For a while now, i have believed that setting goals for yourself, is the wrong way to go to achieving what you truly want. This may come as a surprise to a lot of people that i am saying this, it is a high held belief by coaches, guru’s, experts and businessmen that, to get what you want, you have to write write it down in a Goal Setting format.
Simply put, the Self-Help world believes that, to get what you want…you must figure it out, CLEARLY, then write it down in an easy to understand and concise way. But lets take this example….you decide one day that you want to lose 5 lbs in weight by the end of the month. So you sign up to a gym, change your eating plan and get a personal trainer. At the end of the month, you have lost the weight, great. But then the chances are you either go back to how you used to do things, meaning the weight may come back on, potentially very quickly (if you went on a calorie restricted diet). The word goal by definition means ‘the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end’. In other words…a goal is something which has an end. But once we have got our goal, life does not end? Yes we could simply keep updating our goals, once we achieve it, we could then renew it, but then we would have to do that every time we achieve something. If we are people who create goals so that we can achieve more, then it is inevitable that we are going to have to take time to decide what we want every time we achieve something.
We should not need to do that, we should not need to consciously make sure we are achieving our goals, it should be an unconscious thing. Anything done on an unconscious level is much more powerful.
So i wondered if there was a better way to approach this concept of achieving what you wanted. I discovered a while ago 2 things that i believe are more powerful than goal setting. The first is…..
THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
I wont go into 2 much detail about this here as, The Law of Attraction is going to be my ’2nd Pillar of Life’, so i will dedicate a whole post to it. Simply, the law of attraction is based around the idea that, what ever you are thinking about, becomes reality. Whatever you think about, is attracted into your life. I wanted to create a resource for Personal Development, so what did i do….i purchased a domain and web host and got things going. Simple! I had an idea, i went with it and on the way, i focused and took everything in. Why i think this is a better method than constantly writing down what you want and having to change it all the time is simple…….When you wake up in the morning, take 5 minutes to think to yourself about what you want from your day…visualise it…feel it….everything. Then go about your day 
This works simply because of the power of your unconscious mind, anything you tell yourself you want, will create a belief that you want it….And NLP clearly states that your Beliefs effect your capability AND….behaviour!!!
The other reason that led me to believe that goal setting was wrong, came from a quote I saw by Hugh Jackman in a Mens Health Interview;
“I don’t set goals in life,” he says. “In this country, people are all about goal setting. And I concede, to a point, how it can help you get going. But we limit ourselves with goals. We have far more ability than we give ourselves credit for. You see that in people under pressure. How does someone run a 100-meter race at the Olympics? When it’s once every 4 years, with everything they’ve done leading to that? It can’t just be adrenaline.” Then he nods and smiles. “Maybe it’s just the mind getting out of the way.”
” For The Fountain, it took Jackman 9 months of daily yoga to achieve the lotus position, and another 3 months to be able to hold it long enough for those underwater takes. Why not just hire a body double? Aronofsky certainly offered. Jackman just shakes his head no. “I always take things like the lotus scenario as ‘All right, let’s see if you can do this.’ “
That’s Jackman’s primary driver: Instead of setting goals, seek defining moments”
What a great outlook!!!! See what life throws at you, then focus and take it head on. This is brilliant because most people dont take what comes at them if it is not in line with what they want or what there goals are. BUT HOW PATHETIC IS THAT!!! I believe anyone is an idiot if they reject something life throws at them, that right there is rejecting the NOW, THE NOW IS ONLY TRUE THING WE CAN HOLD ON TO!!!! I am sitting in my lounge getting angry while writing this!!!! Its just such a powerful thing to instead of set a goal, choose to focus and concentrate on anything that comes your way.
Combining The Law of Attraction and Hugh Jackman’s outlook is a life changing thing to do. You wake up and imagine what you want to attract into your life, then during your day you focus and keep your senses open for anything that comes at you or any choices you have to make, say YES to any of them, then perform at your best when you do. This is perfect because as i said above people will often reject something that doesnt fall in line with their reality or past experiences in life. People like to stick to what they know, but if they do that, nothing will change. DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE AND YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS GOT!!!! Its silly because someone could say no to something that may somehow connect with their goal indirectly, but because they didnt notice it when faced with it, they said no to it.
Hugh Jackman is right, we do limit ourselves with goals, we spend a short amount of time deciding what actions to take, when we should decide what actions to take when we are faced with them. Life cant be planned, you never know what is going to be given to you. Life really is about the choices you make…………
To see the original interview conducted by Mens Health with Hugh Jackman, click the link below:
To find out more about The Law of Attraction and see the film that made the concept famous, click the link below:
-PeAcE-
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting post. Very thought provoking. I will continue to use goals but I like the idea of incorporating the points you made.
Thanks John, try the points i made out and see how they go.