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Goal setting is an important component to success. But you already know that.

And you also know what makes a goal good. For example, your goal should be S.M.A.R.T.

  • Specific – Answers the 5 W’s: Who, What, Where, When, Why
  • Measurable – Quantify your goal, make it objective
  • Attainable – Keep it challenging, but achievable
  • Relevant – Does the goal matter; does it align with your other goals?
  • Time-bound – Set the time-frame for achieving the goal

The challenge I’ve found with goals is this: after you’ve set your goals, how do you create a plan that puts you on the path to successfully achieving your goals???

I find that this part is often left out – you’re told what a goal is and that you need to set them, but nobody helps you actually reach the goals you set. You might as well give me a new Ikea BESTÅ desk but leave out the instructions to assemble it. So cruel!

ikea so cruel

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How many smartwatches have you seen in public? Not counting the relentless marketing campaign from Samsung for their Galaxy Gear, I think my tally is at three, maybe four.

iwatch

To put this in perspective I’ve seen 10 times as many Google Glass…or is it Glasses…and the unfortunate glassholes that accompany them. This for a device that costs 10 times as much and is 10 times as unattractive.

Are smartwatches too early for their time, or is this an indicator of the size of the actual smartwatch market?

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The other day this event showed up in my inbox looking for attendees:

Screen Shot 2014-03-03 at 9.48.38 AM

UX Thursday, hosted by Jared Spool.

I’m trying to beef up my UX knowledge so it had my attention. When one of my officemates, who knows his stuff when it comes to design, added that whenever he sees Jared Spool speak he’s always come away with 3 to 4 amazing takeaways, I was sold.

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What’s the most important aspect of your business? Is it the Product…the Team…the Market?

Often overlooked and usually an arbitrary “feels-good” number, Pricing belongs right up there with those other three business model pillars.

You Won’t Hit the $1,000,000 Milestone At $10/mo

To achieve the $1MM ARR startup milestone it’ll take you 8,333 customers at $10/mo…which you won’t hit until December…AND only if you have all those customers starting Jan 1 and none of them cancel.

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Hello World!

The Pebble Golf App is done.

A golf scorecard app that tracks individual hole scores and gives you a running tally of your whole round. And you can save and load previous rounds.

pebble golf app

Similar to many Pebble apps I use, at first it feels like an incremental step up from the status quo (read: using crappy clubhouse pencils). Use it for a few rounds though and you’ll find yourself challenged to ever go back to the old way.

Or think of it like a Mac Retina display – when you first switch it doesn’t feel much different at the time, but when you go back to a non-retina display two months later you ask yourself how you ever lived!

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As part of the new year reload that comes every January it’s time to revisit How I Work.

What new productivity tools have I started using in the past year? What have I moved on from?

Productivity Tools in 2014

Boomerang – I still use Boomerang regularly but am held back by the pricing. What hangs me up isn’t the lack of value I get out of Boomerang, but rather the relative pricing. For what’s essentially a GMail add on, it’s priced in the same range as a full featured product. Heck, it’s even more expensive than Photoshop.

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You might already be familiar with Asana – the new-ish Project Management product that makes MS Project feel like an abacus, and even one-ups Basecamp.

But their approach to project management software isn’t the only thing new about Asana. Their SaaS pricing is new as well (or at a minimum “different” than the norm):

Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 3.01.53 PM

Notice something odd?

Take a minute if you need…

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Dread family visits each Holiday?

Yes, you love your family. But you loathe being the family’s IT guy. To Mom and Dad you’re Nick Burns, Your Company’s Computer Guy.

But I have a new challenge.

Next time you get that Holiday Help Call don’t feign ignorance.

Try this instead: Accept the role of the Family IT guy and use this as an opportunity to view the user experience from a completely new viewpoint.

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