Goal Setting Workbook + Companion App: How It Works (2026)

From workbook to app: how the Life Goals Program ecosystem works

“A system you use is infinitely more valuable than a system you admire.”
Suzaan Sayed, on the productivity-tool graveyard

The goal setting workbook market and the goal setting app market both have the same blind spot, and they are mirror images of each other. The book teaches a system you would never actually run by yourself, then leaves you on Monday morning with a closed PDF and a half-written intention. The app runs a system that was never explained, so the daily check-in turns into a tracking ritual the user no longer remembers the reason for. Stawarz and colleagues (2015) audited 115 habit-formation apps and found that almost none scaffolded the context-cue or built in a recovery rule; almost all reduced to reminders and self-tracking [7]. The same audit applied to printed goal setting workbooks would find an inverted version of the same gap.

The Life Goals Program is a three-layer ecosystem designed to close both halves of that gap at once. The goal setting workbook teaches the system, the companion app runs the system, and the cadence (Daily Check-in, Weekly Check-in, Monthly Reflection, Quarterly Reflection, Annual Reflection) keeps the system alive across the year. Each layer has a specific job. The combination is the offering.

Norcross and colleagues tracked New Year’s resolvers across two years and found roughly 19% reported continuous success at the two-year mark [3]. That number is not a motivation problem. It is a synthesis problem, which is what the three-layer ecosystem is designed to close.

This article walks through what each layer does, how they interlock, when one layer alone is enough, who each combination is for, and how to decide what fits your week. Reading time approximately 11 minutes.

The goal setting workbook teaches the system. The companion app runs the system. The cadence keeps the system alive. Each is incomplete alone. The combination is the offering.

Layer 1: The goal setting workbook (the system, on paper)

The Life Goals Workbook is a 29-page fillable PDF available in A4 and US Letter, priced at $39.99 on Gumroad (the LAUNCH10 code drops the goal setting workbook to $29.99 during the launch window). It is the teaching layer of the ecosystem. The reader sits with it once a year for an annual fill, and returns to it for the longer reflections (Monthly Reflection on the last Sunday of the month, Quarterly Reflection at the end of March, June, September, December, Annual Reflection in late December).

What it teaches: 4 phases, 11 templates

The life goals workbook is organized into 4 phases and 11 reusable templates (T1A through T4A). The phases trace the Goal Cascade from values at the top through daily action at the bottom.

• Phase 1 (Discovery, one-time): core values (T1A), purpose statement (T1A), Life Areas Map (T1B). The upstream work that makes Phase 2 possible.
• Phase 2 (Planning, annual): vision per chosen focus area (T2A, paired with Vision Interview and Three Futures), Summit Goal (T2A), Goal Plan (T2B), key activities and milestones via the Goal Cascade template (T2C).
• Phase 3 (Working on Goals, recurring): Quarterly Reflection (T3A), Monthly planning and review (T3B + T3C), Weekly planning (T3D), Daily planning (T3E), plus the 2-minute daily reflection and 5-minute weekly reflection.
• Phase 4 (Habit Tracking, optional but recommended): Habit Tracker (T4A) with Trigger / Action / Reward, Lazy Day version, and the 90-day Habit Garden grid. The Two-day rule applies to consecutive empty days only.

How the workbook draws on established frameworks

The workbook draws on established frameworks: long-horizon goal thinking (Collins and Porras) [11], outcome-and-obstacle planning in the spirit of OKRs and mental contrasting [2], the habit loop (Duhigg) [12], and habit-recovery rules (Clear) [13]. What we contribute is a single coherent system and a plain, slow-living vocabulary that fits how people actually plan. The attribution is transparent in the Foundations callout, and the system feels coherent rather than borrowed.

What it does best

The goal setting workbook does the long-form thinking work better than any digital tool. Phase 1 (values, vision, three futures) and the longer Phase 3 reflections (Monthly, Quarterly, Annual) produce better outputs on paper than on a screen. Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) showed that handwritten input produces better conceptual recall than typed input because the slower input forces more in-the-moment processing rather than verbatim transcription [6]. Handwritten reflection benefits from the friction the workbook adds.

The life goals workbook is the teaching layer. It produces the values, the vision, the Summit Goal, the Goal Plan, and the system that the companion app then runs.

Layer 2: The companion app (the system, running)

The companion app is a single self-contained HTML file that runs in any browser. It is currently in open beta: free during the beta, no login required, no account, data stays in the browser via localStorage with optional Dropbox sync for cross-device continuity. The companion app does not require the goal setting workbook to function, but it works best when the workbook has done the upstream thinking first.

What it runs: 9 screens mirroring the 4 phases

The app mirrors the workbook’s 4 phases as 9 guided screens.

1. Welcome: four-phase overview, with the cadence ETA bar (Daily 3 min, Weekly 5 min, Monthly 10 min, Quarterly 20 min, Annual 30 min; planning steps scale with active goal count).
2. Values: top 5 values (T1A).
3. Purpose: one-sentence purpose statement (T1A).
4. Life Focus Areas: Life Areas Map (T1B), rating each of ten candidate areas for satisfaction and importance.
5. Vision: vision draft per chosen area, paired with Vision Interview prompts (T2A).
6. Summit Goals: long-horizon (5 to 10 year) goal per chosen area (T2A).
7. Year / Quarter / Month / Week / Day (Execute screens): planning and review at each cadence (T3A through T3E). Quarterly Reflection (T3A) is the recurring strategic checkpoint.
8. Habits: Habit Tracker (T4A) with Trigger / Action / Reward, Lazy Day, identity statement, and the 90-day Habit Garden grid (green / amber / empty, no broken chain).
9. Insights: plan-close rate by cadence, year-over-year trend lines, and the cross-cadence inheritance view (which Summit Goal today’s action points back to).

The design gap it closes

Stawarz and colleagues (2015) analyzed 115 habit-formation apps and found that almost all focused on reminders and self-tracking, with few scaffolding the context-cue or building in a recovery rule [7]. The companion app closes that design gap. The Trigger field is the context cue. The Lazy Day field is the minimum-viable fallback (built on the behavior-design principle Fogg formalizes in Tiny Habits [14]). The Two-day rule is the recovery rule. The Habit Garden grid is the visualization that does not punish the user for being human.

What it does best

The companion app wins on speed and prompt timing. The Daily Check-in takes 3 minutes on the phone in the morning. The Weekly Check-in is faster than the workbook version because the app pulls forward last week’s commitments. The cross-cadence inheritance view (Summit Goal inheriting down to today’s action) is something the workbook can only show by page-flipping.

Honest beta-status disclosure

The companion app is open beta. Free during the beta. No purchase, no login. Data lives in the browser and syncs to Dropbox if the reader connects an account. There is no native iOS or Android variant yet (the production-grade mobile-native variant is on the roadmap, no commit date). The email coaching sequences that would surface cadence prompts are planned but not yet built. The app is functional; it is also explicitly a beta.

The companion app is the running layer. It executes the system the goal setting workbook teaches, with the bookkeeping and the visualization handled.

Layer 3: The cadence (the system, alive)

The cadence is the rhythm that keeps the system alive across the year. It is not a single artifact (no separate PDF, no separate app screen). It is the schedule of when the goal setting workbook gets opened and when the companion app gets opened.

Cadence	Job	Time	Layer
Daily Check-in	What did I commit to today, what got done	3 minutes	App
Weekly Check-in	What worked this week, what shifts next week	5 to 15 minutes	App (fast) or Workbook (slower, paper)
Monthly Reflection	What patterns emerged this month	10 to 30 minutes	Workbook (paper holds the longer reflection better)
Quarterly Reflection	Did the Focus Quarter close out as intended	20 to 60 minutes	Workbook
Annual Reflection	Did the year resemble the Summit Goal trajectory	2 to 3 hours	Workbook

The cadence is the layer that goal setting workbooks and goal setting apps in the wider market routinely ignore. A workbook without a cadence becomes a one-time fill that gets shelved by February. An app without a cadence becomes a tracking ritual the user forgets the reason for. The cadence is what makes the workbook’s annual fill produce real outcomes across the next 12 months, and what makes the app’s daily check-in feel meaningful instead of mechanical.

Email coaching sequences that would surface the cadence prompts at the right moments (Sunday evening Weekly Check-in nudge, last Sunday of the month Monthly Reflection nudge, end-of-quarter reflection prompt, late-December Annual Reflection sequence) are planned for the post-beta phase. For now, the cadence is held by the reader’s own calendar or the workbook’s printed schedule.

The cadence is the third layer. It is not a separate artifact; it is the schedule that interlocks the goal setting workbook and the companion app across the year.

How the workbook and app fit a real week

The workflow is straightforward once the upstream thinking is done. A first-time reader sits with the goal setting workbook on a Saturday morning, coffee at hand, and runs Phase 1 (Discovery: values, life areas, three futures, vision interview) across Saturday and Sunday morning. Phase 2 (Planning: Summit Goal for one chosen focus area, then a Goal Plan with the Outcome Map and Friction Map) runs Sunday afternoon. Phase 4 (Habits: two habits set up with Trigger / Action / Reward / Lazy Day fields) takes 30 minutes Monday evening. Total first-time fill across the weekend: approximately 5 to 6 hours across two and a half days, depending on how thorough the reader is on the long-form Phase 1 exercises.

After the workbook fill, the reader opens the companion app in the browser on Monday morning. The app walks through the 9 screens with the data already gathered. Each screen populates in under 15 minutes total because the thinking is already done. The app becomes the operational layer; the workbook becomes the reference document. This workbook app combo is the configuration the ecosystem is designed around.

Then the cadence kicks in. The app holds the Daily Check-in (3 minutes after morning coffee) and the Weekly Check-in (5 minutes on Sunday evening, faster than the workbook version because the app pulls forward last week). The workbook holds the longer reflections (Monthly on the last Sunday of the month, Quarterly at the end of March / June / September / December, Annual in late December). When the cadence is held, the system survives the year. When the cadence drops, the workbook and the app both gradually go silent.

A typical week three weeks into regular use: the workbook stays open at the desk on Sunday for the 15-minute Weekly Check-in, the companion app runs on the phone for the 3-minute Daily Check-in, and the Habit Garden grid in the app surfaces a single empty day (not red) when a 5 am flight broke the habit. The empty cell prevented the abandonment cascade that a streak counter would have triggered.

One weekend for the first-time fill. Fifteen minutes per week for the ongoing cadence. Three minutes per day for the tactical layer. The math is small once the upstream thinking is done.

Where the workbook wins vs the app and vice versa

Six months into regular use, the trade-off becomes clear. Neither layer is universally better than the other. Each wins on specific work.

The life goals workbook wins on the long-form thinking exercises. Vision Interview, Three Futures, the Annual Reflection, and the side-by-side Outcome Map + Friction Map layout (on facing pages in the printed workbook) all produce better outputs on paper than on a screen. Mueller and Oppenheimer’s pen-vs-laptop research generalizes: the slower input of handwriting forces deeper processing [6]. The longer the reflection, the more paper pays off.

The companion app wins on the tactical recurring layer. The Daily Check-in is always in pocket. The Weekly Check-in is faster because the app pulls forward last week. The Habit Garden grid scans better on screen than on the printed grid. The cross-cadence inheritance view (Summit Goal cascading down to today’s action) is a feature the workbook can only suggest by reference.

Use case	Goal setting workbook (paper)	Companion app (browser)
Vision Interview / Three Futures	Wins, by a wide margin	Functional but feels truncated
Annual Reflection	Wins, by a wide margin	Functional but feels mechanical
Goal Plan (Outcome Map + Friction Map)	Wins, side-by-side on facing pages	Functional, linear
Daily Check-in	Functional, requires the workbook open	Wins, in pocket, 3 minutes
Weekly Check-in	Functional, slower, more deliberate	Wins, faster, pulls forward last week
Habit Tracker (T4A / Habit Garden grid)	Functional, monochrome	Wins, color-coded green / amber / empty
Cross-cadence inheritance view	Cannot show directly, requires page flipping	Wins, single screen

The split is functional, not preferential. Long reflections benefit from handwriting. Daily and weekly tactical work benefits from speed. The two layers cover the spectrum.

Paper wins the long reflections. The app wins the daily and weekly tactical layer. Neither replaces the other.

When one layer alone is enough (the honest counterargument)

The three-layer ecosystem is not universally better than each layer alone. Three specific cases where one layer is enough.

Case 1: workbook-only is enough. If the reader writes long-form on paper as a thinking practice already, treats annual goal-setting as a slow weekend ritual, does not want daily tracking on the phone, and is comfortable building their own ongoing cadence from the templates, the life goals workbook alone is sufficient. The 11 templates and the printed cadence prompts give the reader a complete system. The app adds bookkeeping and visualization, but the reader who keeps their own calendar and writes their own weekly reviews on paper does not need it. The Direction Seeker persona often runs this configuration; long-form paper writing is the thinking they came for.

Case 2: app-only is enough. If the reader is allergic to printed PDFs, runs all planning digitally already, needs the phone-in-pocket Daily Check-in to actually happen, has read enough of the underlying frameworks in other forms (Atomic Habits, Designing Your Life, Measure What Matters) that the workbook’s teaching layer is redundant, and is willing to skip the longer paper-based reflections (or run them in a separate journaling app), the companion app alone is sufficient. The Restart Veteran persona often runs this configuration; the app’s no-streak, no-shame Habit Garden grid is the specific feature they came for, and they have already absorbed the surrounding theory.

Case 3: both is the higher-leverage default. If the reader has not read the underlying frameworks before, treats the goal setting workbook as the teacher and the companion app as the runner, wants the long reflections on paper plus the daily tactical layer on the phone, and values vocabulary discipline (one consistent set of terms across both layers), this workbook app combo is the higher-leverage default. The Reset Optimizer, the Methodical Builder, and the Family Anchor personas all tend toward this configuration.

The combination wins when the use-case maps to the strengths of each medium. The combination loses when it forces the reader into work they would skip on either layer alone.

The three-layer ecosystem is not universally superior. The combination wins for readers whose use-case maps to the strengths of each layer.

Five worked examples (which combination fits which reader)

The Reset Optimizer (workbook for the annual weekend, app for the weekly cadence)

A 38-year-old senior product designer, partnered, no kids. Has watched three prior productivity systems collapse around the eight-week mark each time. Bought the life goals workbook in late November for a long Christmas-week annual reset. Spent Saturday and Sunday between Christmas and New Year filling Phase 1 and Phase 2 at the kitchen table. Opened the companion app the following Monday morning. The app populated in 12 minutes because the workbook had done the thinking. By March, the daily 3-minute check-in had become automatic; by June, the Habit Garden grid showed eight habits running at 70%+ adherence. The workbook stays in the desk drawer and comes out the last Sunday of each month for the Monthly Reflection.

The Restart Veteran (app-only, because the workbook felt like more pressure)

A 34-year-old freelance illustrator with ADHD, recovering from a year of two-week starts and abandonments. Bought the workbook in spring, opened it twice, closed it both times because the 29-page PDF felt like another thing to fail at. Pivoted to the companion app three months later because the beta access was free and the no-login, no-streak design felt safer. Ran the app’s Discovery and Vision screens in a single 40-minute sitting. Set two habits with Lazy Day versions. By month two, the Habit Garden grid showed mostly green with weekly ambers (the Lazy Day version of each habit); the visualization did not punish the missed days, and the abandonment cycle did not trigger. The workbook is on the shelf for the next Annual Reflection.

The Direction Seeker (workbook-only, because long-form paper writing was the thinking she came for)

A 29-year-old who just left a five-year media role and moved cities. Bought the life goals workbook in the second month of the move because she needed to figure out what she actually wanted before setting goals about it. Spent a weekend with the Vision Interview and Three Futures exercises in a notebook on the couch. The output was three handwritten pages: one for each future, plus a one-page Vision document. Did not open the app; she is not ready for daily tracking. The workbook is her thinking tool. She will revisit it quarterly with the Quarterly Reflection template, and decide about the app after the first six months of clarity.

The Methodical Builder (both, treating the workbook as source-of-truth and the app as operational mirror)

A 47-year-old engineering director, married, two children. Read the underlying frameworks (Locke and Latham, Gollwitzer, Fogg, Burnett and Evans, Collins and Porras) over the prior 24 months. Bought the workbook and read it end to end first (as a research document), then ran the Phase 1 + Phase 2 fill across a long weekend. Connected the app to Dropbox for cross-device sync. Treats the workbook as source-of-truth (the printed Goal Plan stays in the desk drawer) and the app as operational mirror (the Daily Check-in and the Weekly Check-in run there). The two layers reconcile at the Monthly Reflection on the last Sunday of each month.

The Family Anchor (workbook for monthly reflections, app for daily check-ins squeezed between caregiving)

A 41-year-old part-time consultant, parent of two school-age children, household calendar manager. Has 30 minutes of unbroken time per day on a good day. Bought the workbook in February and ran Phase 1 and Phase 2 across three Sunday mornings (kids at grandparents). Uses the app for the Daily Check-in (3 minutes after morning coffee, before the school run), the Weekly Check-in (5 minutes Sunday evening), and the Habit Tracker (two habits: a 20-minute walk and a 5-minute evening gratitude practice, both with Lazy Day versions). Uses the workbook for the Monthly Reflection (30 minutes on the last Sunday of the month). The app is the speed layer; the workbook is the depth layer.

The same ecosystem produces five different reader configurations. None of the configurations are wrong. The right combination depends on the reader’s existing tools, available time, and prior framework familiarity.

The ecosystem adapts because the layers are independent. The combination is the reader’s choice, not the product’s prescription.

The decision rubric (which combination to start with)

The decision rubric below maps reader conditions to the recommended starting combination. The combination can change over time as the reader’s setup evolves.

Start with	If you…
Goal setting workbook only	Already write long-form on paper, treat annual goal-setting as a slow ritual, do not want daily tracking on a phone, are comfortable building your own cadence
Companion app only	Are allergic to printed PDFs, run all planning digitally, need a phone-in-pocket Daily Check-in to actually happen, have read the underlying frameworks before
Workbook app combo (recommended default)	Have not read the underlying frameworks before, want a system that teaches and runs at the same time, value the long reflections on paper plus the daily tactical layer on the phone
Add the cadence (post-beta)	Are running either or both layers and want scheduled email prompts at the cadence points (Sunday Weekly Check-in nudge, end-of-quarter reflection prompt, late-December Annual Reflection sequence)

The honest framing: starting with the full workbook app combo is the higher-leverage default for first-time users. Starting with the goal setting workbook alone is reasonable if the reader already has a strong digital tactical layer. Starting with the app alone is reasonable if the reader has already absorbed the framework theory in other forms. The cadence layer is in development and will add scheduled prompts post-beta.

Three configurations cover the typical reader. The default for first-time users is the workbook app combo. The reader’s existing setup determines the alternative.

Pricing, beta access, and what is coming next

The current pricing of the Life Goals Program offering.

• Goal setting workbook: $39.99 USD on Gumroad (LAUNCH10 code drops the price to $29.99 during the launch window). Fillable PDF in A4 and US Letter, 29 pages, all 11 templates included.
• Companion app: free during open beta. No purchase required. No login. No account. Browser-only (works in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge). Data stays in the browser via localStorage. Optional Dropbox sync for cross-device continuity.
• Goal setting bundle: there is no bundle SKU yet. The workbook and the app are sold (and given) separately for now. A combined Program SKU is on the roadmap.

What is coming next, in roughly the order it will arrive.

• Companion app polish from beta to production-grade: continued iteration on the 9 screens based on beta-tester feedback.
• Mobile-native variant of the companion app (iOS / Android): on the roadmap; no commit date.
• Email coaching sequences (the cadence layer): scheduled email prompts at the cadence points to nudge the Weekly Check-in, the Monthly Reflection, the Quarterly Reflection, and the Annual Reflection. Planned, not built.
• A combined Program SKU (the goal setting bundle): workbook + app + email coaching as one offering. Planned post-beta, no commit date.

Goal setting workbook $39.99, companion app free during beta, goal setting bundle on the roadmap. Honest beta status, honest roadmap.

How to get beta access to the companion app

The companion app is free during the beta. To receive beta access:

• Reply to any email from support@goalsandprogress.com or ramon@goalsandprogress.com asking for beta access, or
• Email support@goalsandprogress.com directly with the subject line “Beta access request”.

The beta access link arrives within a few business days. The app runs in the browser (no install, no app store, no login). Data stays in the browser unless the reader connects Dropbox for cross-device sync.

A note on what beta means in practice. The app is functional, used daily by Ramon and a small group of testers, and stable. The beta label means: there is no consumer-grade polish on every screen, there is no production-grade support team, and the email coaching sequences that will surface cadence prompts at the right moments are not yet built. Beta testers get the working system early in exchange for tolerating those rough edges.

Beta access is free. Reply to any email from the team or write to support@goalsandprogress.com.

A note before you start

The reader who buys the goal setting workbook in the first sentence of this article and the reader who signs up for the companion app in the last paragraph are often the same person at different moments in the year. The ecosystem exists because no single artifact (no book, no app, no course, no coaching) carries the full system across all of the cadences. The workbook teaches it. The app runs it. The cadence keeps it alive. Each is incomplete alone. The combination is the offering.

If you are not sure where to start, start with the workbook. The teaching layer comes first because the app’s screens make more sense when you have already done the Phase 1 thinking on paper. If you already know the frameworks and you want the running layer first, start with the app and use the workbook as the reference document later.

The full life goals workbook (29 pages, all 11 templates including the Habit Tracker T4A) is $39.99 on Gumroad with the LAUNCH10 code dropping it to $29.99 during the launch window. The companion app is in open beta and free; reply to any email from support@goalsandprogress.com asking for beta access.

For the wider system, see the hub: How to set effective life goals: complete framework. For the why behind the build, see Why I built the Life Goals Program: founder essay. For the architecture: The Goal Cascade from Summit Goal to daily action. For the habit layer: The Habit Tracker: Trigger / Action / Reward and the Two-day rule.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Life Goals Program ecosystem?

The Life Goals Program ecosystem is a three-layer offering: the goal setting workbook (PDF, $39.99, 29 pages, 4 phases, 11 templates) teaches the system; the companion app (free during open beta, browser-only, no login) runs the system; the cadence (Daily Check-in, Weekly Check-in, Monthly Reflection, Quarterly Reflection, Annual Reflection) keeps the system alive across the year. Each layer has a specific job. The combination is the offering.

Do I need to buy the goal setting workbook to use the companion app?

No. The companion app is free during open beta and works without the goal setting workbook. The app is structurally a 1:1 expansion of the workbook into a guided digital flow, so readers who already know the underlying frameworks can run the app alone. Readers who do not know the frameworks tend to get more out of the app when the workbook has done the upstream Phase 1 thinking first.

Is there a goal setting bundle that includes both the workbook and the app?

Not yet. The life goals workbook is $39.99 on Gumroad. The companion app is free during the beta. There is no bundle SKU at the moment. A combined Program SKU (workbook + app + planned email coaching sequences) is on the roadmap, with no commit date.

How long does the goal setting workbook take to fill the first time?

Approximately 5 to 6 hours across two to three sittings, typically a weekend. Phase 1 (Discovery: values, life areas, three futures, vision interview) is the longest at roughly 60 minutes per area. Phase 2 (Planning: Summit Goal, Goal Plan with Outcome Map and Friction Map) is roughly 30 minutes per chosen focus area. Ramon advises focusing on one or two life areas per annual cycle, not all ten.

How long does the companion app take to walk through?

The first walkthrough takes approximately 75 to 125 minutes depending on the number of active goals (the planning steps scale per goal). Walking through with the workbook’s data already gathered takes under 15 minutes total because the thinking has been done on paper. The Daily Check-in then takes 3 minutes; the Weekly Check-in takes 5 minutes.

What does open beta mean for the companion app?

The app is functional, used daily by Ramon and a small group of testers, and stable. The beta label means there is no consumer-grade polish on every screen, there is no production-grade support team, and the email coaching sequences that will surface cadence prompts are not yet built. Beta testers get the working system early in exchange for tolerating those rough edges.

Can I sync the app across devices?

Yes, optionally, via Dropbox. The app stores data in the browser by default (no login, no account). Connecting a Dropbox account enables cross-device sync so the same data is available on the laptop and the phone. No data leaves the browser unless the reader explicitly connects Dropbox.

When will the email coaching sequences be available?

Post-beta. The email coaching sequences are designed to surface cadence prompts at the right moments: Sunday evening Weekly Check-in nudge, last Sunday of the month Monthly Reflection nudge, end-of-quarter Quarterly Reflection prompt, late-December Annual Reflection sequence. They are planned for the post-beta phase; no commit date.

Which combination should I start with?

If you have not read the underlying frameworks before, start with the workbook app combo: the goal setting workbook teaches the system, the companion app runs it. If you already write long-form on paper as a thinking practice and prefer a slow weekend ritual over daily tracking, start with the workbook alone. If you have already absorbed the framework theory in other forms (Atomic Habits, Designing Your Life, Measure What Matters) and want the running layer first, start with the app alone.

Glossary

• Goal setting workbook | the 29-page fillable PDF (A4 + US Letter) that holds the 4 phases and 11 reusable templates of the Life Goals Program. $39.99 on Gumroad; LAUNCH10 code drops to $29.99 during the launch window.
• Companion app | the browser-only digital flow that mirrors the workbook’s 4 phases as 9 guided screens. Free during open beta. No login, no account. Data stays in the browser via localStorage, with optional Dropbox sync.
• Cadence | the rhythm of the system: Daily Check-in (3 min), Weekly Check-in (5 min), Monthly Reflection (30 min), Quarterly Reflection (60 min), Annual Reflection (2-3 hours). Held by the reader’s calendar today; email coaching sequences planned post-beta.
• Goal setting bundle | the planned post-beta combined Program SKU bundling the workbook + companion app + email coaching sequences into one offering. No commit date.
• Workbook app combo | the recommended default reader configuration: workbook for the annual fill and the longer reflections, companion app for the Daily Check-in and Weekly Check-in.
• Phase 1 / Discovery | the upstream work: values (T1A), purpose statement (T1A), Life Areas Map (T1B), Vision Interview, Three Futures.
• Phase 2 / Planning | the annual work: Summit Goal (T2A), Goal Plan = Outcome Map + Friction Map (T2B), key activities and milestones (T2C).
• Phase 3 / Working on Goals | the recurring work: Quarterly Reflection (T3A), Monthly planning and review (T3B + T3C), Weekly planning (T3D), Daily planning (T3E).
• Phase 4 / Habits | the consistency layer: Habit Tracker (T4A) with Trigger / Action / Reward, Lazy Day version, identity statement, and the 90-day Habit Garden grid.
• Summit Goal | the long-term (5 to 10 year) goal that anchors annual goals. Draws on the BHAG (Collins and Porras, 1994).
• Goal Plan | the annual goal-setting exercise. Combines the Outcome Map (what success looks like, measurably) and the Friction Map (what could stop you, with an if-then plan).
• Trigger / Action / Reward | the three-field structure of any habit row. Draws on Duhigg’s cue-routine-reward.
• Two-day rule | the maintenance rule of the Habit Tracker. One missed day is data; two missed days in a row is the signal. Draws on Clear’s never miss twice.
• Lazy Day version | the minimum-viable form of a habit, paired to the same trigger as the full version. The operational mechanism that makes the Two-day rule usable.
• Habit Garden grid | the 90-day visualization in the Habit Tracker. Green (full day), amber (Lazy Day day), empty (missed day). No broken chain.

References

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