I lost my home to Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
And like any entrepreneur worth their salt, I did what we’re trained to do. I started new projects, took on new responsibilities, and even got a new certification. I threw myself into work. I focused on my kids and grandchildren. I stayed busy.
I did everything except the one thing that actually mattered.
The Permission We Don’t Give Ourselves
When I finally sat down to think about 2025, something stopped me. I felt this pull to go backward before I could move forward. To acknowledge what had happened. To give myself some compassion.
It felt wrong at first.
I kept thinking about people who lost more than I did. People with bigger problems. My home was just stuff. My family was safe. We had resources to rebuild. I didn’t think I deserved to feel bad.
But here’s what surprised me most about my own approach to goal setting after 30+ years of studying entrepreneurial mindset: I gave myself permission to look at 2027 instead of 2025.
That shift changed everything.
The Urgency Lens Problem
Entrepreneurs operate under what I call the urgency lens. It’s not just how you respond to emergencies. It’s how you see everything.
There’s always a problem to solve, a decision to make, a customer complaint, or a competitor nipping at your heels. There are also always legislative changes or economic challenges.
This constant stress and activity keeps you from taking that breath you actually need.
I see this pattern constantly in my work with the En Factor podcast and through my research. Entrepreneurs skip the “where I have been” part and jump straight to “where I’m going.”
It’s in their DNA to be action-oriented. The need to fix and keep moving forward is the default.
But when you’re always looking through the urgency lens, your decision-making suffers in a specific way.
Precrastination: The Hidden Saboteur
You know about procrastination. But precrastination is equally dangerous.
Precrastination means acting too quickly before giving enough consideration or asking the right questions. It means operating on your assumptions without questioning them.
Urgency and fear drive it. Sometimes arrogance or overconfidence.
When you sit down in January with that urgency driving you, you make assumptions about goal-setting that sabotage you before you even start. You assume the market hasn’t changed. You assume what customers wanted last year is what they want now. You assume your cost structure is still valid.
January is actually the perfect time to review those assumptions.
What’s driving customer demand now? What’s driving your cost structure now? Are the key performance indicators that guided your decisions last year still relevant?
But here’s the deeper question most entrepreneurs miss.
What Do You Actually Want?
Reviewing operational assumptions is important, but you also need to review your assumptions about what you actually want.
Not what you think you should want. Not what worked last year.
What you actually want.
Has the work taken you away from your initial purpose or motivation? Is it still aligned with your core values and beliefs?
Day-to-day life has a way of sneaking up on you. You may find you’re off course.
And that’s okay.
An airplane is only on course about 10% of the time. Pilots know the start and ending point and are always correcting back. The same applies to you if you want to stay aligned.
I always remind entrepreneurs to revisit the initial problem they wanted to address.
Building Correction Into Your System
Most goal-setting frameworks assume you set the destination and then execute the plan. But that’s not how entrepreneurship works.
You need to build the correction mechanism in from the start.
It goes back to those assumptions. Once you know them, you can always keep reviewing and considering whether you need a correction.
It also means self-reflection and taking time to work on the business, not just in the business. This is a common problem for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Too much to do and too little time.
I get it. After the hurricanes, I was so busy doing that I didn’t pause to grieve. What finally made me stop was the start of a new year and the promise of being able to take more control of my time.
But a change in circumstances or any big challenge or opportunity can do the same.
The Daily Practice That Actually Matters
I recommend both an annual review and more frequent introspection.
You can find time every day to stop and breathe. It can become a habit.
In fact, goals and big outcomes are not the real practice that matters. It’s the daily rituals and routines.
It’s more about having a vision, visiting that periodically (maybe every January), but focusing on the daily routines. That’s where the magic happens.
When someone comes to me in January saying “I want to grow my business by 30% this year,” I suggest they start by looking at their systems, processes, and daily operations to look for the opportunities to bring about the growth they want.
It all starts there.
Your Value Proposition to Yourself
This isn’t just a tactical, systems-based approach.
It’s all one process. You don’t do anything without that understanding of who you are and the problem you’re solving.
It’s your value proposition for not only your customers but yourself as an entrepreneur.
When you look at your daily systems and processes, you need to see whether those routines are actually moving you toward or away from what matters to you.
This is what I mean by living meaningfully in the present. Understanding where you’ve been and where you’re going. Aligning that with your values and priorities.
Time is your most precious resource and you can’t get it back.
What This Means for Your 2025 Goals
If you’re sitting down to set goals right now, here’s what I want you to do differently:
First, pause. Give yourself permission to reflect before you plan. Look at where you’ve been, not just where you’re going.
Second, question your assumptions. About the market, your customers, and what you actually want. Don’t precrastinate your way into goals that don’t serve you.
Third, focus on daily routines, not just outcomes. What systems and processes need to change to create the growth you want?
Fourth, build in correction mechanisms. You’re going to be off course 90% of the time. That’s normal. Plan for it.
Fifth, align your operations with your purpose. Your daily work should reflect your value proposition to yourself, not just your customers.
This approach comes from ears of research on entrepreneurial mindset and conversations with entrepreneurs through the En Factor podcast. It’s based on my See, Do, Repeat model, which focuses on the behaviors that accompany and support an entrepreneurial mindset.
I call it developing your entrepreneurial intelligence (EI). Learning from the collective experience of others who’ve walked this path.
Uncertainty isn’t going away. It’s not the exception anymore. It’s the norm.
The entrepreneurs who succeed are the ones who build capabilities and skills to respond effectively when everything changes. Who treat reflection as urgent as action. Who understand that the daily practice matters more than the annual goal.
Your goals aren’t failing you because you’re not working hard enough.
They’re failing you because you’re asking the wrong questions.
