Even LFR Needs Goals

by Laurie Ruettimann

I spent eighteen months giving away free career coaching and writing a cat book that didn’t get published. That’s what happens when you don’t set goals. You stay busy doing things that go nowhere.

So I have goals in 2026. This is new for me. I am suspicious of it. But here we are.

First, I am going to maximize my LinkedIn Learning earnings starting in Q2. I already make good money from my course library. I am one of the top instructors on the platform, but compared to other super successful instructors, I have been oddly quiet about it. That changes. My courses on self-leadership, conflict management, ethics, and transformational leadership are useful. They move careers forward. I am going to make a better case for why they matter, without turning into a spam account or a motivational grifter. I will tell the story and let adults like you decide.

Second, I want eight coaching clients in rotation by the end of Q2. Why only eight? That’s enough. Coaching at a small scale is what I do well. Anything bigger requires a funnel, a framework, and eventually a pyramid scheme with a trademarked phrase you can shout on TikTok. I am not selling “Let Them.” (Especially since that idea has been passed around, plagiarized, and monetized to death already.) I work one-on-one with people who can expense this to their employers. If that is you, you already know how to find me.

Third, I am relaunching my speaker journey. Probably. I have rheumatoid arthritis, and energy management matters more than ambition at this stage of my life. People ask how the simple act of “speaking” can wear me out when I also run marathons. The answer is simple: I would rather run 26.2 miles than run the gauntlet of delays, bad food, and a connecting Southwest flight. Nothing will match the keynoting volume I had in 2018 and 2019, which is a good thing. But I have a talk called Ready for More that I have been quietly delivering to employees and leaders across industries, and it works. I am going to film it. If I watch it back and believe I can sustain this work, it becomes part of a new speaker reel.

Fourth, I will be blogging weekly starting March 1. I have things to say about work, power, politics, and money. It is time to say them on a schedule instead of in bursts of rage and inspiration.

Fifth, I am simplifying this very old website. Less really is more.

I need a stretch goal, so I’ve decided that it’s “getting dotted” in the Wall Street Journal. If you do not know what that means, the Journal uses stipple portraits instead of photos. Thousands of tiny hand-drawn dots that form your face. It is shorthand for being a recognized expert source. I have been interviewed and quoted before, but I am not yet someone reporters call when economic stories break. Not yet.

I am also running up a skyscraper, running the London Marathon, and running the Chicago Marathon again because, well, I’m a masochist. Keeping my joints healthy and staying injury-free is the real goal underneath all of this. Everything else depends on that.

That is the list. If you are someone who bristles at goals the way I do, I am curious what you do instead to stay accountable. I have a retiring husband who loves a challenge and a spreadsheet. Accountability conversations are coming whether I want them or not.

(Sucker. Nobody can manage me.)

If you want to work with me this year, you can see that I am taking coaching clients, booking speaking engagements, and teaching on LinkedIn Learning. Start here.

Thanks for your support!