MJ's New Goal Setting/Achievement App

[MJ DeMarco]

Hey Boss... my own Productivity/Task app will be out for Summer too... though mine will have a fantasy theme and a few mental health (Archetype) aspects as well as tools to help those with ADHD etc... You ready to Wrestle?

Sounds exciting, the fantasy thing sounds really cool and I can see that being a bit hit.

 

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[srodrigo]

@MJ DeMarco The app looks really cool! I haven't signed up and tested it properly yet because my next 3 weeks are side-tracked and I wouldn't be able to follow the first 1-3 weeks milestone, but I'll do as soon as life goes back to normal. You actually added the "gamification" idea, looking forward to having a look.

Just one piece of initial feedback that crossed my mind:
When you add goals and link them to the longer-term goals, you currently selected them from a dropdown. I understand this is an MVP, and this works well enough. I'm thinking that it'd be cool for a later version to add a "tree" similar to a mindmap where you can start from your 10 year goal, then a Plus button to create a branch, then similar idea for smaller goals. That way it's much easier to visualise the whole picture and the dependencies between tasks, as well as add and link the tasks correctly.
Maybe you already had something like this in mind, but worth mentioning in case.

 

[Dean Irwin]

First off, just wanted to say that this product is incredible, and hats off to all of the developers working on it with you!

It's just the two of us, guided by awesome feedback from everyone here on the forum helping us to improve it! I'm glad you're finding value in our offering, and I'd like to let you know that we have new goal-setting tools on the way to look forward to! Thank you for your feedback as well!

I just wanted to ask if there is a section somewhere that shows when you created a monthly/mid/short term goal

I will make sure that the creation time is located somewhere in the new goal-setting pages, thank you for the suggestion

which shows how many times you have edited this goal and the dates in which they were created or edited.

I think it would be better to set multiple smaller goals and track your acheivement dates for them. However, we will be implementing "Target Dates" from the bucket lists functionality into goals as well so that you can set a specific date you would like to have that goal completed.

We might also consider some kind of indicator that shows up if a goal takes longer than the designated time frame as a gentle nudge, like what we did to tasks on the DailySumo. If you have any ideas in this realm, feel free to leave them on ideas.goalsumo.com , a place where other can comment, upvote, and expand on your ideas!

I can't wait to see future features!

Our current dev cycle has been a longer one, but we have new stuff on the way!

Goal setting and chaining changes are our current priority, as this has been something we've wanted to reimagine for a pretty long time, but we were unsure of the best way to accomplish certain aspects of this goal-setting process.

With the DailySumo system, we were able to pull the ideas we liked from the massive amount of todo list tools out there, but with the goal-setting system, it is unique to our software so it's more of a trial-and-error experience figuring out what works and what doesn't.

If you have any feedback regarding how you think a new goals page could look (the display of them, as we have the forms pretty much redesigned at this point), feel free to DM me and let me know!

Once again, thank you for the feedback!

 

[Dean Irwin]

@Dean Irwin a dedicated forum thread just for GoalSumo.com would be helpful, or is this the official thread for GoalSumo.com? I mean a thread with the title like "Official GoalSumo.com.com Discussion Thread" where members could discuss features, ask for help etc.

Right now GoalSumo.com is still in beta, so we don't have an official thread for it yet. There are two or three different threads centered around it though. For now, this is a great place to talk about it!

So maybe instead of these "Set goals you would like to reach in the next X weeks." labels you should display exact deadlines like "Set goals you would like to reach by November 1st, 2023"?

So this is an interesting point, and one that we have been addressing in support tickets since launch. I think what we have is a slightly different paradigm for goals... I think it is better to think of goals in our system as being fluid. The time frames aren't meant to attach to a specific point in time. The time frames are really answering the question of "How long does this goal take to complete?", not "When does this goal need to be completed".

This being said, we could make significant improvements in explaining this concept in our UI. In the new goal system that is currently in a development branch right now, we will be adding "Target Dates" where you can set a specific date you would like a particular goal to be completed to help folks out with setting and meeting deadlines. So, the functionality you want is actually already implemented on our end, and will be coming with the release of the new goal system.

P.S. this is a great app and has a great potential, keep up the good work!

Thank you! We have a lot of cool stuff coming to goals soon!

 

[BlackLands]

Nice! Glad you think so considering we've only just scratched the surface of what we're trying to accomplish. Lots more in the pipeline (including AI, goal templates, more.)

As for an interview, thanks for the invite, however I stopped doing interviews last year and don't expect to resume until probably next year.

Hey MJ I've seen the last two videos you published about GoalSumo.com and the new UI and the new features are incredible.

I'd really like to have you as guest of my podcast since other than been a pleasure for me, I'm quite sure that my viewers are quite in target.

Let me know in the DM in case and congratulations for what you're doing

 

[Makaveli7]

If you sign up for an email list for GoalSumo.com, he will keep you updated. I got an email that said he will launch soon

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Is the new goals app and book available yet?

May I ask, where did you hear about this?

 

[rbensen]

Thank You...I registered at GoalSumo.com.
Looking forward to it!

I heard about it by listening to an interview you did on Bookbits (sp.?) podcast.

 

[mikecarlooch]

This looks awesome @MJ DeMarco ! Excited to use and will be a customer.

 

[Cameraman]

I wasn't aware of this but have signed up to the email list.
I'm looking forward to the launch.
Great idea.

 

[LightHouse]

This is a daily task system that can be flexibly used with specific long-term goals, or short-term goals. It also incorporates ambiguity with general Kaizen improvements and values. Looking forward to hearing your feedback as I know you will be the toughest critic, which is helpful.



If things go as planned, you should get an email with beta-use details within 45 days.

We were hoping for a summer release but we are a bit behind as I've become a tough first user.

That sounds great, can't wait to see what you've built MJ.

I see that it shows as co-founder, is the other founder the dev? Didn't see mention of it anywhere. If it's not public, no worries, just curious

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I got the slip in

Those are bookmarks!

 

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[Albert KOUADJA]

T

Yes it is.



We haven't had problems accepting any pre-registrations so we're not sure the issue, however no worries, we added you manually.

Okay, Thanks you dad MJ

 

[StompingAcorns]

I can't wait!! Looking forward to using your app, MJ.

 

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[gilli]

I have a question about the app. I noticed that there is no Sunday in daily sumo. Was this done on purpose so that there is a rest period on Sunday or will it still be retrofitted? Thank you very much!

 

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[savefox]

I think an app would be more convenient

 

[ZackerySprague]

Thank you, so happy to hear this. My productivity has improved since using it too, and I've used a variety of systems. This "self use" was very important to me.

Question, did you subscribe? We saw your trial, but didn't see a subscription from you, so I just want to make sure there weren't any bugs in the process.

Oops, sorry. I thought I did last night, I forgot to complete that task. I did just now. The process was smooth.

The SAAS is very well developed for the beta stage. I have submitted some features request such as looking at monthly goals on the left hand side to help the user determine what task is next to do for the DailySumo section of the UI

Another cool feature, yet not sure if its feasible, is to drag and drop tasks into the daily sumo list.

I've always had to write down the tasks on my list, but these tasks were not as important they were minor things such as Take out trash etc.

With the "Print DailySumo" list it actually fill's in the monthly and yearly goals on the side. Very nice to have.

 

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[andyhaus44]

@MJ DeMarco,

With regards to GoalSumo.com, I think your biggest competitor is Goals Wizard. GW has an excellent layout, features, widgets and design but does not have the depth that GoalSumo.com has.

As far as the Grading on the website goes, I am still at an 'F' with 53 points for the day.
How about this as a grading scale?
<30 F 30-39 D 40-49 C 50-79 B 80+ A

 

[Hadrian]

Hey Boss... my own Productivity/Task app will be out for Summer too... though mine will have a fantasy theme and a few mental health (Archetype) aspects as well as tools to help those with ADHD etc... You ready to Wrestle?

 

[srodrigo]

Hey Boss... my own Productivity/Task app will be out for Summer too... though mine will have a fantasy theme and a few mental health (Archetype) aspects as well as tools to help those with ADHD etc... You ready to Wrestle?

That's a really cool idea. Is it it going to be a "game" where people get points and maybe even compete with each other? I've seen this approach before and I wonder whether it really works, but I think making things competitive can motivate people to go the extra mile.

 

[MichelleWood]

I'd heard of GoalSumo somewhere else before, not sure where? I saw the ad on the forum and put the link on my desktop to remind me to check it out. I'm glad I did, as soon as I saw MJ was behind it, I knew it would be good so I signed up for the trial today. I've spent a couple hours adding my B.H.A.G. and breaking it down - it's huge and with many, many steps. So far I found the reverse engineering of the goal kinda made my head explode. I agree with @srodrigo it would be good to view the goal tree from either end, just to check I'm getting the steps in the right order.

 

[ZackerySprague]

@MJ DeMarco Not gonna lie, I am having trouble with writing out reverse dream goal chain for a few things I have on my dreamboard such as the cost of a dream home or the cost of the dream car. I understand the process of breaking it down, but I think I have a blockage on writing it actually out. I know my escape number as I posted it up on my Execution thread. So I have a few things, I know my Escape Number and a few items on the dream board. Do you have any other examples other than the business one on the main website? Maybe one for dating to haha!

 

[Peter Abrahamian]

Hi MJ. First off, just wanted to say that this product is incredible, and hats off to all of the developers working on it with you!
I just wanted to ask if there is a section somewhere that shows when you created a monthly/mid/short term goal. I just want to know when I created the goal, so I have an idea of where I am at. For example, this is how I started to write my goals, since I kinda lost track of when they were created.


If there isn't a place where you can see when these goals were created, maybe you can the date it was created in the "edit" section, and also create a "history" section in the "edit" section, which shows how many times you have edited this goal and the dates in which they were created or edited.

Anyways, I hope this was helpful. Good work on GoalSumo and I can't wait to see future features!

 

[Bence Ur]

@Dean Irwin a dedicated forum thread just for GoalSumo would be helpful, or is this the official thread for GoalSumo? I mean a thread with the title like "Official GoalSumo.com Discussion Thread" where members could discuss features, ask for help etc.

I just wanted to ask if there is a section somewhere that shows when you created a monthly/mid/short term goal. I just want to know when I created the goal, so I have an idea of where I am at. For example, this is how I started to write my goals, since I kinda lost track of when they were created.

I am also confused by this. So let's say you create a goal which a monthly goal: "Monthly Goals - Build goals achievable within the next 1-6 months!"

Let's say I create a new monthly goal today, but then 5 months from now this will still remain in this "Build goals achievable within the next 1-6 months" category.

I think an exact date attached to goals would be better. So don't say "next 1-6 months" but let me add an exact date to a goal, like "I need to achieve this goal by November 1st, 2023". And I think adding a deadline to each goal should be mandatory (except in case of daily tasks).

So let's say I am creating all these goals today:
Set goals you would like to reach in the next 1-3 weeks.
Set goals you would like to reach in the next 1-6 months.
Set goals you would like to reach in the next 6-24 months.
Set goals you would like to reach in the next 2-6 years.

It makes sense today, because I know today's date.

But fast forward a few weeks, months or years, I will lose track of these deadlines because the labels are static, these labels mentioned above will stay the same even 1 month from now, 6 months now, 1 year from now etc.

So maybe instead of these "Set goals you would like to reach in the next X weeks." labels you should display exact deadlines like "Set goals you would like to reach by November 1st, 2023"?

So what I miss is the exact deadlines attached to the long-term goals.

P.S. this is a great app and has a great potential, keep up the good work!

 

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[Dean Irwin]

To anyone using GoalSumo the last 2 weeks, you might have had a slow experience using the app.
Our apologies, as we've onboarded a lot of people recently, and we didn't have infrastructure to scale immediately.

We are testing a round-robin load balancing system between 4 servers, so ideally, things should be much faster than they've ever been on the app. This is an experimental rollout, so any feedback or strange behavior, please let us know!


Thank you folks!

 

[DCG]

Appreciate the support, I hope we can deliver some value, and more importantly, deliver some real life-change for a lot of people! When I moved some years ago, I actually found my old 1/5/10 (I included pics) which pretty much is the story behind GoalSumo --it was really refreshing to see that everything I wrote 25+ years ago came true. Freaking EVERYTHING!

Even if you tried to write a bad book it would still be an absolute banger

 

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[Dean Irwin]

Hi Dean. Just out of curiosity, but when do you expect to roll out the new revised Dream Goal system update?

This is currently our 1st priority feature update. As of today, most of this code has been implemented, but it needs a good bit of polishing. This is our next step for the goal update. We are also introducing templates as well, and those might take a bit of time to put together.

This is a pretty big update, so a lot of work is going into this rollout. I know this isn't a direct answer to your question, but I can't answer with a specific date yet. As soon as we feel comfortable on the specifics of this system, we will update this thread with a release date

 

[Bence Ur]

I've just subscribed to the paid version of GoalSumo.com, yearly billing!

GoalSumo is a simple app, it can do one thing but it does it well: setting and achieving goals.

You don't need to cram a gazillion number of features into your SaaS to make it successful, GoalSumo is an example of this. You need to make an app which does one thing but it does it perfectly.

So I like the simplicity of this app. Because I've paid for it, now I have extra motivation to use it. Create some recurring tasks and this software will remind you every day to complete your to-do list.

The gamification feature is great, it gives me a sense of satisfaction when I complete a task and I get rewarded with those sound effects, animations and points.

Sure there are a lot of other project management and to-do list apps out there, but they are bloated with a lot of features you won't use. But in GoalSumo you will use every feature. It is easy to learn and easy to use.

Keep up the good work @Dean Irwin @MJ DeMarco !

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thanks for the clarification! I'm still learning and I guess I need a couple of days to be fully confident on it.

No worries, The habit function can feel a bit complicated or buggy because tasks you fail to complete on the current day auto roll over to the next day.

This rollover can be disabled in settings.

 

[KiwiEC]

This is totally clear (and your handwritting is way better than mine), thanks again to both of you.

It makes sense to work this way for most of the tasks one can schedule.

However, it could be interesting to configure some individual tasks/habits not rolling over.

Let's say I take salsa courses and I want to track this on the app to improve my consistency.
The dance school provides a course to beginners every Monday evening (and that day only). If I miss it one week, it doesn't make sense to have this task to roll over the rest of the week.

For sure it's not a big deal to delete it. But there could be a box to tick or not when creating the task/habit to determine if this single one should roll over. It could be a small quality of life improvement. If I understood well, you can disable rollover only for all the tasks/habits in the settings.

I don't know if this makes sense to you, maybe did I miss the purpose of this feature. Anyway the app is great from what I've seen. I will give a more complete feedback in two weeks at the end of the trial period!

 

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