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We’ve all been there. The beginning of the year. Or the start of a new fiscal quarter. It’s filled with the energy of “what could be.” We have big dreams for our organizations: reaching more families, increasing donor retention, or finally launching that new program.

But as the weeks go by, those dreams often start to feel like chores. They sit on our to-do lists, with that list of tasks rolling from one week to the next without ever getting crossed off. During a recent WellTold community session, “Ready, Set, Goal,” Annie Wood shared a sobering statistic: only about 8% of people actually reach the goals they set.

The difference between the 8% and the rest of us isn’t just willpower. It is a framework. As Annie reminds us, “Hope is a beautiful thing, but hope is not a strategy that’s going to achieve our goals.”

Moving Beyond the “Dream” Phase

A dream is a destination without a map. To become part of the 8% who can say they’ve achieved a goal, we have to ground our aspirations in reality. Enter the ACES framework. It can transform complex, hard-to-wrap-your-arms-around ambitions into clear, actionable steps.

Here’s how the approach works. Each of these is a “building block” to create your goal.

A is for Approach-Oriented

Focus on what you are moving toward, not what you are trying to avoid. Instead of saying, “I want to stop losing donors,” frame it as, “I want to create a donor experience that makes people feel like heroes.” When we move toward a desired state, we stay motivated. When we run away from failure, we just get tired.

C is for Concrete Target

Vague goals produce vague results. We need to be clear about what we’re working toward and where the finish line is. If your goal is “better community outreach,” what does that actually look like? Does it mean two coffee dates a week? Does it mean 10 new business partnerships? Defining what “finished” looks like removes the mental friction.

E is for End-Framed

This is your “Why.” Why does this goal matter to your mission? If you hit your revenue target, what becomes possible for the people you serve? Identifying the outcome, rather than just the effort, helps you keep going when the initial excitement fades.

S is for Scheduled

Accountability needs a calendar. Whether it is a daily habit (like reading a certain number of pages) or a quarterly deadline, having a frequency helps you make incremental progress.

Putting these four pieces together allows you to create goals that have some heft. Goals like “To expand our community footprint, we will secure five new $2,500 corporate sponsorships from local downtown businesses by September 30. This will allow us to fully fund our after-school tutoring program for the entire spring semester without using general operating funds.”

Once a goal is clear, you can begin identifying the steps it will take to get there. 

Managing the “Messy Middle”

Even with a solid action plan, the middle is hard. It’s where the friction lives. During our call, we talked about how to reduce that friction by building “tiny habits” that are the foundation to taking action on your goal.

For example, if you want to increase your organization’s visibility on social media but you hate being on camera, don’t try to be an “influencer.” Instead, put on your “educator hat.” Share the evolution of a project or a voiceover of a success story. By making the action feel authentic to who you are, you remove the unnecessary layers of resistance that keep you from taking the next step.

Why Community Matters

Setting goals in isolation is difficult. In our session, we saw this live: one member was trying to untangle the “big ball of yarn” of going full-time on what’s been a sidehustle. Through real-time coaching and community ideation, that massive, overwhelming dream was broken down into manageable levers: revenue targets, client numbers, and intentional networking.

That is what the WellTold community is all about. We aren’t just here to cheer each other on; we are here to be thinking partners. We help each other move from “what is” to “what could be” by providing the tools, the frameworks, and the honest conversations required to get there.

Your Next Step

Don’t let your goals become chores. Take one big dream you have for this month and run it through the ACES framework. Break it down into baby steps. And if you’re looking for a group of peers to help you untangle your own “ball of yarn,” we’d love to chat.