Quick Goal Setting
In Six Seriously Simple & Serendipitous Steps
Quick Goal Setting is an exercise that will let you work out your dream life (and the steps needed to attain it) in about 10-30 minutes.
Before we get to that, have a quick go at this for quick goal setting...
In the next 30 seconds, I want you to stop and define your dream life – including what it will look like when you get there, why your goal plays exclusively to your strengths, how you are different to the competition and, most importantly, exactly why you want all of this. Do it in your head, scribble it down, say it out loud – up to you.
Ready? ... Go!
Hmm... how did that go?
If you’re like 99% of the population, you probably became a little flustered and blurted out the usual suspects - “I want to be rich... I want to be happy...and...er... I want to feel secure”
That’s all very well and good, but have you ever got the impression that you might be being a little...well, vague?
Your brain is the most finely-tuned, high-powered and responsive target seeking mechanism on the planet. When you communicate a clear goal to it, it scurries off and (somehow) comes back with all the resources, direction and focus you will need to get it. Brilliantly, you don’t even have to know how it works for you to get results.
To explain this concept, try to see your brain as an internalised Amazon.com. With Amazon, you have an infinite choice of books, CDs and crap to choose from.
If you went to the checkout and typed in “er, I want a book... and I want a TV”, what are the odds you’ll get what you really want? You might well get a book and a TV, but there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed with someone else’s choices.
In life, if you don’t set clear goals, you’re effectively letting someone else dictate which book you are going to read, which life you are going to live. Unless you get lucky, the results probably won’t be that memorable.
With Amazon, you have a think about what you want, you weigh up your options and interests, and then specifically choose products that intrigue and excite you. You communicate this desire to Amazon, and somehow, a few days later, a brand new package arrives in your post-box.
How it got there, well it’s unlikely you have a clue. You just know it’s arrived. Do you know how the order went from the internet to the warehouse? And how the computer knew which warehouse to send the order to? And how the book came off the shelf and got packed up? And who put the address on the envelope and checked to make sure it was right? And do you have any idea who posted the parcel? And... most importantly... if it arrives as promised, do you care?
The point is, when you learn to trust your brain like you trust Amazon, you “make your order”, forget about it, and then get happy when your goal arrives. How did it get there? Who knows. Why do you tend to attract coincidences and start getting lucky when you have clear goals? Not sure. All I know is that the more you focus on something, the more of it you tend to get.
It’s the same process for setting and achieving goals.
The first stage is to actually make the order. If you don’t make the order, you’re not getting the bloody package!
If you do make the order, there is a good chance that your subconscious will help you with all the logistics and end up delivering the shiny new package you desire.
Why are you currently wasting the seemingly infinite powers of your subconscious by giving it blurry, fluffy “goals” to go after? Do you think you might get slightly better results if you were a little more precise with your requests?
Quick Goal Setting is a way to get the answers you need now to some of life’s most pressing (yet often unanswered) questions – what am I good at? What do I want to do? What will it look like? How do I get there?
Are you ready to find out what you want to do with your life?
! WARNING !
LEAVE THIS PAGE NOW! THERE IS NOTHING MORE FOR YOU HERE!
Still here? Sweet. I’ll confess, that was a little bit of reverse psychology. I think most people do want to have a purpose in life, for obvious reasons, it’s just a case of allocating a few minutes to get the proverbial ball rolling and getting over the initial fear. Now, we're ready to get going.
Quick Goal Setting in Six Simple and Serendipitous Steps is designed for the time-poor, over-worked and busy modern day professional.
Over the next 10-30 minutes (depending on how quick you can type / write / think), we shall embark on a journey that has the potential to change the direction of your life indefinitely. This can be pretty liberating stuff, if you follow the rules.
Quick Goal Setting – The Rules
Apparatus
Pen & Paper, or Word Processing Software (i.e Microsoft Word, Note Pad)
One human brain (yours)
A promise to tell the truth, the whole truth... etc
Er... that’s it
Method
Read the question, start writing, don’t censor, keep writing, keep writing, keep writing... until you run out of stuff to write.
Move onto next question.
Repeat.
Move onto next question. Repeat. Until you get to the end of the questions.
To reiterate: Write down ANYTHING that comes into your head. You can delete or cross out irrelevant stuff later. It’s imperative that you keep writing until run out of stuff to jot down. If you write something and it resonates with you, feels special, makes your heart race, makes you cry, makes you happy, excites you, exhilarates you, turns you on or makes you want to do cartwheels – highlight it. This is the good stuff.
That’s it. Ready for quick goal setting?
Quick Goal Setting Question 1 - What matters most to me?
Think of your values, beliefs, past times, hobbies, loves, desires etc. Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Quick Goal Setting Question 2 - What am I great at? What do I love?
Look through the eyes of your mother. Don’t be modest. Embrace your inner brilliance. Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Quick Goal Setting Question 3 - What does my dream life look like?
You now know what matters to you, and you know what you’re good at. Combine the two by brainstorming, and imagine you can do anything that you want to do.
What do you have, own, do, see, feel like? Who is around you? Who are your peers? How much money do you have? Houses? Cars? What do you do with your free time? Where do you work? How much do you weigh? What do you eat? What are your spiritual beliefs? Who do you help? Who values you? Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Quick Goal Setting Question 4- Why do I want this?
Now, it is time for you to justify your desires to yourself. This is an important question – perhaps the most important one.
Understand yourself fully. You want to be rich? Why? You want freedom? Why? You want to help people? Why? Why? Why? Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Quick Goal Setting Question 5 - What is my unique value proposition?
You now know what matters to you, what you’re good at, what your goal looks like and why you want this goal.
How could you combine all of these desires, skills and beliefs into a unique offering that provides value to other people? Hmmm.... be creative and trust your instincts with this one. Be bold and confident and downright brazen. Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Quick Goal Setting Question 6 - What are my next steps?
Ah... so know you know your values, your skills, your dream, why you want it AND how you can be unique.
Awesome – so what steps could you take now, this week, next week, over the coming months, the next year and the next 5 years that could make this goal a reality? Don’t worry about whether you feel you actually will do this, just imagine the most capable possible you setting out to achieve this goal... what would you have to do? Who would need to help you? What would you need to learn? How much time and money would you need? What is in your control? What is out of your control? How could you start today? How could you start now? Start writing and keep writing until you exhaust all answers.
Finished! If you’ve followed the (admittedly simple) rules of Quick Goal Setting, you’re probably feeling a combination of the following:
• You feel a bit energised and a bit happy
• You learnt some things about yourself
• You’re passionate about more things than you thought
• You clarified some ideas in your head
• It felt good to just write non-stop about yourself for a while
• You have a better idea of what you want
• You feel a bit scared
• You understand why you want things more
• You know that your dreams are possible
• You know that if you take a few steps there’s a good chance you can achieve them
• It’s just a matter of taking those first few steps
• You’re committed to taking the first step, and are excited about it
Now, go back over your lists and cross off anything that doesn’t feel right, and highlight the stuff that really stands out and gets you excited. Read over this list every day for a week or two, and ideally pin it up somewhere you’ll see it a lot. The more you imagine and
visualise
your dream, the more likely it is you will get it.
If you’ve read any of my stuff before, you’ll know that I truly and deeply believe that EVERYONE – including YOU – has the power and potential to achieve anything they desire.
It’s up to you what you do with the information from quick goal setting. At the very least, I bet you’ll find it harder to ignore your dreams now.
Sod it, go for it. Make this dream a reality. If you go for it and fail, what’s the worst that can happen? And, more importantly, what’s the best that can happen?
Related Articles
Personal Values Development
Advanced Goal Setting
Financial Goal Setting
How to Visualise
Law of Attraction
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