As a final post in the series, lets walk through exploring someone’s specific goal in more detail.
Persons Goal: I will bake a cake next weekend.
The sub goals could be…mix 50g of butter with 300g of self raising flour until combined. Bake at 180 deg for 30mins or until firm to the touch. Super small but they roll up to reach the larger objective. (The same principal can be used for larger goals).
But rather then going smaller, lets explore the why’s and the motivations….
“It’s for my child, It’s their 3rd birthday next weekend”.
“I’m really nervous though as we’ve invited lots of other friends and parents and I don’t want to mess this up. I want them to know I am doing the best as a parent”.
“I should say, the party is being held at the hospital”.
“Unfortunately my child is very ill, maybe terminally. We are awaiting some test results today but we are not sure if ….”
“Amazing news”
“We got the results this afternoon. The tests are all clear. My child is going to be fine.”
“Lets rework that goal – I want to bake a cake WITH my child next weekend”.
“It can be as messy a cake as they want”
1 year passes and another cake has been baked. It’s for their 4th birthday.
All is well.
“I’ve made a new goal. I looked back on the stress I was under during this time last year, trying to manage with a sick child and juggling everything. I didn’t realise how much things changed when I moved from the outcome of the perfect cake to show others and instead focused on the time actually making the cake and spending it with my child. “
“So my new goal is orientated to help others in a similar situation and work with parents of children who may be in life terminal stages.”
“By the end of 2023 I will use my new company, LastSuppers.com, to help parents and children create at minimum of 1 memorable meal per month in order to enjoy the time they have together”
Wow – thats some “Why”. How much more powerful it is when we explore the underlying motivations and leverage it at an emotional level.
*Note: Everything above is made up. However, the pattern of looking behind the high-level goal into the motivations and driving behaviour can often have some powerful influences. I’ve deliberately made this one both emotive and quite simplistic. More often it can take a bit of reflection to understand the core motivations and values that have led to the goals you have. I think it’s worth taking this time to search out what the underlying roots of your goals may be sourced from.
Enjoy the exploration!
PS – A second person in the story also wanted to make a cake. They had watched Nigella on the telly that morning and thought it looked amazing….
I wonder if there is more to it….
or maybe they just like cake 🙂