Today we will take a look at the goal setting technique. As a basis, we will take a technique from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), called - "Well-formulated result."
A well-formulated result (or HCP) is a term denoting the process of goal-setting, or, in human terms, the correct setting of a goal. There are many variants of this very XCP, since we are laymen, we will take the most common one, consisting of 9 steps + 1 step from me.
XCP will give you the opportunity to:
- find ways and methods to achieve the goal;
- turn chaos in the head into structural thoughts;
- formulate a goal as accurately and specifically as possible so that your subconscious mind understands what is required of it;
- make sure whether the goal is suitable for you and whether it is being implemented in principle;
- start making the first efforts towards achieving it.
Detailed description
1. The goal is positively formulated
- What would you like?
- What direction do you want to go?
- Is your goal formulated positively?
Sometimes we define a goal as something that we want to get rid of or what we want to avoid: not eating after 6:00 pm, quitting smoking, stopping being offended, and so on. But such goals are rather difficult to achieve, because knowing what I do not need does not yet give an understanding of what I want to receive. Imagine walking into a store with a list of what you don't want to buy. Or remember Khoja Nasreddin's problem "not to think about the white monkey." It's just that the head doesn't work that way.
Denial can be expressed both by the negative particle “not”, and by the words “refuse”, “stop”, “quit”, “part”, “avoid”, etc.
So the goal should be formulated positively - what do you want to get: to become slimmer, to buy your own apartment, to feel confident ...
Therefore, if your goal is still formulated negatively, it must be reformulated into a positive version.
quit smoking - control the urge to smoke;
do not worry - be calm;
leave work - find a new job;
not to be afraid to get acquainted - to feel confident when meeting;
stop resenting criticism - be constructive about criticism.
2. Controlled by you
- Do you and only you control your result?
- Is the achievement of your result related to someone else?
- If connected, what can you do to achieve this goal?
There is something that mainly depends only on us: to become slimmer, to learn English, to feel confident - and there is something that also depends on other people or circumstances: to get married, build a house, become a department head, become famous ... We cannot directly control many events and other people, but we are able to influence them through our behavior. Therefore, the achievement of the "external goal": career, wealth, fame - in the first place will be related to what you can do for this.
- I want to please girls.
- What can you do for this?
And in many cases, in order to achieve an "external" result, first of all it will be necessary to change oneself - that is, to achieve an "internal" result. Continuing the dialogue ...
- Behave more confident.
- Do you know how to behave like that?
- Not yet. So, first you need to learn to feel confident when communicating and behave accordingly.
3. Sensory representation
- How do you know that you have reached your goal?
- What will you see, hear and feel when you reach your goal?
The goal is desirable to represent: to see, hear, feel - and not just name. So at this step you need to imagine what will happen when you reach the goal: what you will see around you, how you will look, what you will hear, feel, what to say to yourself, what other people will say, what exactly you will do what the smells will be and so on.
That is, you create such a complete sensory hallucination of achieving the goal.
- When I reach the goal, I will see ..., hear ..., feel ..., do ..., tell myself ...
4. Appropriate context
- Are there situations where you do not want this?
- Where, when and with whom do you want it?
You don't want to have everything in all situations, in any place and time and with any people: calmness may not be very suitable for watching a comedy, and it is more pleasant to go on vacation with your wife, but not with your mother-in-law. So it's worth identifying the appropriate context for the goal - I want to here, but not here.
If the goal is “internal”: confidence, calmness, relaxation, energy, perseverance - then define the contexts in which you want to have it and where you don't want it. For example, relaxation is good when relaxing, but not very good when playing football.
That is, as a result, the goal will be defined for some context: confidence in communicating with the boss, pleasure in watching an interesting movie, persistence in achieving the goal.
If the goal is rather "external": to go on vacation, build a house, get married - determine with whom, when and where you want it. For example, I want to go to Spain with my husband and children in the summer, but not to Vorkuta with my mother-in-law in winter.
5. The goal is environmentally friendly
- What will you lose if you achieve a result?
- Do you agree with these losses for the sake of achieving results?
- How can you compensate for these losses (or get around them)?
When we gain something, we usually also lose something. For example, when we get married, we lose some of our freedom, when we become a freelancer, we lose stability, and when we become slim, we lose the opportunity to blame our own failures on our appearance.
And at this point, we assess the possible losses and determine whether they are acceptable. Do I agree to lose "it" after reaching the goal. You can also go back to the first step and redefine the target to reduce losses.
To determine the balance of acquisitions and losses, you can just use the "Cartesian Coordinates".
6.Has a suitable size
- Is the target the right size?
If the goal is too big, motivation is lost on the way. If your goal is "to fully master the English language" with very strict criteria, then even if you study for a long time and intensively, you will not notice the approach.
The criteria are discrete things. Suppose for you the criterion of language proficiency is free communication with English-speaking people. I have learned 1000 English words - checked - I am not fluent yet. Memorized the table of times - checked - no, until you can communicate freely. Have read "Moby Dick" in the original - no, I still don't communicate freely. And motivation is lost.
Therefore, it is more convenient to break a large goal into smaller "subgoals", the achievement of which is easier to control and feedback faster. For example: learn 100 new words in a week, lose 2 kg this month, and the like.
Naturally, there is a reverse process - the goal may be too "small", like "learn 10 English words." In this case, it is worth figuring out to which "larger" goal this is all leading.
7. Includes required resources
- What resources do you need to achieve your goal?
- Can you have access to them?
Determine the resources you need to achieve your goal.
If not, frame access to resources as a goal.
- In order to be confident in the interview, I need confidence, calmness, faith in success and a good suit. I have confidence, calmness and faith in success, but I have to buy a suit.
8. Exploring obstacles
- What prevents you from starting to achieve (achieve) the goal right now?
- What obstacles can you meet on your way?
- What can you do to overcome these obstacles?
Explore what might be holding you back from achieving this goal.
If the obstacles at the moment are "not surmountable" - reformulate the goal and go through the entire XCP process for this purpose.
9. Determine the first step
- What will be your first step towards achieving the goal?
You can dream about a goal for a very long time, but if you do not start to achieve it, it will remain a dream. So we define the first step, where we start.
Are you going to find a new job - what will you do to find it right tonight or tomorrow morning? It can even be viewing job advertisements or posting your own profile on job.ru.
If you want to become more slim, determine your very first step: tomorrow morning I do a run, today I eat fewer buns, and more fruits and vegetables.
10. Visualization
Once you have written everything: sit down, relax, close your eyes and imagine that the goal has already been achieved. Draw a picture of an already achieved goal, hear the sounds that will be there, feel and live in this state, let your body know how good it is when the goal is achieved .. This step allows you to start processes throughout the body, get used to your goal, and means to approach her.
My recommendations:
- Use paper for setting goals, electronic format is not very suitable for this.
- Set at least 5 goals as soon as you read this article.
- If possible, take the first steps of the goals that you prescribed in paragraph 9.
- Check your goals once a week, edit if necessary.
