The Question to Achieve Your Goals

I’ve been writing about goals, momentum, consistency, and everything that coincides with goal setting at the end of the year. Mainly, because like many people it’s on my mind. I am obsessing over it. Obsessing over goals and what it will take to hit them. Breaking the year down into daily, weekly and monthly goals.

As the adage goes, that I first heard from Tony Robbins, when someone says they want to lose weight – chop off an finger, toe or arm and mission accomplished. Or if you want more money and I give you a quarter, mission accomplished.

Specificity of the goal is crucial for you to hit them. You are then just uttering statements. With statements you have a reaction to – either positive or negative. Say a person’s name and you have a reaction one way or the other. Trump initiates one reaction. Biden another.

Your goals as statements are just that, something you have a reaction to. Now, as I’ve just recently learned, there are three different types of structures. One is a statement. Two is a question. Three is a story.

Statements you react to – so putting your goals in the frame of a statement. With statements you’ll either believe you are going to hit your goals or you aren’t. Which leads to framing these statements as I will…. And future pacing the goal. Saying I will have _<goal>___. Instead of saying “I have ….”. When you say I have something your brain knows you don’t have whatever it is.

Then there is a story. A story invites you into a journey. Your brain loves stories because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s anticipating something thrilling and exciting. It’s why stories are the longest living testament of the past and how humans learn, is through story telling. A story about your goals is a great way to help you achieve them, except that being a great story teller is difficult. Most of the time, your stories to yourself are negative as to why you can’t achieve your goals rather that why you are capable.

Then lastly is the question. When asked a question, the brain is forced to answer. What color is the sky? You have to answer blue. Or you think blue. Blue pops up somewhere in your mind. Questions force answers.

If a question forces an answer. A statement forces a reaction. And a story is too complex, then how should your goals be written down? Forced answer.

Questions. Framing your goal into a How can I make $1 Million next year … forces your brain to come up with an answer. Or to probe for answers. The way to frame these questions are in the form of what and how questions.

What do I need to do to __<Goal>___?

How can I get/achieve/receive __<goal>____?

These two forms of questions will lead your brain to finding answers. Now, it might not happen immediately, but continue to look at these - day in and day out, then you’ll see that your brain will find the answers you’ve been looking for to achieve your goals.The Question to Achieve Your Goals