Goal Setting: Why Your Values Decide What You Finish with Chris Bailey
RSS Feed 
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
Overcast 
PocketCasts 
Amazon Music 
Goodpods 
Podchaser 
PlayerFM 
Castbox Goal setting, intentional living, and following through are at the center of this conversation with Chris Bailey, productivity author and co-host of the Intentional AI podcast.
Chris Bailey's work traces a decade-long arc — from The Productivity Project to Hyperfocus to How to Calm Your Mind. His new book, Intentional: How to Finish What You Start, pulls that thread together, arguing that following through has less to do with discipline than with knowing what you actually value. He returns to the show for the seventh time, going all the way back to 2014.
In this conversation, we cover:
- Values as the real engine of follow-through: why a scientifically validated values test (Schwartz's 12 values) predicts what you finish better than any goal hack.
- The CP-atone trap: how the idea of a goal — waking up at 5 a.m. — seduces us more than the daily reality of living it, and how to catch yourself doing it.
- Editing vs. dropping goals: treating a goal like a draft you revise, and why quitting can close the loop rather than mark a failure.
- Why SMART goals don't hold up: the research Chris expected to endorse and ended up taking apart.
- Islands of intention and the rule of three: small daily practices for stepping off autopilot and lining up your actions with what matters.
If you've ever pushed through a goal you no longer wanted — or quit one and felt guilty about it — this conversation reframes both. You'll leave with a way to check your goals against what you actually value, plus a couple of small practices to make tomorrow more deliberate than today. Start with the book, Intentional: How to Finish What You Start, and Chris's free 12-values overview at chrisbailey.com.
Also on the show: Laura Vanderkam on time scarcity, and Chris's Intentional AI co-host David Sparks.
Connect with Chris:
- Chris Bailey — chrisbailey.com
- Intentional: How to Finish What You Start (swap in your retail/affiliate link)
- Intentional AI podcast, with David Sparks (confirm show URL)
Connect with Erik:
This Podcast is Powered By:
Grab Shortcasts from Beyond The To-Do List by Blinkist: http://beyondthetodolist.com/blinkist
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Make sure to grab Shortcasts from Beyond The To-Do List by Blinkist. A Shortcast is a 7-10 min version of a podcast where you get the core takeaways.
