The Secret to Goal Setting

Did you know that setting goals will increase your performance and productivity by 11-25%?

This means that, if you create the proper goals, you can do in 1 hour what would normally take you 4!

But what does it mean to make a “proper” goal?

Last time, I went over the Do’s and Dont’s of Goal Setting, including how to create SMART goals.

But just because you create a goal doesn’t mean you’ll always be motivated to stick to it. The reason that happens is simply because you’re not entirely aligned with your goal.

So this time, I want to go over the part of goal setting that often goes completely overlooked:

How to align your purpose and your passions, so that you stay inspired, resilient, and fulfilled as you pursue your goals.

When people get motivated enough to start setting goals, they often fall into two spaces:

1) Excited to create their goals, and are super stoked to get started.

2) Excited but intimidated, and thinking about their goals is overwhelming.

Both have their advantages and hazards to watch out for.

Scenario 1: Excited to Create Goals

Advantages

• Great energy to leverage and get out of the gate strong

• Potential to have clarity on what you want to create

• Motivation to tackle their goals with consistency

What to Watch Out For

• Focus scattered on too many things at once

• ​Expending too much energy too soon and falling off a cliff

• ​Creating unrealistic expectations for yourself, leading to feeling defeated

Scenario 2: Overwhelmed to Create Goals

Advantages

• Incredible opportunity to create clarity

• ​Discomfort provides a ton of energy to leverage to take impactful action

• Easier to pick a place to focus on - just pick anything

What to Watch Out For

• Tendency to get distracted with pleasure-seeking activities that don't serve long-term

• Change doesn’t happen soon enough, so you amplify the same uncomfortable experience you’re in

• ​Leads to apathy and further disconnection from self and others

There’s one way to ensure you leverage the advantages of each scenario and side-step the things to watch for. And it’s this:

The goals you set for yourself must align with meaning and purpose.

From here, you can create aligned goals and actionable steps that hold the energy of your purpose.

How do You Find Your Unique Meaning and Purpose?

Your unique meaning and purpose is your guiding light. It leads you to create what’s needed from you in this world.

When you align with this formidable life force, you will have the energy, knowledge, and resilience to create whatever you choose.

That said, knowing your life's purpose can be challenging to discover. Our society has made it harder than ever to stay connected to your unique meaning and purpose.

When you entered this reality as a child, you were the raw expression of yourself. Unfiltered and free to express and explore with insatiable curiosity.

This unique energetic frequency that makes you, you - has never existed and will never exist beyond you. Your specific DNA is one of a kind - never to be seen again! This is precisely why you must share yourself with the world.

The world is not complete without your unique expression.

As a child in the proper environment, you would have been encouraged to explore and nurture this unique essence of yourself. Unfortunately, due to societal conditioning, you were most likely told who and what you should be:

Go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a good job, find a partner, have children, save for retirement, and then start doing things you enjoy.

This one-size-fits-all template that we hear repeatedly creates a lot of noise that makes it harder to hear, connect, and trust the inner voice that is you.

But there’s good news:

There’s a lot you can do to reestablish that connection and nurture it. You can re-establish the connection to your inner voice and align it with your passion & purpose.

Two Helpful Exercises for Re-aligning With Your Passion & Purpose

Exercise #1: Childhood Reflection, to Rediscover Purpose

In Robert Greene's book, "Mastery," he offers a helpful exercise to discover your purpose. He advises you to reflect on your childhood and recall what you enjoyed:

• Activities that you would get lost in

• Things you'd daydream about

• Interests that you had, even obsessions

Focus on the youngest version of yourself that you can remember, since it’s the least affected by societal conditioning. It can be helpful to ask a family member, parent, brother, or sister what you enjoyed. Look at family albums, pictures, or videos to help trigger memories if they are available.

Your goal is to find a thread you can pull on.

Keep your findings in mind for the next exercise:

Exercise #2: The List of Curiosity, to Rediscover Passion

In Steven Kotler's book, "Art of Impossible," he writes about following your curiosity to find your passion.

The consciousness of curiosity is precisely the consciousness that we had as children. As children, we wanted to touch and experience everything. We engaged and explored things that held our attention and disregarded things that did not.

He invites his readers to undergo a specific exercise to tap into their passion:

Step 1) Make a list of 25 things that you are currently curious about.

This can be anything, but they must be specific. Come up with 25 different things that pique your interest to explore, even if it’s just a slight interest.

Step 2) Look for intersections, connections, or overlaps of the 25 things on your list.

You may have an interest in Greek mythology, as well as being a dog lover.

While these two interests don’t seem to have anything in common, start considering the possible overlaps.

For example, maybe you’re curious about the way dogs and other animals are represented in many ancient religions and societies, and if there’s a gateway to spirituality through animals.

Be specific, and look for overlap between 3-4 items on your list. When multiple curiosity streams intersect, you create the necessary conditions for pattern recognition.

Humans love pattern recognition, and when this happens, dopamine is released. This enhances learning and progress, fueling passion.

Step 3) Play in these intersections by consuming relative content for 20 minutes a day.

Steven suggests starting with the history of these ideas and learning the "jargon" of these spaces. Watch lectures, videos, and articles that feed these curiosities.

Step 4) Share your passion and what you are learning with others.

This fuels our need for social connection and appreciation, encouraging us to continue fueling our passion. Look for like-minded people and communities that share similar interests and share what you've learned.

Putting it All Together

Once you've completed these two tasks, Childhood Reflection and List of Curiosity, it's time to connect passion and purpose.

Let’s first distinguish the difference between passion and purpose:

• Passion is more focused on you. Things that interest you and what you can get lost in.

• Purpose is more significant than you. It's about creating an impact and making a contribution.

Combining your passion and purpose creates an overarching life mission. This mission becomes the lens that informs you on where to focus, and as a filter to weed out distractions.

Find 10 Massive Problems Begging for Solutions

Looking at your Childhood Reflection & your List of Curiosity, can you come up with a list of 10 Massive Problems that you feel need solutions? Problems that impact our world, a community, or industry destructively? Or ways to move society forward? You can contribute solutions with your passion & purpose.

Once you list these problems, reflect on them and pay attention to the ones that light you up.

Here is an example of the ones I've extracted from doing this exercise:

1. Create a new paradigm of healthcare that empowers individuals physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to create their most fulfilling lives.

2. Support individuals to be more connected to themselves and to trust themselves

3. Live as a Renaissance Man - channel my Inner Leonardo Da Vinci

These become the canopies encompassing my passion, purpose, and life mission. As I move through life, I use these as a reference point to create my medium and short-term goals.

More importantly, it also acts as a filter to help me stay focused and keep the main thing, the main thing.

Connecting to the life force that’s uniquely you and aligning with its immense power is essential for goal creation. This power will give you the clarity, resiliency, and fulfillment you deeply desire.

I’m honored to be on the journey with you and look forward to seeing your unique contribution to the planet's consciousness.

Creation needs and values you… as do I.

And if you need help finding your purpose and passion, I’d love to talk about it with you. Just use this button to set up some private coaching time with me:

Yours in Vitality,

Matt