This week was the final week in our January theme of Effective Goal Setting and we finished with offbeat and irregular approaches to achieving our objectives.
Lisa Finck (C.P.C., A.C.C.), Brooke Adair Walters (M.C.L.C., C.P.C), and Jerome LeDuff Jr (M.C.L.C.) were joined by one of our favorite class admins and Student Relations Manager, Joe McParland, (CLC), and it was a joy to have him adding his own insights to the discussion. Enough of introductions let’s get into the odd, unusual, and out of the ordinary goal setting techniques.
Some Weird & Wild Goals Setting Techniques
We will begin with a technique that negates our entire month’s theme:
1. Have No Goals!
Whaaaaat!? Wait a moment, it’s not exactly what it sounds like. What we mean by this is to lose the specificity of setting a goal. Instead tune into what you want to feel. Get in touch with the emotional motivator and make that be the center of the “not quite a goal.” For example:
Goal: I want to lose weight
Emotional Motivator: I want to feel confident and healthy
Goal: I want to make more money
Emotional Motivator: I want to enjoy building wealth
With this technique and focusing on what we will feel it allows your world to open up to several possibilities of how to achieve your desired emotion and we all know that how we feel plays a critical role in our decision making. In the interest of keeping the craziness forefront, our next out-of-the-box goal hack made everyone cringe just thinking about it.
2. Burn or Burn
This goal setting technique claims to be backed by science and based on how everyone at CLCI reacted, we think it just may work. For this technique though you will need to pick up a few supplies and follow these steps:
Choose your daily routine related goal
Pick specific dates and time you will do this goal each week
Get yourself a wall calendar
Add your goal and place the calendar somewhere you will see everyday
Get a crisp new $100 bill and paperclip it to the calendar
Set the lighter as close to the calendar and $100 bill as possible
Take a long look at the calendar with your goals, the $100 bill, and the lighter and pledge to yourself that you will do -insert goal here- or you will set that $100 bill on fire.
*PSA: “We at CLCI know it is illegal to light money on fire and also dangerous to set fire to things in your home. If you did not know this, you do now. We are not encouraging anyone to break the law and set fire to things. Perhaps the fear of breaking the law and being charged with the destruction of federal property will motivate you to achieve your goals"
For more info on the science behind this insane method, check out Nir Eyal's article at Observer.com on the research behind this and the idea of Loss Aversion.
3. Don't Create Forbidden Fruit - Allow Everything
Reverse psychology, every parent's favorite and most entertaining tool to use on their children. As it turns out you may accidentally be using it on yourself when you set limits as a goal. If you want to quit doing one thing, allow yourself to do everything in moderation. Example:
I want to quit eating pasta.
Instead of saying no pasta, allow yourself to eat EVERYTHING you want in moderation and you will find yourself to be more satisfied overall which will reduce your craving for a single food like pasta.
Obviously there will be cases where this should not be utilized, like if your doctor tells you you shouldn't eat nuts because you are allergic or your spouse tells you not to cheat on them. But for more mundane goals, sometimes you can make exceptions.
4. Procrastinate
*This section to be updated at a later time. . .this is a problem for future me and he tends to get things done right before his deadlines.*
5. Set impossible goals
Shoot for the moon. If you miss it, you will still land among the stars.
-Norman Vincent Peale
As the saying goes, going above and beyond with your goals may still land you in places you've only dreamed of.
If your goal is to travel to every country in the world, you probably wont be able to achieve it in a lifetime, BUT, you will most likely see more of the world than 99% of people who have ever lived.
This style of goal setting is for those who enjoy the journey and not the destination. There may be a lot of bumps on the way and diversions but you want to enjoy the process and are ready to end up in unexpected places.
One of the great things about setting an impossible goal is that you've expelled the fear of failure or rejection, which leads to...
6. Chase Rejection
Yes, rejection is oftentimes embarrassing and humiliating, we as humans want to avoid being rejected at all costs. It's bad enough if you are job searching, auditioning for a role, or looking for clients, but its particularly bad when you are single and looking for a significant other.
But by actively seeking rejection when it comes to our goals, we steadily become more and more fearless. How? Well actively seeking rejection can be seen as a form of self-directed Exposure Therapy.
The idea is simple. By actively exposing yourself to your fear of rejection, you become less anxious, less worried, and more willing to take risks. Seeking out rejection has become so popular that people have made it into a game. Who knows, you may fail at seeking to accumulate rejections and have an over abundance of success.
7. Eat a Frog
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
-Mark Twain
Now I know what you are thinking. Where the heck am I going to get a frog? No, that's not what we mean by eating a frog. What we mean is that we do the most hated and important tasks first. Imagine you have a to-do list for the day.
Take your pet to the vet
Coach clients
Pay taxes
Write blog articles
Clean the bathroom
Go to the gym
Go to the DMV
Do the dishes
Then you identify what is the most urgent and most disliked. For most people that would be the DMV. So by eating the frog, you wake up as early as possible to get the DMV taken care of. It's okay, you are allowed to be in a bad mood the first few times you eat a frog. But if you do this on a consistent basis you create a work habit that makes the rest of the day easier. In fact, it is anti-procrastination, you are delaying instant gratification for long-term peace of mind.
Now that you’ve had a taste of the weird and the wacky, we can take take a moment to recap the goal setting tools we have already shared with you this month.
This CLCI Live addressed a study that reported that 92% of our New Year’s pledges end in utter failure and gave some amazing tips and tools on how to start the year on a successful foot using tools like accountability, tracking, and having a new year’s word or slogan instead. If you want to read or watch more click here.
Week 2 was “When WHY doesn't Lead to Lies”
A CLCI Live where we take a look at the WHY of our goals, rather than the WHAT or HOW. Finding an emotional anchor to our goals will make them meaningful and have a deeper sense of purpose. We ask ourselves “Why do we want this goal”? And “What will it give you”?
Week 3 was "No Clue What to Do? Try This!"
Sometimes we have no idea what our goals our. In this CLCI LIVE we turn Brainstorming into BrainExploring using our handy BrainExploring Worksheet, designed to really make you think about who you are and what are your most important goals.
Be ready for February's theme of: Relationship's and Rapport
2/2/21: Relationship Killers - How to Bring Yours Back to Life (With Dan Olexa)
2/9/21: More Than Love - How to Hear and Speak the Same Language
2/16/21: What Did You Call Me? - Fair Fighting Techniques
2/23/21: This Might Get Weird - Unconventional Relationship Coaching Tools
Thank you,
Lisa Finck, Brooke Adair Walters, Jerome LeDuff Jr., and Joe McParland
Tune in every Tuesday at 4 pm PST/7 PM EST for our CLCI Live Demos on Facebook and YouTube!
We've announced classes through July of 2021, take a look at our class calendar here. Don't miss out on our 3-day life coach classes, it's an education that is beneficial for life, not just for life coaches! Want to learn more click here.