Achieve HEARTFELT Goals

Goal setting is a cornerstone of personal and professional development. It gives us direction, helps us prioritise, and shapes how we spend our time and energy. But for something so foundational, we've often gotten it wrong.

The classic SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) was designed for clarity and accountability. Later came the HARD framework (Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult), which added emotion and challenge. Yet in practice, both can fall short of capturing the complex emotional and psychological dimensions of why we pursue goals—and how we stay committed to them.

Too often, these models become robotic. They reduce deeply human aspirations into checklists. They leave no room for paradox, personality, or play. And they fail to account for what Edwin Locke—the father of Goal-Setting Theory—spent decades proving: that goals must be consciously chosen, aligned with values, and supported by confidence and feedback in order to drive performance.

In our modern world our goals compete against a cacophony of responsibilities, accelerating change, uncertainty, not to mention millions of companies vieing for every ounce of attention they can harvest from us. And they are very good at it, tapping into all of the best and darkest parts of your psyche to distract you and keep you focused on anything but where you're going. If you want to give your goals a chance to stick, you need to fight fire with fire, and up your goal setting game!

That’s where the HEARTFELT model comes in. It’s a richer, more human framework for setting and following through on goals. HEARTFELT doesn't just ask WHAT you want to achieve, it helps you understand WHY you want to achieve it, and utilises neuroscience hacks to support you to follow-through to success.

Introducing the HEARTFELT Framework

HEARTFELT divides goal-setting into two dimensions:

• HEART: Vision and outcome-focused

• FELT: Action, execution, and experience

Each letter represents an essential component:

H – Heartfelt

Are you passionate about it? Does it bring you joy? If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you still choose to do this?

• Integrate this paradox: Wholehearted + Detached

E – Embodied

Visualise yourself having achieved your goal and feel it in your body.

• Integrate this paradox: Feel it now + Maintain the fire to strive forwards

A – Ambitious

Is it a moonshot? Ambitious goals are more motivating—but only if you believe you can grow fast enough to achieve them.

• Integrate this paradox: Impossible to current you + Possible to future you

R – Resonant

More than just passion, is it aligned with your mission, your vision, and your values?

• Integrate this paradox: Contributes to vision + Adds value independently

T – Tangible

How will you know when you’ve achieved it? Use quantification, enumeration, or emotional state.

• Integrate this paradox: Measure what you can + Listen to your intuition

F – Follow-up

Your fortune’s in the follow-up. Semi-regular check-ins and feedback loops help you stay calibrated.

• Integrate this paradox: Know when to hold 'em + Know when to fold, pivot, refine or walk away

E – Experience

Are you enjoying the journey? Satisfaction must come from the process, not just the prize. The trick is to embrace the experience by appreciating every step, every success, and even every challenge.

• Integrate this paradox: Appreciate challenges + What if it were easy?

L – Leading Indicators

What are the daily or weekly inputs most predictive of progress? Focus your energy there.

• Integrate this paradox: The big picture + The daily grind

T – Time-boxed

Time limits create focus. Even arbitrary deadlines can spark motivation—as long as you moderate your own ego and desire to push beyond healthy limits, time-boxes can be powerful!

• Integrate this paradox: Strive for excellence + Progress over perfection

Why SMART and HARD Goals Aren’t Always Enough

SMART goals brought structure. HARD goals brought feeling. But neither fully addresses the deeper psychological truths about motivation:

• SMART goals can be too safe. Locke’s research shows that difficult goals outperform easy ones, especially when people believe in their ability to reach them.

• SMART goals ignore the emotional experience. Studies show that satisfaction is often lower with hard goals—unless we learn to savour the journey.

• HARD goals emphasise emotion but underemphasise strategic follow-through. Emotion gets you started; systems keep you going.

• Both models lack dynamic feedback and personal ownership mechanisms—elements that goal-setting research identifies as critical for sustained performance.

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Examples: SMART Goals Upgraded with HEARTFELT

SMART Goal Example 1:

"Increase newsletter subscribers by 10% in the next quarter."

HEARTFELT Upgrade:

• Heartfelt: I want to build a genuine community of readers I care about.

• Embodied: I imagine reading emails from people saying the newsletter made their week.

• Ambitious: Instead of just 10%, I aim to double subscribers.

• Resonant: This aligns with my purpose to share knowledge that uplifts.

• Tangible: I’ll know I’m there when I hit 2,000 subscribers and feel proud of the content.

• Follow-up: I’ll check progress every Friday and adjust based on which posts perform.

• Experience: I’ll take joy in writing each issue, not just tracking the numbers.

• Leading Indicators: Publishing weekly, promoting on LinkedIn, engaging with comments.

• Time-boxed: I’ll run this sprint for 3 months, then review and recalibrate.

SMART Goal Example 2:

"Run a half marathon in 12 weeks."

HEARTFELT Upgrade:

• Heartfelt: I want to prove to myself that I can be consistent and strong.

• Embodied: I visualise crossing the finish line with a huge grin.

• Ambitious: I aim to beat my personal best by 10 minutes.

• Resonant: Running gives me clarity and reflects my value of discipline.

• Tangible: Finish time under 1:50. But also: feeling proud and energised.

• Follow-up: Weekly check-ins with a coach and journal entries.

• Experience: Celebrating every run, no matter the pace.

• Leading Indicators: Distance run per week, heart rate recovery, sleep quality.

• Time-boxed: 12-week training plan, race date set, non-negotiable.

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Conclusion: Set Goals That Feel as Good as They Work

Science can tell us what to do and if we're doing it well, but it can never tell us WHY we're doing something. If your goals aren't HEARTFELT, they won't happen, and this is supported by the research.

The HEARTFELT method takes what works from SMART and HARD and brings in what’s missing: humanity, integration, embodiment, and a commitment to the journey.

Because goals shouldn’t just be tasks to complete. To actually succeed amongst the backdrop of distractions and competing priorities in our modern lives, our goals must mirror our values, fuel our growth, and help us express what it means to live a meaningful life.

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References

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705

Oettingen, G. (2012). Future thought and behaviour change. European Review of Social Psychology, 23(1), 1–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2011.643698

Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482