We are not usually invited to make unreasonable goals. When we learn the process of setting goals and achieving them, we become unimaginably powerful. While we can and should be setting goals throughout the year, this is a great time to revisit the topic. Learning to achieve goals is like any other skill. We start with the basics and, with success, become masterful so we can achieve unreasonable goals.
SMART goals
First, the basics. Our goals must be crafted in a way so that we have specific actions laid out. We focus on the process rather than the outcome. This is a valuable lesson for anywhere in life and helps us live in the present rather than the past or future. When we wake up in the morning, we should know exactly what actions we need to take in order to achieve our goals.
There are two great acronyms that describe how to create goals that meet this standard. One is fairly well-known: SMART. This stands for
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Reasonable
Timely
Basically, these goals take a vague idea or wish that sounds like “I want to get in shape” and turn it into something much more clear like, “I will run a marathon by the end of the year.”
PATH goals
Another helpful acronym I’ve heard is PATH (this description provided by Katherine Macey)
Process Oriented—focused on the process of making the goal happen
Action Based—what specific actions would I need to take to make the goal happen?
Template—which actions will I need to repeat and gain mastery over in order to achieve the goal?
Habit—how can I make this part of my routine and how often do the actions need to take place for the result to be realized?
This will help us turn the goal into even more clear, often daily actions. “I will run a marathon by the end of the year” turns into “every day I will run one mile, increased by one mile every week, until I can run 26.2 miles” (this isn’t the perfect routine to train for a marathon, but you get the idea).
This method is extremely helpful and important. When we master it, we master our lives.
Unreasonable goals
When first starting out with goals, it’s important to choose reasonable goals that we know we can accomplish. After we have gotten used to our ability to achieve any goal, there comes a time when we should stretch beyond reasonable goals and move into the realm of the unreasonable. These goals require us to become a different person, to evolve beyond our current ways of being. Often times just setting an unreasonable goal will cause us to see ourselves in a different light. Our experience of ourselves and the world shifts.
For example, when I was just starting to practice martial arts under Sifu Brown, I saw myself as small and ineffective. After a year, I had found power in my life and was having so much fun that I decided I wanted to teach martial arts as a career. The audacity of this goal changed me. The person I would have to become was totally different. I was not a natural born leader, nor was I organized enough to run a class, let alone a business. Yet as soon as I decided that this was my dream, I changed. I stood up taller, was more energized and willing to do the work.
Obviously I was able to achieve my goal of teaching martial arts, yet the way that I was transformed through the process is perhaps more impressive. While I immediately experienced a shift in myself, the overall transformation and actual process was a ten year long journey. Getting a black sash and earning the title of Sifu, learning what I needed from a business perspective, moving to California, finding a location, building the school and getting students all took astounding effort. Yet it all started with the goal, then the first step.
Momentum
When we are up to big things in life, we need energy. We need momentum. After we set our goals, write them down and tell as many people as we can about them, we must take the first step. I remember sitting down with my Sifu and telling him (a little terrified) that I wanted to teach martial arts. He told me that I should start by learning how to teach, and that I should start in the kids class. I walked into that first class with a totally new attitude, and the energy that was created felt like a boost that carried me through the rest of the journey and still carries me today.
When we take the first step towards our goals, we create that momentum for ourselves. Think of standing at the top of a hill and taking the first step towards the valley. All of a sudden, it takes more energy to stop than to continue. Whatever bumps and turns we find along the way, we keep going.
This week’s challenge is to take the first step towards your goal. You’ll find that once you do, the goal takes on a life of its own. Feed it, foster it, and let it take you where it will.
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