So of course... It's ineffective
Think about it...
Goals are set and achieved by humans...
If how we set about achieving those goals doesn't take into account being a human - how can it possibly it be effective?
Target-based goal setting is supposed to make you more productive - but in reality it is what stands in its way.
When you measure progress on outcomes:
Quality is sacrificed to make the deadline you set.
Your focus becomes short-term thinking rather than long term vision.
Your success is measured on only achievement - which inevitably leads to burnout.
What you need is an alternative to goal-setting...
A system to measure AND make progress that's built on the human experience.
What you need are Growth Anchors
Opting into Growth Anchors and out of goal setting is how I single-handedly built a quarter of a million dollar business in under 2 years.
Think of Growth Anchors as the goal-setting anti-method.
Far from the targets, metrics and deadlines of traditional goal-setting - Growth Anchors are a holistic system that set your goals based on your values.
They maintain your motivation, keep you focused and ensure you are measuring your progress on what actually matters.
I'm going to take you through the full Growth Anchors System.
I'll explain what they are then show you how and why they work - then how to create your own to achieve meaningful progress faster than you ever imagined.
Goal-Setting Vs Growth Anchors
Traditional goal-setting methods ignore the link between personal and business growth.
And make no mistake - personal growth is essential for business growth.
Growth Anchors are built on that foundational principle.
They are a purpose-built compass - a commitment to your values that align to an overall outcome.
This is why they are so effective - and how they fast-track you to success.
In goal-setting you set a target - with Growth Anchors you align to a value.
From there, your decisions, actions or reactions centre on that value.
It's as simple as this...
If you are looking for the secret sauce for building a business that's fulfilling, successful and sustainable then Growth Anchors are what you've been searching for.
Let me prove this in action...
Two entrepreneurs decide to launch a business at the same time.
Let's call our budding business builders John and Emily.
This is the first business launch for both our entrepreneurs - they don't know what to expect.
John follows the traditional goal setting perspective.
Emily opts for Growth Anchors...
John's goals for his launch are metrics and deadlines:
Make $10,000 a month in revenue in 3 months
Gain 5000 Instagram followers in 3 months
Emily takes the Growth Anchor approach - she starts by defining her anchor.
Emily knows that Growth Anchors have a foundational principle...
They must align with your values.
Emily values growth, integrity, and resilience - she also wants to avoid obbsessing over financial gain.
She likes momentum - it means something is growing stronger as it goes along.
She sets her Growth Anchor as:
"Momentum Over Money"
Then she commits to the second principle of Growth Anchors.
Every decision, action and reaction she has must align with her commitment to it.
Every choice she makes or action she takes are built on prioritising keeping up momentum rather than financial gain.
3 months go by...
Both John and Emily have grown to 2000 followers on Instagram and are making $5000 in revenue a month.
Let's start with John
John hasn't reached either of his goals.
Goals defined on the rigid criteria of traditional goal-setting - fail or succeed.
John has failed. He is disheartened. He is questioning his abilities.
He feels pressure to change strategies or "try harder."
The sense of failure weighs on him - he’s left feeling inadequate and worried about his business’s future.
His progress is now overshadowed by unmet targets, and every step forward seems like it's not enough.
Now to Emily
Emily's reflection on the last 3 months is different.
Her Growth Anchor “Momentum Over Money” has kept her focus on building a steady foundation.
She is building with no immediate pressure of hitting a revenue target.
Her progress feels rewarding because she's been celebrating each step that moves her closer to her vision.
The fact that she's making $5000 a month and has an engaged audience of 2000 followers is a success not a failure.
Despite the outcomes being identical to Johns.
Emily's Growth Anchor allows her to prioritise forward movement and small gains.
She feels motivated by her growing engagement and the consistent pace she’s set for herself.
She can make adjustments without feeling defeated.
6 months go by...
John has changed his strategy multiple times, trying to force faster results.
He is exhausted, stressed and burned out from chasing metrics that now feel out of reach.
Despite seeing some progress he is embarrassed that he hasn't hit his target.
He internalises it and becomes deeply self-critical - his business feels like a burden.
For Emily, each small milestone contributes to a larger sense of purpose - not a number on a spreadsheet.
She is energised and inspired to keep building.
Her success isn’t defined by rigid financial returns or follower numbers - but by her momentum - her continuous growth.
In the end, Emily’s approach has not only been more productive but has kept her grounded and aligned with her long-term vision.
Her actions align to her Growth Anchor - "Momentum Over Money".
She is driven by her values and her business is fulfilling, sustainable and grows along with her.
As John Experienced, traditional goal-setting creates additional pressure to the difficult enough journey of building a business - - it limits your belief system and stifles opportunity.
Not hitting a target = failure
Growth anchors, on the other hand, guide how you think, act, and adapt through different phases of your journey.
Instead of fixating on one rigid outcome, growth anchors keep you aligned with your values.
They allow you flexibility and build resilience - while still pushing you forward.
This is why they are more effective.
As Emily experienced - Growth Anchors create consistent, sustainable and fulfilment - they are the intersection between personal and professional growth.
How To Create Your Growth Anchor
Your Growth Anchors are built on your values - start by getting clear on what they are.
The Core Values Framework
Step #1: Reflect On Your Experiences
Reflect on your life experiences - personal and professional.
Your feelings and choices throughout your life hold the keys to unlocking what your values are.
Recall Fulfilling Experiences:
Think about experiences where you felt truly alive, fulfilled, or proud.
Activities and qualities that make you feel most alive, fulfilled, and aligned with your authentic self are indicators of what you value.
Explore Emotional Reactions:
Identify situations that evoke strong emotions—both positive and negative.
What experiences make you feel joy, gratitude, or satisfaction?
What makes you angry, frustrated, or sad?
These emotions often point to violated values - frustration with dishonesty may reveal a value of integrity for example.
Identify Role Models:
Who do you admire and why?
Who inspires you, and what qualities do they embody?
What values do they represent that resonate with you?
Reflect On Past Professional Fulfilment
Think about moments in your life - academic or professional - when you felt accomplished or deeply fulfilled.
What were you doing, and why was it rewarding?
This will give you insight into the the types of activities, environments, or achievements that align with what you value most in your work.
Explore Your Professional Aspirations
What excites you most about becoming or being an entrepreneur?
This identifies what draws you to entrepreneurship and uncovers the principles that will guide your vision.
Identify Your Emotional Drivers
How you want your business to make you and others feel?
This highlights the emotions you value in your work, such as creativity, security, or connection in shaping the experience you aim to create.
Get Clear On Your Purpose
Why did you start your business other than for money?
This grounds your professional values in your purpose, showing how they align with your larger mission.
Step #2 Narrow Down Your Core Values
Choose 10 values that resonate with you, then narrow them down to 3-5 that feel most essential.
Feeling stuck?
Ask yourself - If I could only hold on to one value, which one would it be?
Look for overlaps - Where are your values repeated in your above answers?
Test alignment - Does this feel deeply true to who you are and who you want to be?
Identify Your Business Stage
Building a business is done in stages.
Your growth anchor connects to the current stage of your business.
Start by identifying which stage your in.
Define Your Growth Anchor
Now you know what stage of business you're at.
You have your list of core values.
You're ready to create your first Growth Anchor.
Think of it like a mantra - short, sweet and memorable.
Remember these are personal to YOU.
They are aspirational - they should reflect an identity within you that you aim to embody with your actions.
Quick Note:
Don't worry if this doesn't come to you right away.
After we've been through the framework I'll take you through an example.
The Growth Anchors That Made Me A Quarter Million Dollars In Under 2 Years
These are the Growth Anchors for the stages in my business.
Feel free to steal them or use them as a jumping of point to create your own.
Stage #1 The Idea Phase
Growth Anchor → Experiment Over Expectation
In this early stage your hopes are high and you're likely working constantly.
It's hard not to set a goal based on an expectation of something in return.
That being said, this stage in your journey is built on acquiring the knowledge and skills you need to ultimately achieve success.
Plus, any idea creation process is a mesh of curiosity and creativity.
By focusing on experimentation you do both effectively.
From a personal perspective "Experiment Over Expectation" also aligns with two of my core values - knowledge and exploration.
Stage #2 The Launch Phase
Growth Anchors → Learning Over Earning & Progress Over Perfection.
In the Launch Phase your focus is on marketing - growing awareness that what you sell exists - and then selling it.
The smartest way to do this is with organic social media content - it's free and allows you to understand your audience.
The challenge is that building a social media audience snags almost everyone in the same trap - vanity metrics.
I did it - and the chances are you have or you will too.
Vanity metrics are numbers that look impressive on the surface - like followers or likes - but don’t actually help you measure progress or make informed decisions about what’s working and what’s not.
They might make you feel good in the moment - but they won’t give you the clarity to shape effective strategies for long-term success.
Instead of making something like a follower number my goal I committed to learning from every post.
This is measuring success by what you learn not what you earn.
Take a classic example - a social media post performs badly.
You commit to aligning your decisions, actions and reactions with "Learning Over Earning".
The decision = to look at this post as a learning opportunity.
The action = implement the results of that lesson.
The reaction = pride and excitement...
Your proud that you created the post.
You are proud that you shared the post.
You are proud you found the lesson - Excited to make the changes from what you learned when creating your next.
Stage 2 is also a hotbed for perfectionism.
Things life fear of failure or judgement, imposter syndrome and The Jonah Complex often leading to perfectionism.
This is when our second stage 2 growth anchor comes into play - "progress over perfection".
The aim is not to get it done to the highest possible standard - meaning nothing is done.
But instead committing to getting it done.
Stage #3 The Growth Phase
Growth Anchor → Action Over Anticipation
Once I began to experience success I found myself burdened by an unexpected shift.
For the first time in my journey - and honestly, my life - I had something to lose.
I became wary where before I wasn't - I was more afraid to take risks.
This is often the case for an entrepreneurs in the growth phase.
You become stifled by "what if" and your subconscious mind take the wheel - driving you to operate from a place of anticipation of consequence.
This is a killer of creativity AND productivity.
Setting "Action Over Anticipation" as a Growth Anchor is a commitment to measure your output based on the output itself.
You're committing to taking action.
More action = more results.
Growth Anchors: The Bottom Line
The thing about humans is that our default mode is to operate from our comfort zone.
This isn't a flaw - it's evolution.
It's our survival instinct - we rely on subconscious beliefs that keep us safe.
Growth Anchors, however, ask you to put your conscious mind in the driver’s seat.
To take action aligned with your vision instead of actions that keep you safe - despite how uncomfortable this will make you feel.
Growth Anchors are not measured by data...
They are your transformation from discomfort to comfort.
Remember - without personal growth there can be no business growth.
For me - that willingness to step out of my comfort-zone was the key that took the one-person business I started with $57 to almost half a million in sales in the last 3 years.
If I had relied on goal-setting I doubt that would have been the case.
So if you’re tired of rigid goals that stifle creativity, burn you out, and leave you questioning your worth - it’s time to embrace Growth Anchors.
It's as simple as starting with one simple question:
What value do I want to guide my decisions today?
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