Goal Hacks: How to Achieve Anything

http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/03/11-goal-hacks-how-to-achieve-anything.php

by trbecker • 15 years ago

123 14 15 years ago

spring.org.uk

I have a different way of thinking about goals. My goal is always a specific action, and not a result. The outcome I consider it a byproduct in which I have not 100% control.

For example your goal would not be to get a raise, instead it would be to have a meeting with your boss and explain to him/her why you are confident the company should increase you salary.

diN0bot• 15 years ago

i find "visualize process not outcome" extremely effective, both in sports and in doing things i don't want to do.

bemmu• 15 years ago

One of my greatest procrastination sources was doing my books at the end of each month. So I turned it into kind of a game, I wrote down all the steps I need to do for my bookkeeping. Then every month I challenged myself to eliminate a step or make it easier. Since then I've been on time.

wmboy• 15 years ago

Yes, this is very effeective in the fitness arena. Instead of setting a goal to lose X amount of weight, just focus on goals over which you have more direct control (e.g. a goal to build your strength up to be able to do 20 push ups in a row, or a goal to have a jog 6 days a week for a month).

These goals aren't easy, but they are more directly under your control.

kirse• 15 years ago

I came in here to post something akin to "InfinityXO" above, but I have to admit this comment just made something click in my head. I'm extremely driven to achieve, but I've been wondering about how to make life more about the "journey" and not the destination and this is a great suggestion.

Now that I reflect, I know I intuitively do this about things I already enjoy, like running/working out, coding, etc... but when it comes to ticking things off the to-do list (or trying new things I'm not "good" at) it's easy to be outcome-focused, which often leads to unnecessary frustration - a choice in itself of course.

Thanks for a great idea!

InfinityX0• 15 years ago

The great paradox of this article is that the ultimate way to achieve things is to evolve to a point where you stop reading these kinds of posts. When your media diet is greatly composed of easily digestible lists that instead of instructing effectively end up only distracting you from achieving, you begin a reductive process towards not actually achieving at all.

I'd go as far as to say this article will not help a single person as far as it comes to "achieving" anything. Will it create a momentary dopamine pulse for those that read it? That enjoy clicking? That enjoy distraction? Yes.

But thats not how doing anything worth a shit gets done - other than temporary brain relaxation - and that could have been spent more effectively driveling around I Can Has Cheezburger instead of this article.

sebkomianos• 15 years ago

You can't actually "evolve to a point where you stop reading these kinds of posts". This is just the result of evolving to a point where you start doing things.

I think the paradox is elsewhere: These articles defeat their purpose. "Start starting" can be paraphrased as "You shouldn't be reading this right now".

I was reading a product review last night and the author started with something like this: "Stop reading. Go buy "ProductX". Use it. Come back and read the rest if you want". And that should be the point every positive review should be making.

greyman• 15 years ago

I agree with you. Moreover, there is yet another paradox in the article - if you need that much self-hacking and self-tricking to achieve the goal, is the goal really that thing you want to achieve?

I always thought that the goals should be my servants, and I am going to achieve them because it fulfills me and I enjoy the hardship associated with them. This article feels to me like it's upside-down, like I should be a servant of my goals. But why should I?

momotomo• 15 years ago

You concurrently described 99.9% of self help books with this post.

datasink• 15 years ago

I think that's a bit extreme. If you have some fundamental issue with getting things done, articles like these are clearly not going to help you. If you're already productive, and looking for tips to optimize your execution, it makes for interesting reading. There were several ideas I hadn't seen mentioned on other lists, and some cited journal publications. Not too shabby.

I had a problem with procrastination when I was younger. I wasted a significant amount of time reading a bunch of very poor-quality linkbait blog articles, trying to find something that helped. When I finally bought The Now Habit (print edition and audiobook for my car), I was able to apply a coherent system rather than piecemeal techniques, and this helped to correct what was a fairly big problem for me. Now that I have a system that works for me, small tips are useful. Prior, not so much.

juliob• 15 years ago

I don't think that's a fair assessment of this article. This self-help article is different from all the other junk out there because it's based on psychology research, not personal hunch.

If you're going to claim that there is one ultimate solution that works for everyone in the nebulous field of achievement, it would be useful for you to back that up with actual research.

trbecker• 15 years ago

Ultimately, I agree with you, except that reading these kinds of articles for long enough will get you into the right mindset. Then you can maybe read these kind of articles as refreshers or get some new ideas. Or never read one again.

At least, it's how it works for me.

semerda• 15 years ago

Everything on this earth began with someone visualizing something and then executing on it. What separates the successful ones from others is "execution" of this vision.

This is nothing new and has been repeated many times by life coaches (think Tony Robbins et al) all based on concepts Napoleon Hill taught over 100 years ago.

There has been many blogs and books which talk about goal setting etc but in the end it all comes down to execution. This obviously means starting someplace even if it's not the right place and following through with the vision and adjusting along the way.

lukifer• 15 years ago

"Visualize process" is a very good mantra.

Goal Hacks: How to Achieve Anything

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