If you’re going to have clarity on something in your life, make it something so big and bright and meaningful that you will get out of bed and chase it until you grasp it or die. Bring forth a desire that is unbounded and even scares you a little bit, that will demand all the best that is in you, that takes you out of your own orbit and into the stratosphere of the remarkable. That kind of desire changes your life, and it changes the world.
Planning comes after visioning, and we can unleash ourselves to experiment with “D.U.M.B.” goals:
Dream-driven
Let’s have vision for our lives, not just focus on our tasks. Let’s dream big again and get our heads out of our to-dos. Are the goals we’re setting aligned with our bigger vision for our lives and our contributions?
Uplifting
How is it that S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) goals have no prerequisite for positivity? Shouldn’t our goals inspire something in us more than a need to meet a deadline? Let’s set inspiring, positive, joyous, uplifting goals for ourselves.
Method-friendly
If we’re going to take aim at something, let it be something that is friendly to developing practices of mastery towards. Martial arts, yoga, and common sports all have methods, practices, forms, and habits that are built around a broader goal and help people move to mastery. A good goal allows us to create methods and practices that help us move toward them. If we can’t build a practice around it, then we don’t have a goal, we have a task.
Behavior triggered
When we set a goal, we should create a behavioral trigger that reminds us to chase it. For example, if we want to be a better parent, then we can set a behavior trigger to accomplish it, like a rule, so that when we pull into the driveway at night our first thought is to take a moment to center ourselves and finding a calm and loving space before entering the house. Or, if our goal is to become healthy, the trigger can be that every time we drop the kids off, we drive to the health food store. A trigger means: if I am already doing A, then I’m going to add behavior B right after in order to habitually move toward my goal; it’s a reminder and an activator.
* Source: Brendon Burchard – How NOT to Set Goals