Master Goal Space¶

Canonical Schema for Long-Term Direction, Alignment, and Learning

Purpose¶

The Master Goal Space is the single source of truth for your long-term goals.

It answers one question only:

What am I actually building over years, and how do all my efforts connect?

This space is not for execution. It is not for daily planning. It is not for brainstorming.

It exists to: preserve clarity over time, prevent fragmentation across projects, enable cross-goal alignment, support multi-year life planning, and create a durable memory of intent and learning.

Why a Separate Master Space Is Required¶

Without a master space:

Goals drift between tools
Context is lost between years
Old goals quietly disappear
New goals are created without lineage
Lessons are relearned repeatedly

The Master Goal Space prevents amnesia. It is the layer that makes the entire system cumulative.

What Belongs in the Master Goal Space¶

Only finalized, intentional artifacts belong here.

Included: Approved GSA goals, associated outcomes, cross-goal dependencies, shared habits, goal-level KPIs, review notes and decisions, goal status history.

Explicitly Excluded: Tasks and work units, calendar events, draft ideas, temporary experiments, brain dumps.

This space is calm by design.

Relationship to Project Spaces¶

Project Spaces	Master Goal Space
Exploration, shaping, execution	Consolidation, alignment, memory
Messy, fluid, tactical	Stable, sparse, intentional
Shorter-lived	Long-lived

Project spaces feed the master space. The master space never feeds tasks directly.

Canonical Data Model¶

The Master Goal Space is best thought of as a structured dataset, not a list.

erDiagram
    GOAL ||--o{ OUTCOME : has
    GOAL }o--o{ HABIT : "supported by"
    GOAL ||--o{ REVIEW : "evaluated in"

    GOAL {
        string goal_id
        string title
        string pillar
        string status
        string statement
        string strategy
    }

    OUTCOME {
        string outcome_id
        string description
        date deadline
        string status
    }

    HABIT {
        string name
        string frequency
    }

    REVIEW {
        string period
        string observations
        string decisions
    }

Goal Entity¶

Each goal is a first-class object.

Fields: Goal ID, Goal Title, Pillar (Finance, Career, Health, Relationships), Goal Statement (GOAL), Strategy Summary, Status (Active, Paused, Retired), Start Period, End Period (optional), Parent Life Theme(s), Notes.

Outcome Entity¶

Outcomes are always linked to exactly one goal.

Fields: Outcome ID, Linked Goal ID, Outcome Description, Deadline, KPI(s), Status, Notes.

Habit Entity¶

Habits are shared infrastructure.

Fields: Habit Name, Frequency Definition, Linked Goal IDs, Notes.

Habits can support multiple goals simultaneously.

Review Entity¶

Reviews capture learning.

Fields: Review Period (Monthly, Quarterly, Annual), Reviewed Goals, Observations, Decisions, Changes Made.

Reviews are where insight is stored.

Goal Status Lifecycle¶

Goals move through explicit states:

stateDiagram-v2
    direction LR
    [*] --> Draft
    Draft --> Active: Approved
    Active --> Paused: Deprioritized
    Active --> Retired: No longer aligned
    Paused --> Active: Resumed
    Paused --> Retired: Direction changed
    Retired --> [*]

    note right of Draft: Exists in project space
    note right of Active: Tracked in Master Space
    note right of Paused: Valid but not current
    note right of Retired: Completed or abandoned

Draft — Exists only in project space
Active — Approved and tracked
Paused — Still valid, temporarily deprioritized
Retired — No longer aligned

Status changes are intentional decisions, not neglect.

Multi-Year Versioning¶

Goals are versioned by planning horizon, not rewritten annually.

Examples: Career Autonomy v2026, Career Autonomy v2027.

This preserves: intent lineage, strategy evolution, and learning over time.

New versions replace old ones only when direction changes.

Cross-Goal Dependencies¶

Some goals depend on others.

Examples:

Financial stability enabling geographic flexibility
Health supporting career intensity
Relationships supporting resilience

These dependencies should be explicitly noted. This prevents overloading capacity, conflicting priorities, and unrealistic timelines.

Shared Habits as Infrastructure¶

Some habits support multiple goals: regular exercise, weekly review, sleep consistency, reflection journaling.

The Master Goal Space tracks these once, rather than duplicating them per goal.

KPIs at the Master Level¶

Master-level KPIs answer:

Are we progressing overall?
Are goals balanced across pillars?
Is any pillar neglected?
Are timelines realistic?

These KPIs are descriptive, not evaluative.

Annual and Multi-Year Reviews¶

At least annually, the Master Goal Space is reviewed to:

Validate overall direction
Add or retire goals
Update timelines
Capture lessons learned

This is where life planning happens.

Failure Modes This Layer Prevents¶

Living year to year without continuity
Forgetting why goals existed
Accumulating orphaned goals
Repeating the same mistakes
Losing long-term narrative coherence

The Philosophy of the Master Space¶

This space is not about ambition. It is about memory and alignment.

It ensures that: effort compounds, learning accumulates, and direction remains visible.

Closing¶

The Master Goal Space is the archive of your intentional life.

It does not push. It does not demand. It does not rush.

It quietly ensures that, over years and decades, you are still building the life you chose.