We all have goals. Whether they’re weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Whether we set them ourselves or if work sets them for us. Even if they’re disguised as ‘resolutions’ …we all have them.
And a lot of the time, they fail. We miss the mark. They go into the box of ‘unaccomplished’ or ‘maybe next year’.
And the reason for this actually doesn’t have as much to do with our own will power or motivation to achieve them as we’re lead to believe. It has a lot more to do with the goal itself, more specifically, the way it’s worded.
The way we frame our goals have a pivotal impact on how we pursue them and our motivation to achieve them because our brain really only responds to one type of goal; a specific one.
The brain loves specifics. It loves things that it can see and predict. So, if we give the brain an unspecific goal like, “I want to be healthier”, the brain doesn’t know how to interpret that. It cannot predict clearly what that will look like or how to get there. It also doesn’t connect with anything that you value as a human being.
The next time you set a goal for yourself, make it as specific as possible. “I want to have more energy so that I can play with my kids when I get home from work. I’m going to fuel my body with more whole foods like leafy greens and fruit so that I don’t feel so sluggish.”
Now the brain can picture what success looks like.
-Coach Lauren
