Hey Friends,
Today's framework is going to be the first installment of a two-part series.
In preparation for the New Year, most of us are thinking about setting goals and creating habits.
After reviewing my 2022 goals, I realized I had only completed 50% of my goals (6 out of 12).
Disappointed, I searched for ways to ensure I achieved each of my 2023 goals.
This lead me to seek counsel from my favorite scientist, Andrew Huberman.
He provides a breakdown of the most effective way to set and achieve goals.
Here are the highlights from his scientific research.
Why Set Goals?
Goals narrow our vision and put us on track toward a specific target.
If you don’t know where you are headed, you may not like where you end up.
Goals are about more than completing a task, they give us an opportunity to grow into the person we want to be.
Visualizing Failure
The most profound idea from this research was the idea of visualization.
Most of us think of visualization in a positive context. We visualize ourselves achieving our goals and the work did to do so.
Positive visualization is an excellent tool when deciding what goals we want to achieve - but it doesn’t keep us motivated throughout the process.
We are much better at moving away from things we don’t like, compared to moving towards things we like.
Therefore, we must visualize ourselves failing to complete our goals to stay motivated.
Think, write, and talk about not achieving your goals and how this would affect your life.
A study showed that people are 100% more likely to achieve their goals when they visualized failure.
How Many Should I Set?
Limit your options when pursuing goals - having too many will distract you.
Set 1-3 lofty goals you want to complete for the year.
If you complete one before the end of the year, start a new one.
Level of Difficulty
If a goal is too easy, we will not consistently pursue it. The same goes for a goal that is too difficult.
Select goals of medium difficulty. Something that is achievable with a reasonable amount of effort.
This will be different for everyone. Decide what this looks like for you.
Building a Concrete Plan
Once you have goals that are achievable for you, you need to identify specific actions.
What are the daily, weekly, or monthly actions you are going to do, to move you closer to your goal?
Assessing Your Progress
This is the key step to staying motivated to achieve our long-term and intermediate goals.
Motivation comes from rewarding ourselves for the efforts we have put forth.
This reward should be purely cognitive - thinking to yourself, “I am on the right track.”
If you are not, figure out what you need to do to put yourself on course.
We will gain the most benefit from the assessment step, when we do it at a constant interval - aim to do it weekly.
📚Quote of the Week
"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else." –Lawrence J. Peter
For an in-depth look at the science behind setting and achieving goals, watch Dr. Huberman’s full video here.
Next week we will be looking at the framework for creating long-lasting habits to propel us to achieve our goals.
Happy Holidays,
Rocky