The fastest way to achieve any goal!

The fastest way to achieve any goal: FORGET IT!

This is controversial. The world of personal development has always taught us to set goals and go for it. We were also taught to keep going no matter what, until we achieve our goals.

Focusing on a goal seems to spur us on to go and achieve it. But new evidence suggests that continual focus on the goal will ‘spoil our experience’ of the activities that are required to achieve those goals and we are more likely to drop that goal.

Here is proof:

Researchers from University of Chicago and KoreaBusinessSchool (Ayelet Fishbach and Jinhee Choi) conducted an interesting experiment. They recruited 100 plus students as they were about to start their workout at the gym. Half the group were asked about their ‘goals’ and the other half were asked to describe the ‘experience’ they wanted to achieve in the gym. Then both groups were instructed to get on with it and focus on their ‘goals’ and ‘experiences’ respectively.

This was the result:

The ‘goal focused’ students planned to stay longer and train. But this is what actually happened. The ‘goal focused students spent less time on the treadmill than ones who focused on their ‘experience’.  (34 minutes versus 43 minutes).

This confirms what psychologists call ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ motivation. In a nutshell, the motivation of external reward (a Goal) can backfire and demotivate us.

Is this the key to happiness?

A goal is just a result – nothing more. The goal is a result of a set of activities (or processes).  As Professor Rao eloquently describes, we have a mental model for happiness. When I ‘get’ this (this..could be anything: such s money, car, relationship etc…) then I will be happy. The problem here is that anything you can ‘get’ , you can also ‘un-get’. The process of investing all our energy in the outcome is what causes us to be unhappy.

Achieving a goal – the result, is not within our control. But we are in full control of the activities that lead us to that goal. So rather than hinge our happiness on the goal, we should invest our energy on the activities that are within our control. When we invest and enjoy the baby steps, we are fully present in the moment and this is the key to our happiness.

A baby learning to walk is a great example. If the baby invested all its energy on the goal and not the activity (of trying to walk and fall several times) the baby would have given up quite easily.

Set goals anyway.

Let go the attachment to the outcome.

The ability to let go is a great habit to cultivate. Here are some pointers to help you.

• Don’t fight the now: Just let things be. By all means take action towards your goal but be fully engaged in the process without worrying about whether it is the right action or not
• There will always be a tomorrow:  Don’t count on tomorrow being perfect. Because when tomorrow arrives, there will be another tomorrow that looks even better. The only perfect moments is now and enjoy it.
• Go for it without clinging to it. Head towards your goal by taking relevant actions. But don’t attach emotions to the outcome.  If you want to buy a better car go for it… but don’t attach your happiness or the feeling of success to the new car.