Hey,
Yesterday I was reflecting on what I did wrong last year.
And I'm disappointed in myself.
Not because I didn't work hard—I did.
Not because I didn't take action—I did that too.
I'm disappointed because I set goals I couldn't realistically achieve, and I spread myself too thin trying to hit all of them.
Let me explain.
For the last 4 years, I've consistently hit 90% of my goals.
Finish my reading list? Done.
Learn a new skill? Done.
Buy that thing I wanted? Done.
But here's the problem: those weren't real goals.
They were milestones. Projects. Things with guaranteed outcomes if you just show up consistently.
If you want to read 20 books this year, you will—just read every single day and you'll probably exceed it.
But what about making $100K?
What about reaching 100K followers on Instagram?
What about selling 1 million copies of your book?
Those are real goals.
They're big, they're uncertain, and they demand so much focus that you have to ignore everything else to work on them.
Not two of them.
Just one.
And you still might not achieve it.
That's what happened to me this year.
I set 4 big goals.
One was out of my hands—just waiting for something to happen. Didn't get it.
One I gave up on because I realized I didn't actually want it anymore—I hit 100K Instagram followers but stopped caring about reaching 500K.
One was making $100K this year. Didn't achieve it.
I only achieved one goal (I can't share what it is, but I'm proud of it).
Now, did I take action? Yes.
Did I work hard? Absolutely.
But I set too many big goals, and I couldn't realistically achieve them all.
So here's what I'm doing differently in 2026: I'm lowering the barrier, and I'm focusing on ONE goal.
Not three. Not four.
One.
And I'm not saying you shouldn't trust yourself or aim high.
But if you're going to learn anything from my experience, it's this: focus on one goal.
The irony is, I had other unexpected wins this year that I wasn't even aiming for:
Reached 1 million impressions on Pinterest (never thought about it)
42,000+ downloads of my templates
Gained more muscle than any previous year
Generated 34.3 million views across Instagram and TikTok
And more
Those happened because I wasn't obsessing over them.
So my goal for 2026? Focus on YouTube and Notion.
That's it.
I'll try. There's nothing to lose. We'll see what happens.
Here's What You Should Do
When you're setting your goals for 2026, write down 10 goals if you want.
Then keep only one or two that you want to achieve more than anything else.
Those are the ones you focus on.
Everything else?
If they're small milestones, projects, or learning goals—put them in a different category so you know what actually demands your focus.
There's a difference between:
Goals: Big, uncertain, require singular focus (making $100K, building a YouTube channel to 100K subs, launching a successful product)
Milestones: Smaller, guaranteed if you show up (reading 20 books, learning a skill, completing a project)
Don't confuse the two.
Goals require sacrifice.
Milestones require consistency.
You can have multiple milestones. You can only have one or two real goals.
If you want a system to help you break down your big goal, track your milestones, and actually follow through instead of spreading yourself too thin, Second Brain 6.0 is built exactly for that.
It helps you:
✓ Separate goals from milestones so you know what to focus on
✓ Track progress on your ONE big goal without losing sight of it
✓ Build consistency on the small things while staying focused on the big thing
✓ See what's working and what's not, so you can adjust before the year ends
For the last few days of 2025: 30% off + $10 off.
→ Get Second Brain 6.0 🧠
Don't make the same mistake I did.
Pick one goal. Go all in.
Everything else is secondary.
Thanks for reading.
See you tomorrow, insha'Allah.
Osama (OLS)
P.S. - If you're setting 5+ goals for 2026, you're already setting yourself up to feel disappointed by December. Pick one. Make it your obsession. Let everything else be bonus.
