Goal Planning in Amazing Marvin

Setting and achieving goals takes planning and monitoring for progress. In this article, I will show you how to use the productivity application, Amazing Marvin, to create and plan goals for the year.

It is important to break down overall annual goals into smaller, more achievable objectives. Quarterly goals help to give direction, ensure that projects progress on schedule, and provide regular performance feedback. Goals can range from achieving a specific revenue number to launching a new product or service or achieving a customer satisfaction rating.

When setting quarterly goals, break them down into measurable objectives. Start by asking yourself what needs to be accomplished in the next quarter and how you will measure success. Once the goals are set, create an action plan to help stay focused on reaching them. Set specific quarterly deadlines and checkpoints to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments to keep on track. Consider adding rewards or incentives to motivate yourself or your team. Amazing Marvin includes tools for setting up an action plan, performing check-ins and marking progress.

Finally, it is important to be realistic when setting quarterly goals. Set goals that are challenging but attainable, and be sure to take into account any potential roadblocks. With a solid plan in place, quarterly goals can help to provide direction, accountability, and feedback, which will ultimately help to reach the overall annual goals.

My Videos About Amazing Marvin

Note: this article assumes you are familiar with using Amazing Marvin. You can view my videos about Marvin on my YouTube channel.

Marvin’s Goal-Setting Features

Marvin’s Goals and Objective Strategy comprise features for planning your goals by including projects, tasks, habits, and trackers.

To set up goals in Marvin, you must first enable the Goals and Setting Strategy by opening the Strategies section (type S key) and searching for Goals & Objectives. Click on the cog wheel > Settings and enable the Additional Settings.

While in Strategies, also search for the Planning Ahead Strategy and enable it. Click on the cog wheel, and click to watch the instructional video. Later in this article, I’ll discuss how to use the Planning Ahead Strategy, but I’ll assume that you have watched the video.

Plan Your Goals

In the Skinny Sidebar of Marvin, locate and click the heart bottom to open the Goals and Objectives section. Click the Add Goal button to get started.

1. Type your goal. Try to be specific about what you want to achieve.
2. Choose either End Goal or Ongoing, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. Hover your cursor over the question mark buttons for more explanation.
3. Click on the Details drop-down button. Select the Show in Day View, handy for keeping your goals visible, or what Marvin calls Top of Mind. You can disable this view later if you don’t need it. Choose a Category in Master List.
4. Click the Start button. You can send a goal to a back burner if you want it out of site until you need it.

Plan Goal Activities and Milestones

The best part of Marvin’s Goals Strategy is that it includes creating projects, tasks, habits and trackers for your goals which make up the planning of a goal.

1. You might want to break up your goal into phases. For example, if your goal is to read 25 books by the end of the year. So you might plan to read six books every three months.
2. Click the + button to create tasks for achieving your goals.
3. Click the Flag button to create one or more projects related to your goal.
4. Click the Weight button if your goal is related to a habit.
5. Click the Tracker button if you want Marvin to help you keep track of your goal.

Habit and Tracker Features

The Habits and Tracker are similar and helpful in allowing Marvin to remind you to stick to and achieve your goal based on the settings you give it. The Marvin prompts in these tools will also help you keep your habits Top of Mind.

Activate or Keep It Pending

After you set up your projects, tasks, or habits, scroll to the bottom and click the Activate this Goal button. Note: you don’t have to click the Activate button until you’re ready. Sometimes you might need more time to figure out and plan your goal, so take your time.

Commitment Contract

Marvin wants you to take your goals seriously. So after you click the Active button, a Commitment Contract will pop up. The purpose of the contract is to consider how important a goal is to you and what challenges you will face in achieving your goal.

Editing and Finalizing Your Goal

Goal planning in Marvin requires several steps, but the purpose is to help you not get distracted from achieving your goals.

After you Activate your goal…

1. Click on the cog wheel to open the Goal Editor.
2. The Notes icon is the place for keeping notes for your goal instead of in another application.
3. Click the paper icon to review and edit your contract.
4. The Progress section is for Marvin to configure how progress is calculated for your goal. It can put a progress bar in your Daily View so that you can see the progress you’re making.
5. Use Expectations to specify how much you want to work toward your Goal. Be sure to enable a Check-In to see how well you meet your Expectations.
6. Set up a Check-In day and time, and Marvin will ask how you’re progressing toward your goal.
7. The Deep Link feature is for copying a link to a goal. The link can be used in and outside of Marvin.
8. Mark the Done button and celebrate.

Progress

You may have heard it before; goals should be measurable. That’s why Marvin includes a Progress feature to show and remind you how you’re progressing with your goals.

Top of Mind Goals

I started using Marvin about six months ago, and though I didn’t start using the Goals strategy until this December, I used the Top of Mind Strategy to keep my current projects on my Day View. The Top of Mind project feature keeps my projects accessible, so I don’t forget to work on them. I’ve used several other task managers in the past, but Marvin is the only one that really helps me complete projects. To use Top of Mind, you have to enable it.

Likewise, now that I’m planning quarterly goals for 2023, I’m going to keep some of my goals in Day View because three months can pass by quickly, and there are always distractions that can help me from working on my goals.

I have other goals that I don’t need to keep visible because they have firm deadlines, and I don’t need reminders to complete them.

Note: you can hover your mouse on the right side of Marvin, and a pop-out panel will appear. In that panel, you can click the heart icon to toggle the visible goals on your Day View.

Apply Tasks and Projects to Goals

Notice, too, that Marvin adds a heart icon to all goals. You can add the heart icon, the Hover Button Menu and the Right-Click Menu features so that the heart icon can be added to any task. When you click the heart button, you can set the goal for the task or project. When the task or project is completed, it will be added to the progress of your goal.

Monthly Planner

If you want to plan quarterly goals for the year, you can enable Marvin’s Planning Ahead strategy, which you also find in the Strategy section. Christina, Marvin’s developer, demonstrates in a short video how to use it in the strategy. I’m using the Monthly Planner to plan my more extensive and significant goals for the year. But I have decided not to set goals for the entire year. Instead, I will plan three to six months ahead to have time to reevaluate my goals based on what I get done and what new challenges may arise.

In Christina’s video, she’ll show you how to drag and drop your projects and goals into the Monthly or Weekly planner.

My Goal Setting Workflow

I use Marvin’s to plan my quarterly goals every three months instead of a year in advance. I will keep notes in my planner to note upcoming and future goals.

I will focus on 1 or 2 big and two or three smaller goals. That will give me space for other regular tasks and projects I regularly do. Sometimes my goals are significant projects that I may put off if I don’t plan and make space for them.

I’m confident that with Marvin’s Goals Strategy, I will have a productive 2023 because Marvin is good at keeping my goals and projects front and center.