Goals vs. Rocks: The Foundation of Strategic Planning

Here's a question: when was the last time you set a real goal? One with a clear finish line and you identified the rocks, the strategic priorities that would get you there. If you can't answer that confidently, today's episode will help you change that.

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Hi, everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of The Law Firm Owner Podcast. I'm so glad you're here. This week, we're talking about goals versus rocks and what they are. People get those confused a lot. I've mentioned this before, but I'd like to do a refresh since this is foundational work.

It's interesting, I meet listeners who don't have goals or rocks. This is for anyone out there who's listening that finds yourself in the same boat. You're doing yourself a disservice by not determining what these are for you, by not setting these in place. If you aren't setting goals and rocks, I want you to ask yourself why. And I hope that this episode will allow you to get out of your own way.

If you have a barrier, get coaching, get support. Remember, this all is about progress. It's not about perfection. You will learn as you go, but you have to do it. You can't just read about how to swim; you have to get in the pool. It's the same with setting goals and rocks. You'll get better through your experience.

Over time, you can ask yourself, would I set it the same way again? Would I change something? Would I stretch more? You'll develop skill through the practice of setting these and going after them. Think about what your goals are and what rocks will take you there.

There are many ways out in the world to think about goals, and it depends on the system that you're looking at. But here's the simplest, most effective way: a goal is binary. You either hit it or you don't. And most of the time, it makes sense for the goal to be a number that you are shooting for. It has to be clear whether you hit it or not. There's no room for interpretation.

You either crossed that line or you didn't. That clarity matters. I'll say, "What's your goals?" "To have more freedom." That's not a goal. It has to be specific. It has to be binary. So having a number, it also allows you to measure progress. Tracking your progress, tracking your data, tracking your numbers, helps you identify what's working and what's not working. There's something else when it comes to goals. People get stumped because they aren't sure what goal to set. Please do not overthink this. You could reverse engineer, you could do a bunch of math to determine what goal to shoot for.

I really want to recommend that you start with a goal that feels exciting. It feels like you don't exactly know how to map yourself there. Maybe it doesn't happen in a perfectly, you know, 12 months. You have to start by thinking bigger. I did a few episodes on this from the book, The Science of Scaling, which is some of the best conversation I've seen around how to think about the future you want to build. And eventually, when you're starting to get more tactical, you're going to have to determine what is a number that you're shooting for. You can go back to listen to those, but here's what I want to say.

It doesn't matter what the number is. The number needs to be there because it's a destination. It's a pin in the map, and it is what allows you to reverse engineer and figure out what route is going to get you there. Don't get in your own way about what goal to set. It doesn't really matter. Does it force you to think differently? It's a good goal. Start with that and then you can check quarter over quarter. You'll do a review, you'll refine. Don't not set one because you don't know what to set.

Just experiment with it. Set a goal that's big enough that it serves as a tool to line you up with it. Now, let's talk about rocks.

A rock is the effort that takes you to the goal. It's the lever that you pull, the projects that you complete, to get you to your target. When you think about rocks, I want you to think about these as strategic priorities. They are the things that you said if I don't do these things, I will be held back. That is how you know what to start to focus on. It'll help shape what you're going to focus on and prioritize.

For example, if your goal is a revenue number, how will you get there? When you break down, it helps you see the smaller paths to get to the top-line revenue goal. When you break that down, you'll start to see, "Oh, okay, if that's how many of these matters I need to handle within this practice area, I need to increase capacity there." Or, "I need to streamline our processes there if we want to be able to handle that." Or, "I need to hire." It's not about efficiency; it's actually the body that needs to come in order to handle that. Your realizations will come through that reverse engineering process, and by asking some high-quality questions that we're giving you a leg up on today. Those are rocks.

By the way, rocks is a term that was popularized by Gino Wickman. He didn't coin that term, nor did his mentor who is Verne Harnish. Stephen Covey did. He talks about rocks, pebbles, and sand. And the rocks represent the most important things in your world. The pebbles represent important things, but not the most important things. And then sand is the filler. It's the rest of the stuff that happens, or that soaks up attention, but it's not the most important things.

And so when you try to fill a jar with rocks, pebbles, sand, and you fill it with sand first, and then you do pebbles, there's no room for the rocks. But when you put the most important things, you place those first, then you fill in with the pebbles, then you fill in with the sand, it all fits with room to spare.

So that's where the term rocks came from. It is meant to say the rocks are your most important priorities, especially as it pertains to your firm and clearing the way so that you can hit the goals that you want your firm to be able to hit.

The rocks are the specific work or initiatives that will have the greatest impact to close the gap between where you are right now, current state, and the future that you're building.

So the point is this: these are the most important actions that if not done, they're going to hold you back. Every quarter, narrow your focus to what is most critical to be accomplished in front of you. Then, execute. At the end of the quarter, you're going to lift your head, you're going to evaluate progress from the quarter you just had, and you're going to adjust for the upcoming quarter.

Don't change course mid-quarter unless you're in startup mode. But established firms should commit to the full quarter before reassessing. Head down, go. Don't get distracted. Don't get shiny object syndrome. Stick with what you said. Trust that in this place of this high-level place of planning, you made the right calls. When it's in the middle of a busy quarter, you thinking that something else is a better idea is probably incorrect. That's what execution and discipline looks like.

If you're in startup mode, it's different. If you are in startup mode, you don't really have an established firm. You're just greasing the wheels of this new business, and you're lifting it off the ground. Or if you are a business that is in a deep period of uncertainty, a quarter is probably too long. So goals and strategic priorities need to be on a shorter circuit, and that way you can tackle with the best of your knowledge now and then lift your head, maybe at the turn of the month. Do it again, turn of the month, do it again.

This is for startups of any kind. There's too much volatility. You may get inundated one week, and then it's dry another week. You don't have any stability. In 2025, as I'm recording this, this is a year that many immigration firms have quarterly has felt a little long for them to plan and to stick with their plan because their circumstances are changing constantly.

As a business owner, when you find yourself in that environment, sometimes it makes sense to have shorter cycles of focus so that you can keep up with however the game is changing.

Circling back, when you set goals and rocks or goals and strategic priorities, remember, again, it is not about hitting the goal exactly. If you set a two-million-dollar goal for the year, it doesn't matter if you hit 2 million on the dot. And some of you listening to this will say, "Yes, it does."

No, it doesn't. That's the important piece of this. The two-million-dollar goal is set as a target to serve as a tool to help you determine what needs to happen in order to make that number inevitable. The truth is if you guys set a two-million-dollar goal for the calendar year and you creep up on the calendar year and it's looking like you're not going to hit it, there are people when I'm first working with them, they'll get really deflated. It doesn't matter. You're at 1.8, and let's just say that when they set this goal, they were at 1.4. So 1.4, they wanted to go to 2 million, and now they're at 1.8. Are you telling me this year was a fail? No, it's not a fail. You have to keep the bigger picture in mind.

As you round the end of the year, look though at what you've done in the last 12 months, and you'll see you're actually probably a little closer to 2 million than you thought. It's just not happened in the calendar year yet. And as you creep up on the end of the year, you'll realize that in probably by the end of January or the end of February, you'll hit the 2 million in 12 months. It's just not perfect in the calendar year.

So stop obsessing over the fact that you're on track or off track. It's data, it's information, but it's not the end-all be-all. And it is undermining all of the work and progress that you're making in a year by focusing on the fact that you aren't quite there.

You're about to be there. So calm down, stay focused. Most of the time, you're either going to fall short or you're going to exceed the goal. You're never going to hit it perfectly. I think that's happened once in the history of me working with hundreds of private practice owners. Both outcomes, whether you fall short or whether you beat it, they both have lessons. And your job is to extract the lessons and use those lessons to make better calls next time.

Not hitting a goal is not failure. It just means you haven't hit it yet. And the only way to fail is to quit. So don't attach your worth to hitting the number. Judge yourself on whether you gave it your all, and did you execute on the plan, and did you show up well? And if you did, and you still fell short, process the lessons and keep going. Goals are meant to stretch you. They're meant to help you grow. They are a tool. They're not there to punish you or for you to punish yourself. When you do hit the goal, it'll feel amazing, but remember, that's not the only win. The real win is who you became through the process.

You became the kind of person that has the capacity to meet that kind of a goal. So, set strong goals, define strong rocks, strong strategic priorities quarterly, and stay focused. The beginning of the year is a great time to put your best foot forward and set meaningful goals and strategic priorities that will make this your best year yet. But no matter when you're listening to this, there is no better time than now to get clear for yourself and for your firm. 

If you want help on this or you're curious on how we can support, schedule a consult at velocitywork.com/calendar. We'll help you get clear on your goals, your priorities, and provide accountability and support along the way. See you here next Tuesday.

Hey, want to watch the video of this episode? Head over to Velocity Work’s YouTube channel. You’ll find the link in the show notes.

You may not know this, but there's a free guide for a process I teach called Monday Map Friday Wrap. If you go to velocitywork.com, it's all yours. It's about how to plan your time and honor your plans so that week over week, more work that moves the needle is getting done in less time. Go to velocitywork.com to get your free copy.

Thank you for listening to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. If you're ready to get clearer on your vision, data, and mindset, then head over to VelocityWork.com where you can plug in to quarterly Strategic Planning, with accountability and coaching in between. This is the work that creates Velocity.