LIONMIND - STEP 3

SET MEANINGFUL GOALS

“Set goals that are so clear and concrete that you know what needs to be done. Formulate goals in a way that makes sense to your life. Decide to do the job. Break down goals into habits that reside in your everyday life, to habits you enjoy. That way, your goal becomes present in your life now, instead of sometime in the future. Because "later" never comes."

When you set goals, you give structure to what is not yet there. When you set goals with your brain, you set the path towards your goal that generates the energy needed to reach it. To set meaningful goals, is to set goals with the whole brain and not just with the logical and rational part. By creating a clear and powerful future picture of what is important to perfect and matching it with something you see every day, you get the inner power to wake up, reach for and take you all the way. You can say that when the heart gets moved, your true motivation awakens. When you are aware of your why, your purpose, you will not give up when you face adversity.

When you can formulate meaningful goals, you also bring other people with you in a positive and uplifting way, making whole-hearted commitment contagious. When you gather around the decision, you support each other and grow as people.

If you set your goal so that you are confident of performing and you should make yourself the prerequisites for the best possible health along the way, that we should feel good that we get what feels meaningful.

"It's not the destination itself, but the journey that counts," mom has always said. I agree, she is right, but the road that is not important or good will not be as rewarding. Working towards a goal must be exciting and fulfilling.

"Do you have to have a goal? " I often get asked this question. No, you don't have to have a goal. There is always a goal with the situation you are in, whether you think about it or not. The question is just in what resolution you can see it, frame it, define it and shape your attitude around it. Setting goals is really a way of choosing, defining and controlling. Goals provide what is not yet there, and define a clearer structure forward.

Goals can also give you energy and even better direction. Unclear goals make your behavior more random and often create more frustration than motivation. The goals act like walls to lean on when we have to choose, or when we are lost.

Without goals we grope. The brain loves to compete with itself and achieve small goals. The goals, in turn, become the milestones that give life meaning and structure, over time. Unfortunately, many of us are a little untrained in setting goals in a way that lifts our lives, but that is changing now.

How we set goals is crucial to getting the positive thoughts and feelings within us, or whether the goal in itself raises feelings of guilt or worry to the surface. You can figure out for yourself which of these inner states best promote success and health.

In order for a goal to be perceived as motivating and to stay on track over time, it should awaken your inner PEA (positive emotional attraction). These are the processors that bring joy and elation, a sense of curiosity and ability to influence. PEA boosts thoughts and processors about important values, desires, improvements and opportunities. It supports increased energy and focus.

When you have been given formulas in a way that don’t inspire you, when there are formulas as a requirement that describe what you should or must do, your NEA - negative emotional attractor, kick in instead, increasing the defensive processors. NEA focus the mind on possible problems, obstacles, difficulties and risks.

Our brain does not hear the word...

If you are going somewhere, if you are going to buy a ticket to a destination, do you usually indicate where you don’t want to go? No, I thought not. But, how many times have you set a goal that means you want to quit or avoid something? Not eating so much chocolate, not snoozing in the morning, not spending so much time on Facebook. How many times have your "rules" for what not to do only led to an increased focus on what you want to avoid? Negative goals do not work. The brain does not hear the word "not". It only hears Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Every time you think of chocolate, the taste in your mouth becomes clearer and soon you can't think of anything else. Try it for yourself. If I ask you not to think of a purple monkey. What happens? Exactly.

We need to formulate goals in a way that supports us in what we want to achieve; so we can take ownership of it ourselves by picturing our success. If you want to avoid something, change, you have to start formulating what to do instead.

EXERCISE! Find your innermost, meaningful goals.

So what's important? Sometimes it's good to start setting goals about where you want to be in three years. Then just count back - where do you need to be in a year? Where are you in a month? In a week? What do you need to do now?

It often becomes a rational plan, which can work. But you really want to build power into your goals, by setting goals that mean so much to you that you just have to strive for them - then you need to look into your deepest values, and connect to the emotions. This exercise can be helpful in getting what is important to you.

Make yourself an inside picture, of your 80th birthday.

Where are you? Where to celebrate?

See in front of you how to arrive at your own party.

Now ask yourself: Who is there? Who do you want to come? Maybe it's people you haven't met yet. And, when they line up to talk about you, what do they say? Which people do you want in your life, what do you want them to say about you and how do you want to feel? What do you want to achieve and how do you want to feel? Here you have your deepest values.

Research shows that we are relatively poor at acting on what lies ahead. Trends about, among other things, pension savings show that we overestimate our ability to plan for our old age, to act in a way now that allows us to be satisfied later. We are, relatively short-term, when it comes to our health and reputation, especially if we are stressed and too rarely reflect on who we want to be.

Who do you want to be? What legacy would you like to leave? What stories will you tell about your life to the next generation? What do you need to do now - so you can be satisfied later? Sometimes your inner image of yourself aged 80 is the best coach with all the answers. Ask your inner 80-year-old for advice a little more often. It can give you both strength and courage to act now.