Working with AI to create goals that work for you...

We all have personal goals—ideas we carry around in our heads, sometimes scribbled down, often loosely defined. But how often do we attach meaningful metrics to them? And how regularly do we check in on our progress?

One simple but powerful approach is to start by sketching out two or three personal goals. Don’t worry about structure or order—just get the ideas out of your head and onto the page. From there, you can use AI as a tool to refine, organise, and operationalise those goals.

Earlier this year, one of my own goals was to “adopt a business mindset.” I chose this because I knew it would improve my decision-making and increase accountability around expenditure. When I fed this into AI, it helped translate that broad intention into practical actions. One suggestion was to review my fee structure. Through that process, I was able to bring several fees into alignment, resulting in a modest but meaningful uplift in revenue. It also led to tighter, more intentional budgeting for workshops.

AI further broke the goal down into monthly achievements, with a structured quarterly review. That level of clarity made it much easier to stay focused and track progress.

This approach also works well for more abstract goals, such as improving work–life balance. A coaching client of mine had exactly that goal. By asking a few probing questions—what does “better balance” actually look like?—we were able to generate a set of rough bullet points. Feeding those into AI produced a series of realistic, achievable actions.

We then introduced two layers of accountability: a monthly check-in with me as their coach, and a personal self-review using the markers AI had generated.

Looking for a new role is another example of a large, often overwhelming goal. AI can be particularly helpful here by breaking the process down into manageable steps. The key is to provide clear criteria upfront—what you want, what matters to you, and what success looks like. From there, you can ask for weekly tasks and build in a monthly checkpoint. That consistent sense of progress is crucial for maintaining motivation.

My recommendation is to focus on no more than three personal goals at a time. Any more than that, and your commitment is likely to dilute. Keep your goals visible—add them to your to-do list and establish a monthly ritual to review them.

If you don’t have a coach, consider finding a “goals buddy”—a friend or family member who can hold you accountable. Make the process enjoyable: meet over dinner or a drink and take time to reflect on both small wins and big achievements.

Ultimately, the more actively you engage with your goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. AI won’t do the work for you—but it can make the path clearer, more structured, and far more achievable.