Don't Set a Business Goal For 2026 (Until You Watch This)

The 5 A's is a goal-setting framework designed to help individuals and teams achieve significant business objectives. It has been successfully applied for over two decades, leading to substantial growth and personal achievements. The framework emphasizes a holistic approach, ensuring all critical aspects of goal attainment are addressed systematically.

This method breaks down the complex process of goal achievement into five distinct, interconnected stages: Alignment, Awareness, Accountabilities, Activities, and Assets. Each stage builds upon the previous one, creating a comprehensive system for strategic planning and execution. The framework is designed to be cyclical, with a recommended quarterly reset to maintain focus and adapt to new challenges.

Alignment is about being energetically drawn to a future vision, feeling excited and pulled towards it. This begins with defining a clear 3-year end state, choosing between a 'lifestyle business' (fun, freedom, flexibility, smaller team of 5-10) or a 'performance business' (larger, potentially more stressful, 30-50+ people, higher valuation). It's crucial to genuinely align with the chosen path, not just what sounds good.

To achieve alignment, individuals should study or meet people who have already achieved their desired end state to understand the detailed roadmap, including headcount, revenue, products, and systems. This helps in assessing personal alignment with the journey. Furthermore, aligning key people around you, such as spouses, close friends, and team members, is critical. They must understand the journey, sacrifices, and shared rewards, as their misalignment can subconsciously hinder progress. Regular 90-day vision re-enrollment sessions are essential to keep everyone aligned and excited.

Awareness involves surfacing and documenting all potential insecurities, concerns, and blind spots that could impede goal achievement. These are the 'oh, we're going to need one of those' or 'we'll have to fix this problem' moments that naturally arise once a clear goal is set. Examples include low revenue, lack of recurring revenue, absence of financial forecasting tools, or not owning core technology.

Instead of ignoring these issues, the framework advocates for maintaining an 'awareness list' where all such concerns are captured. Companies should foster a culture where raising awarenesses is encouraged and seen as non-risky, providing specific language like 'Can I raise an awareness with you?' This ensures that real problems are discussed, ideated upon, and solved, preventing recurring issues that can derail progress.

Accountabilities translate identified awarenesses into actionable problems that need to be solved within the next 90 days. This stage focuses on assigning 'who' will be responsible for solving these 2-4 major issues, rather than expecting one person to do everything. The emphasis is on assembling a team or leveraging external resources, such as business coaches or accelerators, to achieve breakthroughs.

Effective accountability requires the entire team to be aligned with the overall vision and aware of the problems. Once the big problems are identified, specific individuals or teams are assigned ownership, ensuring that everyone understands their role in achieving the quarterly breakthroughs. This structured approach prevents critical issues from being overlooked and ensures progress.

Activities are the consistent, repetitive actions that drive results and move the needle towards the defined goals. Success often comes from doing the right things repeatedly. For each team member, 3-6 most important weekly activities are identified. These are declared in a Monday morning meeting, where the team provides feedback on their relevance and importance.

A Friday afternoon debrief is held to check on the completion of these weekly activities, allowing for reflection on progress and identification of any issues. This weekly rhythm, combined with a quarterly reset, ensures that daily efforts are aligned with the broader strategic objectives. This continuous cycle of planning, execution, and review is crucial for sustained progress.

Assets are investments that make future operations easier and contribute to long-term growth. There are three options for assets: buy (acquire existing assets), develop (create new assets), or improve (enhance existing assets). Examples include property, websites, YouTube channels, lead generation tools, or intellectual property like books.

Teams should brainstorm a list of potential investments (15-30 assets) and then hold an 'asset investment meeting' to determine which investments offer the biggest return on investment (ROI). For instance, a $10,000 investment in an online assessment generating 1,000 leads per month might be more impactful than a $1 million property investment yielding $30,000 in rent. Strategic asset development, guided by frameworks like the '24 Assets' model, ensures resources are allocated to maximize long-term benefits and simplify future goal attainment.

The entire 5 A's framework is designed to be cyclical, with a crucial 'quarterly reset' every 90 days. During this reset, teams revisit their alignment, raise new awarenesses, confirm accountabilities, and define the 3-6 big activities for the upcoming quarter. This regular review ensures that the strategy remains relevant and responsive to changing circumstances.

Consistently applying the 5 A's framework every 90 days creates a 'snowball effect,' where progress compounds and goals that once seemed unattainable become normal achievements. This systematic approach, involving team collaboration across all five stages, transforms goal setting from a one-time resolution into a continuous, integrated system for sustained success.