Ian Ugarte (smallisnewbig.com) explains why common SMART-style goals often lack emotional connection and demonstrates a method to write goals as if already achieved (date/place sensory details and emotions). He gives a detailed personal example—imagining finishing the Machu Picchu marathon with friends—and shows how to break an emotional goal into smaller, tangible segments while jogging to a lighthouse.
Chapters
Hey there, ian Ugarte from smallisnewbig.com let's talk about goals.
Unfortunately for the Western civilization, we set goals that are just practical or sometimes just tasks and not really goals. So in the whole smart process of being specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely, they're just practical components of a goal that actually have no emotion attached to it. So when we set goals in our tribe, we do it in a very specific way. We do it in a way that actually connects people emotionally to their goals. So as an example, if you want to set a goal, you need to say, set the goal on the day that you achieve it. So your goal should start something like it's now March 2021. So you're actually achieving it on the day and you are bringing yourself into alignment for that day. When you achieve that goal, you have to ask some questions like, who are you with? What's around you? What can you hear, see, feel? What emotion do you feel when you actually achieve that goal? So think about a time in your life where you've achieved something amazing. Now stop and think, what's those two emotions or three emotions? And where in your body do you feel in your head and your heart and your shoulder? Where is it? Right? And then you have to find what's the actual evidence that you've achieved that goal. So as an example, we're into training for the Machu Picchu marathon. And my goal would go something like this. It's the 4th of July at 3pm in the afternoon. We've just gone through the full 42k marathon. It's taking us eight and a half hours. I'm with my friends Bianca and Joel and I feel a sense of achievement and pride after a very hard, high end, high altitude marathon. And I feel that in my heart. I know that for me, achieving this goal puts me closer towards containing my seven continent marathons. I only have one more to do in South America and I really look forward to doing that. Now, those goals should draw emotion from you and for other people around you. Now remember that I said that I've got Joel and Bianca with me. Now. I haven't committed Joel and Bianca to finishing the marathon because I don't know that they will. I'm hoping that they will, but I have no control or influence over them. I know that they're going to turn up because we've already booked tickets and we're going over there. So understand that a goal can then be broken down into tasks. So my goal today was to get to this lighthouse and our starting point was over in the lights over there. It's actually in the next beach over. And so what I did was I looked at this as a marker of where I wanted to go to, but then I broke it down into segments. So I knew that getting up over the hill to those lights was one kilometre, and then getting from there to across the bay here was another kilometre. And then when I got to the end of this straight and I was getting closer to my goal, I broke down those goals into smaller increments. So there's a tree halfway, and I said, I know I want to get to here, but the tree is my first goal. And then there's a rubbish bin and then I'm here. So now my goal is to get back over there. I'm going to break that down into segments now so that I know that my first point of marker is Loo, with a view over there at Mooloolabah. And then I'll be hitting the bottom of the hill and then I'll be hitting halfway up the hill and then the sign at the top of the hill, and then it's all the way downhill from there, where I know that I've done all the hard work to get there and I can pick up pace going downhill to get to a point where I finish and I get to my end goal. So remember, always put emotions into your goals.
