{"id":1012,"date":"2025-02-12T14:07:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/?post_type=docs&#038;p=1012"},"modified":"2025-03-23T13:55:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T13:55:56","password":"","slug":"goals-overview","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/docs\/web-good-day\/goals-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"Goals &#8211; Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a goal?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A goal is an ambition to achieve, build or complete something over an extended timeframe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Examples of goals can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Purchase a new house<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plan an important vacation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finding a new job<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Riding 500km on your bike in a month<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learning a new skill<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Losing weight<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changing attitudes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Writing a book<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Typically, a goal has a lifespan that runs over multiple weeks or months and a target timeframe.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A goal will have a \u2018scheduled start\u2019 and a \u2018scheduled finish\u2019.&nbsp; If the goal context is set by some other party, then a goal can have a \u2018required by\u2019 finish date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A goal will have an associated \u2018action plan\u2019 where the steps required to complete the goal are defined, and\/or the behaviour changes required to meet the goal are set. The action plan may include sub goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ideally, a goal should be measurable (the target\/finish line) and be linked to resource or time constraints.   To support this, with Good Day a goal may have metrics that can be used to track progress, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u2018Lag\u2019 metrics that define a finish line for the goal.&nbsp; An example of a \u2018lag\u2019 metric could be the target weight for a goal associated with losing weight or completing all the subordinate tasks associated with a goal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2018Lead\u2019 metrics can be used to track progress towards the finish line. &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Goal attributes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Good Day a goal has the following attributes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Goal title:  a short narrative title to describe the goal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Goal description:  a fuller more detailed explanation of the goal,  its purpose and motivations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start:  when the goal is to be started, with either a relative or specific date.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scheduled finish:  when the goal is due to be completed, with either a relative or specific date.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Required by:  if the goal has been set by a third party,  the date by which the other party expects the goal to be completed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>State:  the current status, either:  &#8216;open&#8217; (default0, &#8216;In progress&#8217;, &#8216;on hold&#8217;, &#8216;completed&#8217;, &#8216;cancelled&#8217;, &#8216;expired&#8217;, &#8216;delegated&#8217; or &#8216;dormant&#8217;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Goal type:   sets the dependent nature of the goal.  A &#8216;long term&#8217; goal will have subordinate &#8216;stepping stone&#8217; goals as part of its action plan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Parent goal:  if the goal has been set as a &#8216;stepping stone&#8217; goal type, then this is the parent goal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Priority:  the relative priority of the goal compared to other goals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Folder:  a folder used to group associated goals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Category:  a category used to define the type of goal  (e.g. work, home, health etc)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Size:  a value used ot indicate the relative scale\/size of the goal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Display order: a number used to order the display of goals in an action plan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tags:  free form text tags that can be used to group goals for filtering\/searching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exclude from planning:  if set to true, then the goal will be excluded from any planning accountability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When adding a new goal, the key attributes to set are:  title,  start, scheduled finish and goal type. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Goal versus task?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a personal planning context, a goal is a broad, overarching outcome you want to achieve, while a task is a specific action or step that helps you reach that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key Differences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Scope: A goal is a big-picture objective, while a task is a concrete, actionable step.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Timeframe: Goals usually take longer to accomplish, whereas tasks are completed in a shorter timeframe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Measurability: Goals often require multiple steps to measure progress, while tasks are more straightforward and can usually be checked off once completed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Goals give direction, while tasks break down the goal into manageable actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a goal? A goal is an ambition to achieve, build or complete something over an extended timeframe. Examples of goals can include: Typically, a goal has a lifespan that runs over multiple weeks or months and a target timeframe. A goal will have a \u2018scheduled start\u2019 and a \u2018scheduled finish\u2019.&nbsp; If the goal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[10],"glossaries":[],"doc_tag":[19],"knowledge_base":[28],"class_list":["post-1012","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-goals","doc_tag-web","knowledge_base-web-good-day"],"year_month":"2026-05","word_count":597,"total_views":"305","reactions":{"happy":"0","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"davout","author_nicename":"dkknamugfgsc","author_url":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/author\/dkknamugfgsc\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Goals","term_url":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/docs\/mobile-good-day\/goals\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[{"term_name":"web","term_url":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/docs-tag\/web\/"}],"knowledge_base_info":[{"term_name":"Web Good Day","term_url":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/docs\/web-good-day\/","term_slug":"web-good-day"}],"knowledge_base_slug":["web-good-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/1012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1012"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/1012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1768,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/1012\/revisions\/1768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=1012"},{"taxonomy":"glossaries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossaries?post=1012"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=1012"},{"taxonomy":"knowledge_base","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays-in-software.com\/good-day\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledge_base?post=1012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}