Setting Objectives with Essentialize

Six months postpartum, I was finally ready to start running again. But this time, it wasn’t just about getting some cardio in—I wanted to seriously improve my 5K time. My goal? To go from running a 5K in 43 minutes to breaking the 30-minute mark.

I knew this wouldn’t happen overnight. It would take months of consistent effort, and a few big questions kept coming up:

🔵 How do I track my progress?

🔵 What are the milestones?

🔵 How do I know if I’m actually improving?

I had the motivation, but without a clear way to set, track, and adjust my objective, I felt stuck. At the time, we were in the early stages of developing the Essentialize app, and this exact struggle became a driving force behind one of its key features: Objectives.

The need was clear—people don’t just need to set goals; they need a system to break them down, track their progress, and stay accountable. My own struggle with goal setting fueled the creation of a feature that does exactly that.

Now, whether you’re training for a race, learning a new skill, or building a habit, you can set objectives, map out your milestones, and actually see how far you’ve come—without the guesswork.

Fast forward to today—after months of training, tracking my progress, and pushing through setbacks like illnesses and mild injuries, I recently ran my fastest 5K yet: 30 minutes and 4 seconds. Just four seconds shy of my goal! While I haven’t quite broken the 30-minute mark yet, I know I’m closer than ever—and now, I have a system to help me keep going.

Because achieving a goal isn’t just about setting it. It’s about having the right tools to follow through.

Are you ready to set and achieve your objectives? Download the Essentialize app for free from the Play Store or App Store and follow these simple steps:

How to Add a New Objective in Essentialize

1️⃣ Go to the Objectives screen

Start by opening the Essentialize app and navigating to the Objectives screen by tapping the bullseye icon in the bottom navigation.

2️⃣ Tap the "New Objective" button

You will find this button in the blue header.

3️⃣ Type Your Objective

Here, be specific about what you want to achieve.

Instead of just writing “run faster,” I set my objective as: “Run a 5K in under 30 minutes.” This gave me a clear target to work toward.

4️⃣ Choose a Related Value

Every objective is related to something you value. A value is something you are pursuing or already have, both materially and spiritually, that makes your life better. For me, my 5k objective is related to my value of running.

5️⃣ Write Your Motivation

Your “why” is just as important as the goal itself. I wrote:

"I want to break 30 minutes to show myself that I can push through physical and mental barriers. This is not just about fitness—it’s about proving my resilience."

Writing this down made a huge difference on the days when motivation was low.

6️⃣ Add Up to 5 Tasks

Breaking down my objective into smaller tasks to achieve made it more manageable. My tasks where based on times I wanted to reach on my quest to sub-30 minutes, ensuring I stayed on track.

7️⃣ Rate the Difficulty

I rated the difficulty as a “4” out of “5” because I knew balancing work and family wouldn’t make it easy. But this also mentally prepared me for the challenge, making it less intimidating.

8️⃣ Set a Due Date

Having a deadline kept me accountable. I set my due date for March 2025, giving myself six months to train. Instead of an open-ended goal, I now had a clear timeline to work with.

Get Started Now!

If you’re feeling stuck or unmotivated like I was, give this tool a try. Adding objectives in Essentialize is quick and easy, helping you turn your ambitions into achievable goals. Just, open the app and start setting your objectives today. Don’t have the app yet?

📲 Download it from the Play Store or App Store now and see how easy goal-setting can be!

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