Stop Chasing ‘Ugly’ Goals: Why They Fail and How to Fix Them Today

Of course, you want to achieve your goals - that's why you set them, right?

But that doesn’t mean they’re not ugly.

And if they are, we learned that they can fail because of that reason.

We’re not talking about a weak desire to achieve them.

It’s something beneath the surface.

Our habits.

Habits drive progress

Our habits are what drive continuous progress toward our goals.

Especially if they’re ambitious goals that take time to achieve.

However, if we're not motivated to take the actions needed to build the habit, we never will.

Even if we really want to achieve that goal.

Cravings drive habits

According to habit expert James Clear, to build that habit there needs to be an immediate reward for completing the habit-building action.

And the reward has to be something that we crave.

We only crave the reward if we truly believe it will change our internal state.

From a state we no longer want to be in, to one that we strongly desire.

A gap that we have a regular urge to fill.

In his book Atomic Habits, he details what’s going on in our brains when this happens.

The anticipation of this state change causes a dopamine spike.

And this rise of dopamine is what increases our motivation to act.

That’s the type of reaction we have if our goals are not ugly.

But if they are, how can we make them more attractive?

Human nature drives cravings

To make a goal more attractive, we need to make the progress-driving habit more attractive.

To make a habit more attractive, we need to create the right plan.

A plan to make sure that action will successfully address an underlying motive of human nature.

Some examples of these motives include:

• Obtaining resources for survival

• Connecting and bonding with other people

• Reducing uncertainty

• Etc…

When the action successfully resolves these types of motives we experience a positive feeling.

Then over time, we learn to associate the action with that positive feeling.

We develop a craving for the feeling.

And that craving causes us to repeat the action.

How to fix ugly goals

These are some of the ways James Clear gives that we can use this information to our advantage:

• Surround yourself with people you have things in common with and where the habit you want to build is part of the culture

• Use something you already crave as a reward for taking a habit-building action (but the reward cannot contradict your goals)

• Create and repeat a motivation ritual before doing something you crave until that ritual becomes something you can use to trigger that craving

How we’re applying this at Winpact

When I read the first point I immediately thought of Winpact.

It’s already grown into a culture where entrepreneurs who share similar goals of growing their businesses come together to build progress-driving habits.

A culture that we’ll be continuously fostering.

But there’s one I think we should explore further.

Could a motivation ritual or something similar help the players increase their progress?

I’ll keep you posted.