How Billionaires Set Goals (4 Min Read) | Vol. 198

April 10, 2026

“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” – Derek Sivers

Ask a room full of entrepreneurs how they track their goals, and you’ll get a dozen answers. Post-it notes. Notes apps. Project management tools with seventeen integrations. A spreadsheet that started simple and now has more tabs than a browser during tax season.

The people who consistently hit big goals aren’t using the most sophisticated systems. They’re using the simplest ones. And they’re using them every single week.

This week on The ONE Thing podcast, I sat down with our Director of Training, Chris Dixon, to break down the tool that has made the biggest difference for our clients and our team – the 411.

The Noise Problem

Most of us are operating out of urgency, not priority. Our inboxes, DMs, and Slack channels are essentially a curated list of other people’s priorities. And we’re letting them run our day.

Chris trains corporate clients across the country. He watches how people actually behave with their goals – not how they say they do. And the pattern is almost universal. People feel busy. They’re checking boxes. But they can’t draw a clear line between what they did this week and where they want to be in a year.

Weeks feel productive, but nothing meaningful compounds.

One Page. One Habit. Everything Changes.

The 411 is a one-page goal system. Annual goals at the top. Monthly goals in the middle. Weekly goals at the bottom. It’s Goal Setting to the Now in miniature – you work backward from where you want to go to figure out what you need to do this week.What makes it different from a to-do list? A few things.

It keeps both professional and personal goals in one place. It separates the 20% from everything else. And it creates a weekly rhythm of reflection that most people are missing entirely.

Here’s the mechanic. Each week, you evaluate last week – did you hit your goals or not? You set goals for the coming week. Then you open your calendar and time block accordingly. Chris does his review on Fridays. I do mine on Sundays. The day doesn’t matter. The habit does.

I have an executive coaching client who started using the 411 in September. Her first annual goals section listed 13 items – eight personal and five professional. By February, her annual goals had been trimmed to six. Total. The list got shorter because her thinking got clearer. She stopped treating it like a to-do list and started treating it like a compass.

That’s the shift.

The Mistakes to Avoid

After training hundreds of clients, Chris sees the same mistakes on repeat. Treating goals like tasks instead of outcomes. Overcomplicating the format. Not going small enough on the week – weekly goals should feel almost too achievable. Skipping the reflection. And my personal favorite – setting vague goals that can’t create accountability. “Get healthier” isn’t a goal. “Work out four times this week” is.

One more. If life interrupts your time block, don’t cancel it. Erase and replace. Reschedule it for later in the day or later in the week. That principle alone has saved me more times than I can count.

The Leader’s Lens

If you lead a team, the 411 becomes something even more powerful. It gives you a window into how your people think – not just what they did. It creates a shared language around priorities. And it turns your one-on-ones from reactive status updates into real coaching conversations.

The distinction matters. The 411 creates accountability without surveillance. Your people own their plan. You’re just checking in on alignment.

Your Challenge This Week

Tomorrow is April 11 – 4/11 Day! There is no better day to start.

Go to the1thing.com/free-resources/  and download the free 411. Build your first one. Keep it simple – three to five annual goals for professional and personal, max. Break them down to monthly milestones. Break those down to weekly activities. Then time block your top priority.

That’s it. One page. One habit. Everything changes.

And if you want to go deeper, listen to this week’s episode of The ONE Thing podcast – “How Billionaires Set Goals” – where Chris and I unpack the whole system.

One question to ponder in your thinking time: Does my weekly plan reflect my biggest goals – or just my loudest obligations?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Author I CEO I Coach