Stop Setting 'Situationship' Goals: How to Actually Reach Your Targets in 2027
By Nina — I'm the friend who tells you what you need to hear about your situationship. ·
Let’s Stop Pretending We’re All ‘Manifesting’
It’s October 2026. You know what that means? We are officially in the ‘hope-scrolling’ phase of the year. You’re looking at your vision board from January, realizing you haven’t touched half of it, and you’re already mentally preparing to copy-paste the same half-baked goals into a fresh planner for 2027.
I’m Nina, and I’m here to tell you to stop it. Seriously.
We love to treat our goals like a situationship. We keep them around because they make us feel good in the moment, but we have zero intention of actually committing to them. We like the idea of being a CEO, or getting that promotion, or running a marathon, but we’re terrified of what happens if we actually have to do the work. So, we keep it casual. We flirt with our ambitions, we text them when we’re bored, and then we ghost them the second things get hard.
It’s time to break up with the fantasy of 'setting goals' and start actually hitting them. If you’re tired of being the person who talks about what they’re going to do while everyone else is actually doing it, listen up.
The ‘Vibe-Based’ Goal Setting Trap
Most people set goals based on how they want to feel, not what they are willing to do. “I want to feel successful.” “I want to feel healthier.” Cool. So does everyone else in Brooklyn. But ‘success’ isn’t a strategy, it’s a byproduct.
When you treat your goals like a vibe, you leave yourself an out. If the goal is vague, you can’t fail, right? Wrong. If you can’t fail, you can’t succeed either. You’re just floating in a gray area, telling yourself you’re ‘working on it’ while you’re actually just procrastinating.
If you want to stop the cycle, you have to be brutal. You need to ask yourself: Am I willing to be uncomfortable for the next 90 days? If the answer is no, then stop lying to yourself and admit you don’t actually want it. There is no shame in saying you value your Netflix time more than your side hustle. But there is a lot of shame in pretending you’re a hustler while you’re currently on season four of a show you’ve already seen.
Kill the ‘Someday’ Narrative
‘Someday’ is the most dangerous word in your vocabulary. It’s the relationship equivalent of “I’m just not ready for a label right now.” It’s a stall tactic.
When you say, “I’ll start my business someday,” or “I’ll get my finances together someday,” you are effectively telling yourself that your current life doesn't matter enough to warrant effort. You’re waiting for a version of yourself that doesn’t exist yet—a version that has more time, more money, and more discipline.
Guess what? That person isn’t coming. You are the person you have to work with.
Instead of a 12-month vision board that will collect dust, I want you to start thinking in 90-day sprints. What is one thing—just one—that you can obsessively focus on for the next three months? If you try to change your fitness, your career, your finances, and your social life all at once, you’re going to burn out by November 15th. Pick your priority, and kill everything else.
The ‘Nina’ Method: Accountability Isn’t Optional
If you’re struggling to reach your goals, it’s usually because you’re being too soft on yourself. My friends come to me because they know I’m not going to coddle them when they’re spiraling over a text from their ex, and I’m certainly not going to coddle you regarding your career.
Here’s how you audit your goals for 2027:
1. Define the ‘Why’ (The Real One): Not the one you tell your parents. Not the one you post on LinkedIn. If you want to make more money so you can buy a nicer apartment and stop feeling like a failure compared to your college roommates, say that. Use the raw, ugly truth as fuel. 2. Identify the ‘Cost’: Every goal has a price. The price of that promotion is 5:00 AM wake-up calls. The price of that fitness goal is fewer nights out at the bar. If you aren’t willing to pay the price, you don’t get the reward. Period. 3. Schedule the Friction: Don’t schedule ‘working on my goal.’ Schedule the specific, difficult tasks. If you’re writing a book, don’t put ‘write’ on your calendar. Put ‘Write 500 words at 7:00 AM’ on your calendar. Make it as unavoidable as a doctor’s appointment. 4. Audit Your Environment: Who are you spending time with? If your friend group is full of people who think ‘hustle’ is a dirty word, you’re going to struggle. You don’t need to dump your friends, but you do need to find a circle that treats their goals with the same intensity that you want to bring to yours.
Stop Waiting for Permission
You keep waiting for a sign, a mentor, or a ‘right time’ to start. You’re waiting for someone to hand you a permission slip to go after what you want.
I’m giving you the permission slip right now. But I’m also telling you that if you waste it, that’s on you. You have enough time. You have enough resources. You just have too many excuses.
Stop dating your goals. Stop being afraid of the commitment. Start doing the work that makes you proud of who you are when you look in the mirror.
Are you actually going to change things this time, or are we going to have this same conversation next October? I’m rooting for you, but I’m also watching.
If you’re ready to get real about what you’re avoiding, send me a DM. Let’s stop the madness and actually build something that lasts.