How To Set Achievable Goals For 2026

Plus a look into my 2025 goals and their status right now

I read someone says that she has given up on new year resolutions and my response to the person is that you shouldn’t enter the new year without goals. New year resolutions are mere wishes and are done by emotions but your goals shouldn’t me.

5 common mistakes people make with career goal setting for the new year

1. Setting Vague Goals: Goals like “I want a better job” or “I want to earn more.”

Why it fails: No clarity on what success looks like or how to achieve it.

2. Ignoring the Process: Focusing only on outcomes (“I want to be a manager”) without planning the steps.

Why it fails: You don’t know what actions will get you there.

3. Setting Unrealistic Goals: Goals that are too ambitious without a plan (“I want to triple my salary in 6 months”).

Why it fails: Can be demotivating and unattainable.

4. Not Tracking Progress: Goals like “I want to be more productive” without measuring results.

Why it fails: You can’t tell if you’re improving.

5. Forgetting to Review and Adjust: Setting goals once and never revisiting them.

Why it fails: Life and priorities change; rigid goals can become irrelevant.

This edition of DDMB is an excerpt from my e-book “Planning Your Marketing Career” if you haven’t gotten it, get yours now

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4 Important Steps of Goal Setting

1. Start With a Clear Vision

Before setting any goal, you need to know the bigger picture of where you’re going. Your vision is the “North Star” that guides all your decisions. It answers what you ultimately want and why.

Example:

“I want to become a skilled Digital Marketing Strategist who leads major campaigns for tech brands within the next 5 years.”

• Ask yourself:

  • What excites me most about my industry?

  • Where do I want to be in 5–10 years?

  • What kind of lifestyle and income am I aiming for?

• Write a 1–2 sentence vision statement.

• Place it somewhere visible, your phone wallpaper, journal, Google Doc header.

2. Assess Where You Are Now

You can’t plan your journey without knowing your current position. Identify your strengths, gaps, interests, and opportunities.

Example:

Strength: Content writing
Weakness: Analytics
Interest: Social media strategy
Gap: No Google Analytics certification

• List:

  • Top 5 skills you already have

  • 3 areas you want to develop

  • Tasks that energize you

• Review feedback from colleagues, clients, or managers.

• Use tools:

  • LinkedIn Skill Assessments

  • Google Digital Garage

  • HubSpot Academy quizzes

This helps create goals that fit who you are, and who you want to become.

3. Set SMART Goals

SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
This makes your goals clear, trackable, and actionable.

Example of a vague goal:

“I want to get better at marketing.”

SMART version:

“Within the next 12 months, I will complete Google Analytics and HubSpot certifications and manage at least 3 social media campaigns.”

• Make goals short-term (0–12 months), mid-term (1–3 years), and long-term (3–5+ years).

• For each goal, ask:

  • What exactly am I trying to achieve?

  • How will I measure success?

  • Is this realistic for my current level?

  • Does this align with my vision?

  • What’s the deadline?

4. Break Goals Into Actionable Steps + Timeline

A goal without a plan is just a wish. Break your goal into weekly, monthly, or quarterly tasks. Turn big goals into small, doable actions you can track.

Example:

Goal: “Become a Social Media Manager in 1 year.”

Breakdown:

• This month:

  • Take a Social Media Strategy course

  • Optimize my LinkedIn profile

• Next 3 months:

  • Create sample content calendar

  • Manage an Instagram page for a small business

• Next 6 months:

  • Build portfolio

  • Apply for internships or freelance gigs

• Next 12 months:

  • Apply for full-time roles

• Use tools like Notion, or Google Sheets.

• Do a quarterly check-in:

  • What did I complete?

  • What needs adjusting?

  • What new opportunities have emerged?

• Celebrate small wins, they build momentum ( I try to buy myself something for completing my goals.

Here’s a breakdown of the goals I achieved this year:

1. Grow my LinkedIn followers to 5,000

Starting point: 3,500 followers
Tactics: Show up consistently through posting, engage actively with marketers, and join relevant conversations.
Status: As of December 11, I’m at 5,076 followers, achieved purely through consistent posting and meaningful engagement.

2. Grow DDMB to 1,000 subscribers

Tactics: Publish weekly content, engage on Notes, promote across social media, collaborate, and do guest features.
Status: As of December 11, DDMB is at 931 subscribers.
Untapped Opportunities: More Notes interaction, additional guest features, and hosting community events.

3. Rebrand myself and secure a content-focused remote role

Tactics: Post more content marketing insights, update my portfolio and CV, intentionally position my expertise, attend networking events, and gain visibility, including being featured as LinkedIn Personality of the Week by Career Buddy.
Status: I got the job in July.
Goal Review: Mid-year, I realised I preferred being a digital marketing generalist, so I aligned my role accordingly.

4. Become an author of 3 eBooks (one per quarter)

Tactics: Choose topics I naturally enjoy talking about and turn them into practical, helpful eBooks.
Status: Published and sold my first eBook, “Planning Your Marketing Career.”
Goal Review: I realised I could sustainably produce 2 eBooks per year. The second is currently in the editing stage, so the goal was refined to 1 eBook every 6 months.

5. Host 2 community events in 2025

Tactics: Build social media buzz around the events and use them to generate visibility for my eBooks and community.
Status: Successfully hosted one event with over 200+ registered marketers and 106 attendees.
Goal Review: I discovered that with my current resources, one major event per year is realistic. To host more, I’d need to hire additional support.

What goals are you setting for next year? Let us know