Goals in MyLife

How to set a goal for a month, a year or your own period, break it into stages and tasks, and see honest progress without typing in percentages.

7 min read
Contents
Step 1

How the section works

In MyLife, a goal sets a result with a deadline, and you break it into tasks: “Run a half marathon”, “Read 12 books”, “Kitchen renovation”. Short and yearly goals live on separate screens, with a switch at the bottom.

📆

Main

Goals for a month or a custom period. The “In focus” block is at the top, with month tabs below it showing how many goals each month has.

In focusMonths
🗓️

Yearly

Goals for the selected year, grouped by life area, with the overall progress for the year in the header.

Year pickerLife areas
  • Month tabs always include the current and next month, even when they are empty. An empty month shows the hint “No goals this month”.
  • A goal shows up in every month of its period. A goal due in December appears in October and November too, so it stays in sight.
  • The goal card shows the emoji, the name and progress in percent. Tap it to open the goal.
  • The + button fills in the deadline based on where you are: on “Main” it takes the month of the open tab, on “Yearly” the selected year and life area.
The “Main” screen: “Run a half marathon” in focus at 82%, tabs October, November, December, 2027 and five goals with progress
The “Main” screen
💻
In the web app, goals sit in a single column: “In focus”, months starting from the current one, a collapsed “Earlier” group, and years. A short goal appears in the month of its deadline and in the current month.
Step 2

Creating a goal

Tap + in the bottom right corner of the section. Three fields are required to save: name, deadline and life area.

  1. Emoji and name

    The default is 🎯. Swap it for your own so you can spot the goal in the list. Name the result: “Get my driver’s license” instead of “Go to driving school”.

  2. Deadline

    A month, a year or a custom period. The deadline decides which screen the goal lands on and when it becomes overdue.

  3. Life area

    “Health”, “Work”, “Growth” and others. Goals are grouped by life area on the yearly screen, and new tasks in the goal get the same life area.

  4. Description

    Optional but useful: why you want this goal and what the result will look like. The text appears on the goal screen under the name.

💻
In the web app only the name is required: the deadline is set to the end of the current month right away, and you can pick the life area and focus with chips in the same form.
Step 3

Deadline

There are three ways to set a deadline. The type of deadline decides where the goal appears in the section.

  • 📆

    Monthly

    You pick the last day, and the start becomes the 1st of the same month. The goal lands on “Main”. Example label: “October • Until day 31”.

    Main
  • 🗓️

    Yearly

    The start becomes January 1, and you pick the last day yourself. The goal lands on the “Yearly” screen: “2026 • Until Dec 31”.

    Yearly
  • 📐

    Custom period

    You set both the start and the end, for example from March 10 to May 15. Good for projects that don’t fit a calendar month: a vacation, exam prep.

    Main
  • To change the deadline, go to “⋯” → “Edit”. The type changes along with the period: a monthly goal that becomes yearly moves to “Yearly”.
  • An overdue goal isn’t deleted: it stays in its month or year, and in the “In focus” block its deadline turns red until progress reaches 100%.
💡
Don’t make everything a yearly goal. Within a month you can see the result, and the goal doesn’t have time to lose its meaning. Save the year for things you can’t do faster.
Step 4

Stages

A big goal is hard to move all at once. Stages split the path into parts, each with its own deadline and tasks.

  • New stage: “⋯” on the goal screen → “New stage”. An empty goal shows a “New stage” prompt row instead. The name is required, the deadline is not.
  • A stage deadline can be anywhere from today to the goal’s deadline, not later. A stage without a deadline is labeled “No deadline”.
  • Order: stages with a deadline are sorted by date, the rest by creation order.
  • Stages collapse on their own when all their tasks are done or the deadline has passed. The screen keeps what you’re working on now, and a collapsed stage expands with the button on the right.
  • “⋯” on a stage: “Add task”, “Edit”, “Delete”.
  • Stages are optional. Tasks added straight to the goal are collected in a “Tasks” group labeled “No stage”.
The goal “Run a half marathon” at 82%: stages Base fitness and Mileage are done and collapsed, stage Race prep with tasks, stage Race day
A goal with stages
🗑️
Deleting a stage in the app also deletes its tasks. If you need the tasks, drag them to another stage or to “No stage” first. In the web app, tasks from a deleted stage move to “No stage” automatically.
Step 5

Tasks inside a goal

Progress is based on tasks, so a goal without tasks stays at 0%. A goal holds regular MyLife tasks with all their features.

✅

Everything from “Tasks”

Due date and repeat, priority, labels, reminders, subtasks, notes and files. A goal’s task also shows up in the “Tasks” section.

📅

And in the calendar

If you give a task a time, it appears in “Calendar” next to your events.

  • A new task is created with the + button on the goal screen or with “Add task” in the stage menu. It takes its life area from the goal.
  • An existing task can be moved into a goal from its own screen: tap the list name above the title, then the “Goals” tab. A task from a shared list can’t be moved into a goal.
  • Dragging: press and hold a task to move it within a stage, to another stage or to “No stage”.
  • Checking off: tap the circle. For a repeating task, a check closes one specific day.
  • Completed tasks are hidden to keep the list short. You can show them via “⋯” → “Show completed tasks”.
✂️
Word tasks so that each one can be done in one go. “Call three driving schools” beats “Sort out driving school”: with the first one, you can tell right away whether it’s done.
Step 6

How progress is calculated

Progress shows the share of completed items among everything in the goal. You can’t set percentages by hand: the number comes from the work you’ve done.

  • ✓Pick a driving school1 item
  • ✓Gather documents1 item
  • ✓Medical certificatesubtask
  • Pass the theory test1 item
  • Pass the road test1 item
60%3 of 5 items
  • Each task and subtask counts as one item.
  • A repeating task is spread across its schedule: each planned day is a separate item. “Workout 3 times a week” for a month weighs 12–13 items.
  • A repeat with no end date isn’t counted in progress: it never ends, so it can’t be counted. Give such a task an end date, for example the goal’s deadline.
  • Stages don’t affect progress, they only group tasks.
  • A goal is complete when progress reaches 100%. There is no separate “Complete goal” button.
📊
Progress appears on the goal card in the list, on the goal screen under the name and in the “In focus” block. The yearly goals screen also shows progress for the year: the average across all of that year’s goals.
Step 7

Goal in focus

When you have many goals, your attention spreads thin. Focus pins the one goal that matters most right now to the top.

The “In focus” block: goal “Run a half marathon”, progress 82%, life area Health, deadline Aug 1 – Nov 2 1 2 3 4
  1. The goal currently in focus; tap to open it
  2. Progress based on the goal’s tasks
  3. Life area of the goal
  4. Deadline: a past one turns red until the goal hits 100%
  • Add to focus: “⋯” on the goal screen → “Add to focus”. To undo, use “Remove from focus” in the same menu.
  • There’s only one goal in focus. When you pick a new one, the previous one leaves focus automatically.
  • Any goal can be in focus, including a yearly one.
  • The focus goal leaves the month tabs to avoid repeating itself: it’s already at the top.
  • While nothing is in focus, the block shows a hint to pick a goal.
⭐
Put a near-term goal in focus and change it when your priorities shift: once a month or after finishing a stage.
Step 8

Yearly goals

The “Yearly” screen shows the big goals of one year and how far you’ve come over the year as a whole.

  • The “Goals 2026” header shows overall progress for the year. Tap the year to open the picker: the grid shows how many goals each year has.
  • Life area tabs: “All” plus the life areas that have goals. Each tab has a counter.
  • In “All”, goals are grouped by life area, with “No life area” first. You can see at a glance which areas have no big goals.
  • The focus goal stays in its place in its group on this screen.
The “Yearly” screen: Goals 2026, progress 64%, life area tabs and goals grouped by Health, Growth, Finance, Home
The “Yearly” screen
💻
In the web app, yearly goals sit in the shared goals column, grouped by year, without life area tabs or overall yearly progress.
Step 9

Managing a goal

Everything you can do with a goal is in the “⋯” menu on its screen.

  • ➕

    New stage

    Splits the goal into parts with their own deadlines.

  • ✏️

    Edit

    Emoji, name, description, deadline and life area. You can also change the life area by tapping its chip under the progress.

  • ⭐

    Add to focus / Remove from focus

    Moves the goal to the top of “Main” and back.

  • 👁️

    Show / Hide completed tasks

    The setting is remembered for each goal separately.

  • 🗑️

    Delete

    Deletes the goal along with its stages and all tasks inside. The app asks you to confirm.

A long press on a goal card in the list opens “Pin to Live Activity” iPhone only and “Pin to widget” iPhone, iPad and Mac only: the goal’s progress, deadline and upcoming tasks will be on your Lock Screen or desktop.

In the web app, the name, description, life area and deadline are edited right on the goal screen, without a separate form.

⚠️
Deleting a goal can’t be undone and takes its tasks with it. If a goal has lost its meaning, leave it in last month: it won’t get in the way, and the history stays.
Step 10

Breaking it down with the assistant

If you don’t know where to start, the AI assistant will break the goal into stages and tasks for you.

  • A new empty goal has a “Break it down with the assistant” chip. Tap it, and the assistant gets a ready-made request “Break the goal into stages and tasks”. The stages and tasks it creates appear in the goal right away.
  • For a goal with tasks, open the assistant with the ✦ icon at the top of the screen. Ask what to do next, or ask it to add steps.
  • In the web app, open the assistant on the goal page: it knows which goal you mean and suggests prompts like “Break this goal into first steps”.
🤖
The assistant needs you to be signed in and AI turned on in settings. Questions count toward a shared daily limit: 3 a day for free and 20 with PRO. Read more in the “AI assistant” article.
FAQ

FAQ

How do I mark a goal as complete?
There’s no separate button. A goal counts as complete when you’ve closed all its tasks and progress reaches 100%.
Why is my goal at 0% even though I’m working on it?
Progress is based only on the tasks inside the goal. If there are no tasks, there’s nothing to count. If there are tasks but they repeat with no end date, they aren’t counted: give them an end date, for example the goal’s deadline.
How many goals can be in focus?
One. When you add a new goal to focus, the previous one leaves focus automatically.
Are stages required?
No. Add tasks straight to the goal, and they’ll be collected in the “No stage” group. Stages help big goals: they split the path into parts with their own deadlines.
Why does a monthly goal show up in several months?
A goal appears in every month of its period, from the start month to the deadline month. That way a goal due in December doesn’t get lost in October and November. In the web app, it appears in the deadline month and in the current month.
Can I change a goal’s deadline?
Yes: “⋯” → “Edit”, then pick the period again. A monthly goal that becomes yearly moves to the “Yearly” screen.
What happens to tasks if I delete a stage?
In the app on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, a stage’s tasks are deleted with it, so drag the tasks you need to another stage first. In the web app, the tasks move to “No stage”. Deleting a whole goal deletes its stages and tasks on all devices.
Does a goal’s task show up in “Tasks”?
Yes, it’s a regular MyLife task with all its features. If you give it a time, it also appears in the calendar.
Do I need PRO for goals?
No, goals and stages are free with no limits. PRO only affects task features (time and duration, files, more than one label) and the daily limit of questions to the assistant.
Do goals sync between devices?
Yes. Sign in to the same account, and your goals, stages and tasks will be the same on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and in the web app.
Read next
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