Getting Started

Set up your account, define your first goal, and ship meaningful daily progress. This guide gets you to a clear plan in under 15 minutes.

What you will achieve

Create a clear goal with a realistic timeframe.
Break it into steps and daily actions.
Set up reminders and optional calendar scheduling.

Before you start

Set your time zone and working hours in Profile Settings.
On Android, you can also install the Goaliath app from Google Play and sign in with the same account you use on desktop.

Step-by-step setup

Profile and preferences: Open Profile Settings and set time zone, working hours, and notification email.
Define a goal: Open Goal Planner and describe a specific, meaningful goal. Choose a timeframe and a daily time commitment.
Review steps: Accept or edit the generated step sequence. Add your own steps if needed.
Schedule actions: Add key steps to Today's Actions. Optionally sync to Calendar for time blocks.
Daily check-in: Each morning, open Today's Actions, follow your script, and mark items done.
Check the dashboard balance: The small Goal Balancewidget on the dashboard shows whether your total goal time for the current Monday-to-Sunday week is ahead, behind, or on track.
Use Progress pulse: When you have engaged goals, the dashboard can show a short progress summary with yesterday's time, this week's time against work that should already have started, any completions from yesterday, and direct Work now links for your next planned actions.
Rate after a real win: On Android, Goaliath may ask for a review after you complete your first planned action. Desktop users stay on the web flow and are not sent into a Play review prompt.

Why this flow works

PCT (control loop): A clear goal, daily actions, and feedback reduce error between where you are and where you want to be.
Goal-Setting Theory: Scheduled actions reduce friction (opportunity), and check-ins strengthen motivation.
Self-determination theory: You stay in control while building competence through daily wins.

Pro tips

Start small. Aim for 1-2 quick wins per day.
On desktop, use the small top sidebar arrow to pin the navigation open or return it to hover-expand mode.
If you sign up on desktop first, you can install the Android app later and keep the same account, plan, and trial.
Manual email signup now ends with a secure password link. After you set that password, Goaliath signs you in automatically. Inside the Android app, that same step now goes straight into the Google Play subscription handoff instead of making you log in again, even if the password email was opened outside the app first. The handoff page now briefly waits for that fresh sign-in session to finish before it opens Google Play, and the password-confirmation step now jumps straight into that handoff instead of waiting on a delayed success screen.
The welcome email now carries the same cleaner Goaliath styling as the site and includes the secure setup link plus direct getting started guidance.
Desktop and normal web signups use the Goaliath-managed 5-day trial. Inside the Android app, Goaliath first asks you to sign in, then takes you to a short `Continue to Google Play` handoff screen so the Android billing launch still comes from a real tap. If that launch fails or you cancel the Play checkout, Goaliath falls back to the Google Play gate until you start the default 5-day monthly trial or choose another plan. Goaliath carries your signed in account, email, and timezone through that Android billing step so the subscription attaches back to the same profile. The Android shell now keeps that Play context in place from app launch, so first-time sign-in should return to the Play gate instead of dropping you straight into the dashboard. Google sign-in and manual signup both re-apply that Android billing context before they submit, so first-time account creation should still land on the Play gate. Android Google sign-in now also carries an explicit Play auth marker through the callback so a brand-new Play signup does not quietly receive the normal web trial before the gate. The auth redirect now also preserves the Play handoff instead of flattening successful Google sign-in straight to the dashboard. The Android launcher itself now opens the site with an explicit Play entry marker so the first page load starts in Play-aware mode. The dedicated Google callback route now follows the same Play rules, so Android Google signup should no longer silently create a normal web trial and skip the gate.
If you pick one of the non-trial plan cards on the Android subscribe page before you have an account, Goaliath now sends you into the same shared Google-or-email sign-up flow but keeps that chosen Play product attached. After Google sign-up or manual password confirmation, Google Play opens the exact monthly, 3 month, 6 month, or yearly subscription you selected instead of the default trial product. The create-account page now also spells out exactly what you are signing up for before you enter your details, and the immediate monthly product is treated as its own no-trial subscription instead of falling back to the 5-day trial wording or trial product. The Android subscribe page now reads that immediate monthly product from the live server config before it renders, so a correctly configured immediate monthly plan should behave like the other direct-pay plans instead of disappearing in the browser layer. The Android subscribe page now mirrors that separation too: one clear free-trial block, and one separate immediate-sign-up block with the paid options underneath. The top of the subscribe page now keeps the `Start with 5 focused days` message, but the hero CTA points directly to the free-trial block and a second CTA takes you to the broader start-choice section.
If you subscribe inside the Android app, Google Play manages the payment. The Android free trial is part of a real Play subscription, so it automatically rolls into the paid plan unless you cancel in Google Play before the 5-day trial ends. If you subscribe on desktop or normal web, Stripe manages the payment.
If the Play-installed Android app cannot open Google Play billing, Goaliath will show a billing error instead of silently sending you to Stripe inside the app. Desktop and normal web sessions still use Stripe as usual. During the normal Android handoff into native Play checkout, Goaliath now suppresses the old temporary billing-unavailable warning instead of flashing it for a split second before Google Play opens. If an immediate Google Play plan is not configured in the current build, the subscribe page now shows a direct message instead of leaving the button with no visible response.
If you finish account creation inside the Android Play flow but do not have access yet, Goaliath now sends you to a dedicated signed-in subscription page instead of the generic public subscribe screen. That page gives you two clear choices only: continue into Google Play, or cancel setup. If you confirm cancel there, Goaliath deletes the account you just created and sends you back to the Android subscribe page so you can review the trial and immediate plan options again later. That onboarding cancel path does not blacklist the email, and Android Play sign-up now clears any older deleted email marker for that address before it checks the account flow again. That means you can sign up again immediately with the same address if you change your mind.
When you tap a plan inside the Android app, Goaliath now shows a short handoff message while it opens the native Google Play checkout directly from that tap. This Android handoff does not depend on the old in-page Play Billing readiness check anymore. If the app stays on the same page, close and reopen the Android app, then try the plan again.
If Google Play opens but the purchase does not finish cleanly, Goaliath now sends you back to the locked Android billing gate with a clearer billing message instead of dropping you into the dashboard. That message should now tell you whether the Play sheet was canceled, the purchase is still pending, or Goaliath could not unlock access yet after Play approval.
If you delete a test account from the database while the Android app is still signed into it, Goaliath now signs that stale session out and sends you back to login instead of leaving the app in a broken billing state.
Email-and-password login now returns you immediately on the first successful submit instead of waiting for a second tap after the credentials are accepted. If you already have an active Android Play subscription, that login now skips the Play gate and sends you straight back into the dashboard.
Click the Goal Balance widget on the dashboard to see each individual goal's weekly balance in a modal.
Use Progress pulse to check whether your actual goal time is close to plan and jump straight into the next recommended action.
Use Lessons and Mental Models to reduce decision friction.
Review steps weekly to refine your plan.

If something feels off

Calendar not syncing? Reconnect your calendar in Calendar settings.

Related help

Screenshots

Goal planner first step — Goal planner setup flow for first-time users.