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- Only Idiots Do SMART GOALS: The Science of Goal Setting In 2021 (Clone)
Only Idiots Do SMART GOALS: The Science of Goal Setting In 2021 (Clone)
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
Seneca, the OG high-performance-guru, philosopher, and stoic uttered those profound words around the time the New Testament was being written.
About 1800 years later another cool cat said much the same thing:
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”
(Do you know who said that and when? Let me know and I’ll send you a little special sumthin’ sumthin’.)
Seneca’s point is that setting goals is key. Without goals you can work like crazy, grind all day, and spin your wheels with nothing to show for it but exhaustion and frustration.
But jotting down just any ol’ goal in a notebook you then throw into a desk drawer for a year—or three—doesn’t just magically cures what ails ya.
You’ve got to set the right goals, and set goals the right way.
The question is, how do you do that?
[Order Steven Kotler’s new book, The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer]
The good news is there is solid neuroscience that shows us how to do goal setting correctly and, as luck would have it, in this week’s episode of Flow Research Collective Radio, Steven Kotler, Dr. Brent Hogarth and Rian Doris discuss the science of goal setting as it relates to kicking off 2021.
You’re going to love it.
Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:
Why the “R” in SMART goals destroys your results.
How big you should make your goals (and how big is too big).
The 3 types of goals and how to set and achieve each type.
Why NOT aiming big is physically bad for you.
Why it’s old school to share your goals.
Here’s a little more info on what you’ll learn
But when you talk about your goals it releases dopamine, which reduces your motivation to go after your goals.
“Real bad boys move in silence.”
Hope is a sneaky drug that can help you get a lot of effort out of someone.
There are two steps to becoming gritty.
Do the work.
Do the work so often it become automatic and you believe it and become it.
With hope you must start small to cultivate it.
Write a clear goal for your day with most of your goals being process goals you can cross off and release the dopamine and create momentum over time.
Reliable, repeatable, authentic.
“I can’t con myself into hope.”
“Faith without works is dead.” James 2:17
How to set goals for the next year:
Start where the science starts (Motivation gets you into the game and goals tell you where you’re trying to go)
Three levels of goals (ideal for Steven who admits he’s ADHD)
Mission level statement (MTP)
High-hard goals: 1-5 year goals that feed into your MTPs
Clear goals, i.e. your daily goals
Be deliberate, clear, and pithy
Follow the passion recipe
[Order Steven Kotler’s new book, The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer]
Turn curiosity into passion and passion into purpose
Have a cause greater than yourself
Ease into this
You have to go slow to go fast in peak performance
Give yourself time to do these deep dives to ensure your goals are a great fit
“Never trust the dopamine”
It’s exciting and fun and meant to get you into the game with a big high
Passion is built into purpose
You’ll accelerate once you get there
The seven neural networks associated with drive
A grief/panic
Care/nurturing
Lust
Play
Social bonding
Morality
Seeking system
Play communicates social culture and value. It’s an instruction in morality.
Underneath that we have powerful reward chemicals.
Mission-level goals sound all high-minded and altruistic. You get rewarded for speaking about them so it becomes a selfish equation. You’re just here to get your own high from flapping your gums at my expense.
How big should you make your goals? How big is too big?
The science is not settled here. It’s close, but not settled.
It’s the “Bannister Effect.”
Your belief tilts the perspective and helps you see more opportunities.
Mission-level goals are process goals and they need to be believable and actionable.
Your high-hard goals should scare the pants off of you but are attainable, even if it takes many years.
Clear goals for your daily to-do list should be the things you can be excellent out in a day.
In uncertain times it’s a different process to set goals.
Goal setting is a key component in resilience.
Determine the pain to get there and ask what makes this okay six months from now?
Stack your practices to solve multiple problems at once.
The best of the best are busy and want to achieve great things.
How often should you review your goals?
If I say it out loud, it’s a contract.
If it goes on a to-do list, it’s going to get done.
The more you don’t reach your goals…the more you don’t reach your goals.
The conscious mind sets goals. The unconscious mind achieves goals.
The brain filters by fear and goals.
Fear is stronger because it helps with survival.
Less fear means more new information, which is stuff that can help you achieve your goals.
Without good goals, your brain can’t filter reality as well as it can.
Goals are part of the story you tell yourself.
Extrinsic motivators are fine until basic needs are met then intrinsic goals are next.
You must be safe and secure, otherwise the anxiety is too great.
Goals must be clear and motivational.
Goals show up when you do THE WORK!
Fame is not your choice. It’s all about other people choosing to notice you.
You can take what life throws at you so set high, hard goals.
Should goals be selfish?
Is it selfish to help a lot of people if that gives you power and money to do what you love, which just so happens to be in alignment with deepening your goals?
I was committed to growth.
Are you?
Market like you mean it.Now go sell something.
*I’m in talks with the Free Research Collective to fill their role as Head of Content Marketing. This post is based on their podcast, “Flow Research Collective Radio,” which is led by Steven Kotler is an award-winning author,