Why You Should Stop Setting Goals and Start Removing Obstacles

I’ve been setting goals for almost two decades. Tried every framework, tweaked it every year, and ultimately learned a very valuable lesson: The obstacle isn’t unclear goals. There’s too much stuff in your life.

We’re monkeys. We want more territory. So, we aim for the stars and hope to land on the moon. We stack goal on top of goal, resolution on top of resolution.

But entrepreneurs don’t have a goal problem. We have too many “YESes” piled up like dead weight.

Before you reverse-engineer your 2026 goals, try this instead: Sit in silence and ask “what’s gotta go?”

Pruning Your Garden

I call this section of my annual planning “Pruning My Garden.” And honestly, it’s the most important part.

I break it into two subsections:

What I Will Stop Doing

These are things already in your life. Habits, commitments, relationships, deals that drain focus and energy.

You’re doing them now, and they need to go!

It could be a bad habit, a draining relationship, or a deal you keep life-supporting because you’re too stubborn to walk away. Anything consuming bandwidth without producing results.

What I Will Say No To

This one’s about the future. It’s a filter.

When new opportunities float into your universe (and they will) this list tells you what doesn’t get a “yes” anymore.

No more shiny object syndrome. No more saying yes out of guilt, FOMO, or politeness. If your gut sends you a weird signal (it doesn’t matter how pretty that opportunity is), don’t do it!

The Power

You see, most goals are already within your reach.

You don’t need to increase the pace, pitch, or effort. You just need to remove the garbage standing in the way.

When you prune the garden, the goal gets easier. Sometimes you get things you didn’t even set as goals just because you finally made space for them. It’s that powerful. I’ve experienced this so many times.

So before you build the vision board, before you pick your “word of the year,” ask yourself: What do I need to remove?

That question will do more for your 2026 than any resolution.

This pruning mindset has shaped how I approach deals too. I wrote more about finding opportunities in my guide to off-market deals.

Conclusion

Before you stack another goal on your 2026 list, pause. Ask yourself what needs to go. Your goals aren’t out of reach because you need more hustle. They’re out of reach because too much garbage is in the way. Remove the draining habits, the dead weight commitments, and the opportunities that don’t align with your gut. When you prune your garden, the growth happens naturally.

Most goals are already within your reach. You just need to make space for them. So stop adding more. Start removing what’s standing in the way.

What’s getting cut from your life this year?

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