Setting the right type of goals
Setting the right type of goals
Hello everyone,
How was your week?
I’m trying something new and doing a voice-over of my newsletters for those who like to listen. Let me know if you like it ❤️.
In last week’s newsletter, we discussed how to achieve your goals in 2024. In short, we agreed that it comes down to behaviour change. In order to truly create behaviour change, we need to identify the identity we want and analyse the habits that are not serving our identity.
I hope you got the chance to reflect on the last newsletter and fill in the exercise. If you didn’t get the chance, I strongly recommend it as it has truly changed how I see discipline and achieving what I want. The newsletter can be found here.
My overall reflection on my habits is that I crave comfort and rewards. We know that we are weirded for immediate satisfaction. This is what drives some of my bad habits. It mostly happens at work, after complex meetings or challenging tasks. I find myself looking for a reward for my hard work and comfort for the “pain” I went through. I usually use my phone, eat something comforting or procrastinate.
So how do we work on it?
Let’s dive into today’s newsletter: Setting the right type of goals.
I recognise that these newsletters are a bit long and complex. Writing them, it’s also not easy. And this proves an incredibly strong point: human behaviour is complex, and it requires a deep level of introspection. Don’t shy away from it.
Identity-based Goals
We have discussed that in order for change to happen, it needs to resonate deeply with your identity. The pitfall is that we often hold beliefs about ourselves that are not in line with the person we want to be: eg. I am not a disciplined person. The truth is that identity is cemented in the behaviours we do. The more evidence we have of a specific identity, the stronger it becomes. Once we have agreed with ourselves the identify we want to acquire, it’s about gathering as much evidence as possible for your brain to believe it.
These are a few of my Identity-based goals:
Outcome-based Goals
Outcome-based goals are the things we want to achieve. They act as a guiding torch to set our direction. Setting these goals is usually easy:
Lose 5kg
Save 5k
Publish a book
However, there are two things to be mindful of:
To identify which goals are fundamental to you, ask yourself the question
“What kind of pain am I willing to go through?”
The real challenge is not determining if you want the result but being willing to accept the sacrifices required to achieve your goal. Do you want the lifestyle that comes with your goals? Do you want the dull and ugly process that comes before the exciting and glamorous outcome? Goal setting is choosing the rewards you want to enjoy and the costs you are willing to pay.
Be mindful of numbers and results-driven action.
This is particularly important in weight loss. You don’t control the results; you only control the actions. Focusing on the number means you will likely give up sooner if the numbers don’t move. However it takes significant time for a habit to cement itself and show its fruits.
I often asked people: You put on the weight in 5 years, why do you expect to drop it in 3 months? If the weight is a compounding result of 5 years of certain behaviours, how will 3 months of a compounding result of a new behaviour offset 5 years? I am not saying it will take 5 years, however it’s essential to put things into perspective.
According to Goodhart’s Law – “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”. Measurement is only useful when it guides you and adds context to a larger picture, not when it consumes you.
Process-based Goals
Now that we know who we want to become, what we want to achieve and the pain we are willing to go through, let’s discuss the MOST IMPORTANT thing: the process that will get us there.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your actions.”
E.g. if you are an athlete, you might want to qualify for the Olympics. Your training schedule, your nutrition and your mindset work are what will get you there.
Whiten your reflection, you hopefully identified some habits that are not conducive to the type of person you want to become. It’s now time to agree on which habits you’d like to stop from happening and which new ones you want to acquire.
The best way to create a new habit or break a bad habit is by being extremely specific with what you want to achieve.
Habits work by a Habit Loop. So when we want to break them or create new ones, we need to know how our brain works and follow its path:
Here are some of my examples:
This wasn’t easy. Being super specific requires considering how you set your environment, what motivates you, and what you enjoy as rewards. I found it useful to reference some of the below answers at each stage:
Give it a try, and let me know how you found it!
In the following newsletter, we will discuss the common pitfalls that can stay in the way of achieving your goals and how to overcome them.
See you next Sunday,
Francesca