Can you believe Q1 is basically gone? This  means it's time for your reminder to do something that’s not flashy, not sexy, and definitely not viral: your quarterly review.

The truth is that January gave us intentions and now March gives us evidence. And if we want the rest of the year to actually look different, Q2 shouldn’t begin with more ambition, but with better navigation.

Tip of the Week: Your goals don’t need more motivation or drive, they actually need a navigation system.

Side Note: If you’re trying to evolve your role into something more strategic, the right systems make all the difference.

That’s why I created the Effective Workload Management Systems course - a proven framework to help you design repeatable systems, manage visibility, and stay in control of your priorities. It’s been refined with input from over 70,000 Amazonians, and it's helped thousands shift from reactive to intentional. If you're serious about leveling up how you work (and how you're seen) start there.

The Theory Behind

Without feedback loops, we drift. In aviation, the 1-in-60 rule says that being just one small degree off course means you’ll be one mile off for every 60 miles traveled. That may not sound dramatic at first, but over time, tiny misalignments can land you in the wrong city (or in our case, the wrong year). The same thing happens with goals. Most of us don’t fail because we stop caring about the goal, but because we keep moving without checking whether we’re still heading in the right direction.

Quarterly reviews are decision points. Yes, this is a chance to look back and learn, but more importantly, it’s a checkpoint to decide what happens next. If you review your goals honestly, there are only a few possibilities: some are clearly green (on track), some are clearly red (not working), and some are amber (progress exists, but something’s off). If a goal is red, it may need to be redesigned completely... and this is where I like Sahil Bloom’s ABC Goal framework: A goals are ambitious, B goals are realistic, and C goals are fallback goals. Too often, we only set the A goal and then feel like we failed when life happens. A strong system includes backup routes, not just one perfect path.

Be careful with the goals you’re already winning at. When a goal is green, the instinct is to lean in harder because it feels good and it feels familiar. But that can create a hidden trap: we over-invest in what’s already working and neglect what actually needs attention. It's human psychology, I actually call it "procasti-working," when we stay busy with that which is important but we already dominate, instead of venturing for the unknown. This is where the 70% rule becomes useful. In many areas of work and life, getting one goal from 70% to 100% often takes as much energy as getting a second important goal from 0% to 70%. In other words, the smartest move isn’t always to perfect the green, but to stabilize it and redirect energy toward the amber or red. And if a goal is amber? That’s the trickiest one. It usually means the goal is still alive, but the system underneath it needs adjustment.

What I’ve Learned

One of the most useful things a review can reveal is when your goal has no middle ground. For example, I once noticed this with a fitness goal: I had set a target of going to the gym four times a week. Sounds great in theory, right? But when I reviewed my actual behavior, I realized something weird: I was either going four times, or I was going zero or one. There was almost no in-between. I wasn’t going three times. I wasn’t adapting. If I felt like I wasn’t going to “win” the week, I often disengaged completely. The issue was that I had built a goal with no fallback plan.

Make It Happen

Here’s a simple system you can use before Q2 begins:

1. Pause the plane. Block 20–30 minutes this week for a proper review. No multitasking, no phone, no inbox. You don’t need a retreat in the mountains, just enough quiet to think clearly.

2. Replay your quarter. Look back through your calendar, notes, camera roll, journal, or to-do lists. What actually happened in Q1? What took your time? What mattered more than expected? Don’t rely on memory alone, look at your calendar.

3. Debrief with three columns. For each month (or each week if you want to go deeper), write: Pluses. Minuses. Insights. This is where patterns start to appear. What gave you momentum? What kept breaking? What surprised you?

4. RAG your goals. Take your main goals and label them: Green = on track. Amber = progress exists, but something needs adjusting. Red = off track and needs redesign. Be honest here. The point is not to impress yourself, but to diagnose accurately.

5. Give every red goal a fallback version. If a goal is red, don’t just shame yourself and move on. Redesign it. Ask: Is this still important? Was it too ambitious for this season? What would a B version or C version of this goal look like? If your original goal was “go to the gym 4x/week,” maybe your fallback is: B = 3x and C = 1x

6. Don’t over-feed the green goals. If a goal is already working, great. Keep it going. But before you pour more energy into it, ask: Am I trying to perfect this because it’s important… or because it’s comfortable?

7. File your new flight plan. Pick your top 3 priorities for Q2 and write them somewhere visible. If you want bonus accountability, share them with someone you trust. Reflection without commitment becomes journaling. Reflection with a decision becomes momentum.

And if you haven’t set goals for the year yet? Good news: April is a perfectly acceptable January.

Turbulence is normal, drifting is optional,

Jorge Luis Pando

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