Vishen Lakhiani argues that the classic SMART goal-setting framework is flawed and can keep people average. He critiques each SMART element: Specific (argues goals should target feelings, not overly narrow outcomes), Measurable (over-measuring can break flow; points to MTO method), Attainable (advocates aiming for some high-risk/likely-to-fail goals—cites Larry Page’s 50/50 rule), Relevant (questions cultural/programmed relevance vs. soul-based relevance), and Time-based (not always efficient). He references teachers and interviewees—Mike Dooley, Raymond Aaron, Matthew McConaughey, and Priyanka Chopra—and invites viewers to a 90-minute masterclass plus a 3-minute self-assessment quiz to identify blocks to goal attainment.
Chapters
How many of you here raise your hand if you get this. How many of you here apply smart goal setting to your goals? Smart. That's a classic goal setting model that you learned in college, that you learned in university. Well, I want you to stop because smart goal setting is really dumb. I've been investigating the human mind for decades. At this point, two decades precisely. And in the buildup of mindvalley, in my interviews with so many incredible people around the world just this week, best actor winner, Matthew McConaughey, Priyanka Chopra, who made the COVID of Time magazine. And I always try to understand how people hit goals. And what I'm seeing is that the classic method, the method that we learn in college, S M A R T isn't effective. If you truly want to be remarkable in the world, it keeps you average, let's demolish, destroy this method in this masterclass. If you join me this week, I'm going to spend 90 minutes with you and I'm going to show you how to accelerate attainment of goals. I'm going to show you everything I learned. I'm going to give you as big of a map as possible. But let's talk about smart and why it's really kind of dumb. First, specific. You actually do not want your goals to be super specific. People confuse object goals and feeling goals. There is a nuance here that's really, really important. You want your goals to move towards feelings. The ideas here come from Mike Dooley, a man I've learned a lot from. In terms of goals. Then there's measurable. So we think our goal should be measurable? No, not completely measurable can actually break flow. There's a nuance. A better method called the MTO method. I learned this from a brilliant teacher by the name of Raymond Aaron. Next, let's dismiss attainable. We think our goal should be attainable, but that's not actually how some of the greatest minds in business work. Larry Page, the founder of Google, he has a rule in Google called the 5050 rule. And I'll go deep into this rule in my upcoming masterclass because we apply this in mindvalley. I apply this in my life. But it suggests that almost half your goals should be goals you are quite likely going to fail at. And there's a psychological reason why Google applies this really effectively and has become one of the best companies in the world. Next, relevant. We think our goals should be relevant to us, but people forget that much of what we think is relevant was programmed into us by media, by religion, by culture. How do we strip out these programming and set relevancy based on our soul? And finally, time Based. I discussed this last night with Priyanka Chopra, who made the COVID of Time magazine. Why are Time based goals not necessarily the most efficient? Now, if you find these ideas interesting, join me in this week's masterclass. Before you take the masterclass, though, I created a short three minute self assessment for you that will help you understand what which of the five most common blocks keep you from moving towards your goals? Knowing this block, when you show up for the masterclass, you're going to be in a completely different frame of learning. I want to deliver a ton of value to you, so click the link above in my bio, take the three minute quiz and when you complete it, you will know your block and you will get a link to watch the Masterclass. I'll see you there.
