Powerful Goal-Setting To Design Your Future

Feeling stuck or like your goals are out of reach? This Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) inspired exercise will help you tap into your unconscious mind, creating a clear and compelling vision of your ideal future.

Through guided prompts, you'll create and visualize your goals in a way that activates your mind and body to work together, making success feel aligned and easily within reach!

Get ready to break through your "unconscious" mental barriers, design the life you truly want, and set goals that you feel both inspiring and confident about achieving.

Grab a notebook, tune in, and start creating the future you deserve!

Transcript

No matter the date,

It's always a great time to check in with your goals.

Whether it's January 1st and you're setting some resolutions,

Or in the summer,

Or at the end of the year,

It really doesn't matter.

It's always nice to re-evaluate to see whether you are where you want to be in your life,

And if you're not,

Figure out a way to get back on track to make things happen.

I understand the frustration of feeling stuck or blocked despite having the best efforts towards achieving goals and dreams,

And it wasn't until I discovered one underrated but incredibly powerful habit that everything changed for me,

And that was deliberately designing the life that I wanted.

To do this most effectively,

We must appeal to our unconscious mind.

If you're not familiar with that term,

You can think of your unconscious mind as being that part of yourself that runs everything in the background.

It directs your neurons to fire,

Your heart to beat,

Your nails to grow,

Or your gut to digest food.

These things are always happening,

And whether you think of them or not,

It won't change the rate at which your nails grow,

Or the speed of your gut processing food.

Another analogy you might consider is to think of your unconscious mind as being like the crew of a ship,

Waiting for your conscious mind,

Which is the captain,

To chart a clear,

Inspiring destination.

Without that design locked in,

Your mental crew will remain scattered and aimless,

Just letting day-to-day circumstances toss them and you around.

And that's because unfortunately,

When we don't allow ourselves to vividly specify our ideal outcomes,

We starve our unconscious minds of a compelling future to bring us towards.

So today,

We're going to do a couple of exercises using a technique called neurolinguistic programming that will bring your big goals and dreams to life.

You are welcome to come back and play this recording at any point,

Especially when something new comes up that you're not really fully committed to,

But you're kind of excited about.

And that's because we're going to use a really visually compelling and inspiring method that allows us to take the time to deliberately design and install your big dreams and hopes into your unconscious mind.

Essentially,

We're giving that aimless crew a clear map of a destination to navigate towards,

So that they are working in the background and helping you to get where you want to go,

Even if you're not aware of it.

Now,

In terms of goal setting,

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the idea of a smart goal.

And at this point,

If you don't have anything to write on,

Go ahead and pause this recording and just grab a notebook or a piece of paper or open up your phone to an app where you can make some notes.

Now,

I would like you to write down what you want,

Being really specific.

And for those of you who do know what smart goals are,

We are going to use the S,

Meaning specific and simple,

The M,

To mean measurable and meaningful to you,

And measurable might be like,

I want to release 20 pounds,

Or I would like to make X dollars this year.

And meaningful means that would have a positive impact in your life in a way that you would like it to.

As we go to A,

A stands for as if now achievable.

We're going to write these goals like they have already happened.

And don't worry if you don't know what I mean by that,

I'm going to be going over an example in just a moment.

R stands for realistic or responsible,

And that just means that when we write our goals,

We want them to benefit not only us,

But if possible,

Our family,

Our friends,

And even society.

Then we come to T.

T stands for timely,

Or towards what you want.

So you want to be really specific about how long it's going to take you to get this goal,

And exactly what it is that you are going to be achieving.

So here's an example.

Instead of saying,

I don't want to weigh 500 pounds,

You would say,

I weigh however many pounds.

All right,

And then lastly,

Consider under what circumstances,

And by that I mean when,

Where,

And with whom do you want to have your results.

All right,

I promised you an example,

So here we go.

Once you have your SMART goal,

We want to put it in as-if-now achievable form.

So my example for you is,

It's December 31st,

And I have booked a seven-day vacation to Hawaii with my family for March.

So you will hopefully understand that this is in present tense,

It is December 31st,

And you are stating exactly the details of your goal afterwards.

I would like you to pause the recording here,

And just take a couple of moments to write down a SMART goal,

Or multiple if you want to,

And you can go through this process as many times as you like,

But just pick one to begin with.

All right,

So go ahead and pause now,

So that we can have a little bit of time for you to jot down some things that are really important and meaningful to you,

That if you achieved them,

Would make your life so much better and more exciting.

Okay,

Once you have your SMART goal or goals,

Now I would like you to figure out what the last thing that has to happen is,

So that you know you have achieved your goal.

Essentially,

How will you know that you've gotten that goal?

If we use the example of going on a vacation to Hawaii with your family,

The last step might be coming out of the airport in Honolulu,

Surrounded by your family,

Looking out at the beautiful blue skies and palm trees,

Feeling a wave of warm air rushing over you.

Okay,

Now it's your turn.

Go ahead and figure out that very last step.

If it's building a new business,

That might be a lot of steps,

But perhaps the last thing that you need to know for that to happen is having signed a new client,

You know,

Proof of concept,

Or their payment has come through into your bank account,

And you can picture it there.

If it's a certain health goal,

Maybe being able to run a marathon or climb a certain mountain,

Perhaps it's standing at the peak of that mountain,

Looking around at the beautiful views,

Or if it's the running goal,

Running through that finish line,

Feeling amazing with the crowd cheering for you wildly on either side of the road.

And I want you to look at your goal or goals and write down what that is for you.

Again,

Feel free to pause the recording so that you can take some time to do that for yourself now.

And once you have that,

We are going to do what is called making an internal representation of this last step.

Now for this part of the exercise,

It would be ideal if you could find a nice comfortable spot to sit or lie down and just relax into your chair or into whatever surface that's supporting you.

When you've found somewhere comfortable,

Just go ahead and close your eyes.

Start by taking a couple breaths in and out in through your nose and a long,

Slow breath out through your mouth.

Breathing in,

Exhaling out any tension,

Allowing your body to begin to relax even more.

Inhaling relaxation,

Exhaling anything that doesn't serve you here.

Now,

When you think about your goal and the last thing that has to happen so that you know you've achieved it,

Do you have a picture?

Just make a mental image of this goal in your mind.

And then as I ask you the following questions about the details of this picture,

Just make a mental note for yourself here.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

Is the image black and white or color?

Is it near or far away from you?

Is the image bright or dim?

Is it focused or unfocused and blurry?

How big is the image?

Is it life-sized or smaller or bigger than that?

And are you in the image looking at it through your own eyes or are you looking at yourself in the image?

Is the focus of the image steady or is it changing?

Is the image framed as if looking at a photograph or panoramic with no edges?

And finally,

Is this a movie or a still image?

Let's consider the auditory components of your goal.

Are there any sounds that are important associated with this image?

If so,

Make a mental note of what the sound or sounds are.

And where is that sound?

Which direction is it going in?

Is the sound coming from within you or is it moving towards you?

And how loud is the volume of that sound?

Next,

Let's consider the kinesthetic or the feeling components of this image.

Are there any feelings that are important?

If so,

Where are these feelings in your body?

It could be warmth or pressure or tingling or lightness.

Whatever it is to you,

Just notice where it is in your body.

And then how big is that feeling?

What shape is the feeling?

And how intense is that feeling on a scale of 0 to 10?

Now,

With this image fully alive in your mind,

I would like you to imagine stepping into your body in that image if you weren't already in it,

So that you can see the image through your own eyes.

That last step of your goal so that you know you have achieved it.

Once you're looking at the image through your own eyes,

Feeling those sensations in your body and perhaps hearing sounds associated with it,

I would like you to adjust those sub-modalities,

Which are the aspects of the image,

So that they feel the most real for you.

Maybe that's turning up the brightness,

Or adding a little bit of movement if it was a still image.

Perhaps it's expanding the size of your image so that it's life-sized or panoramic.

Maybe it's making it color if it was black and white to begin with.

Just take a moment to experience what you see,

Hear,

And feel within that image as you achieve that goal.

Really lean into and enjoy exactly what it would feel like when you reach that very last step so that you know that you have made it happen.

Breathe the way that you would breathe.

Maybe you see the people around you and their reactions to you having accomplished this,

And just bask in those feelings.

Really sit with that and let your emotions wash over you.

And when that feels complete,

What I would now like for you to do is to step out of that image so that you can see yourself in the image now.

And the reason I've asked you to do this is because if you continue to see the image as if through your own eyes,

That would be like telling your unconscious mind that you've already achieved it,

Checked it off the list.

On the other hand,

Seeing yourself in the image as if you were watching a movie or looking at a photograph is better because it allows your unconscious mind to know that you don't have it quite yet,

So it will continue to bring you towards that goal and your hopes of achieving it,

Drawing you to it like a magnet.

When you've done that and you're ready,

Feel free to open your eyes and perhaps make some notes about the image that you saw and the details around it so that you can come back to this visualization later.

I would really encourage you to come back to this goal as part of a visualization each and every day so that you can start encouraging your unconscious mind to look for opportunities in your world and your life that will help you get closer to achieving this goal in the timeline that you've set out for yourself.

And how would you like to have the confidence that this is going to happen instead of perhaps what might just be wishful thinking?

We are going to do a different neurolinguistic programming technique to increase or boost that confidence level that you have in achieving your goal so that you can create so much certainty and alignment between your conscious and unconscious mind that your unconscious mind will basically have no choice but to work behind the scenes to make this happen.

This technique is called mapping across and we use those submodalities or the aspects of the image to do that.

So what I would like you to do first is to think of something that's absolutely true for you.

There's no doubt in your mind that this thing is true and it's going to happen.

For our example,

I'm going to use the sun will rise each day as something that feels absolutely true for me.

If that doesn't resonate with you,

Perhaps you can find something else that makes you completely confident like we need oxygen to breathe or if you're 40 years old,

I am 40 years old.

Find something that you know is absolutely true for you that you feel totally confident in saying.

And once you have something like that,

I'm going to use the example of the sun coming up tomorrow you can settle back into your chair and close your eyes once again if you're comfortable doing so.

Now,

When you think about how confident you are that the sun will rise tomorrow,

Do you have a picture?

Just like we did before,

Recognize how close that image is to you.

Is it in black and white or color?

How big or small is that image?

How bright or dim is it?

Where is it in relation to you?

Is it in front,

To the side,

Above or below you?

How clear is that image?

Is it focused or unfocused?

And is there any movement or is it still?

Is the image framed or is it panoramic?

Take your time to notice the details of this image and then notice if there are any sounds associated with the image.

If there are,

What is the sound or sounds?

Where is it coming from?

And in which direction is it going?

Is the sound coming from within you or is it moving towards you?

And how loud is the volume of that sound?

And let's consider,

Finally,

The kinesthetic aspects of this image.

Are there any feelings associated with your image of the sun coming up tomorrow?

If so,

Where are those feelings in your body?

How big is the feeling?

What shape is it?

And how intense is that feeling?

Now,

With all of that information about your image and all those sensory details,

Please go ahead and clear the screen.

Imagine that you're wiping it off a whiteboard or pushing it off to the side so that it's blank once again.

And now I would like you to think about your goal.

When you ask yourself,

What is that last step that you need to achieve so that you know you've accomplished your goal,

Bring up the same image as before where you were looking at yourself in the image.

And now we're going to match the submodalities or details of this image so that they match the image that you are completely certain about,

That the sun is going to rise tomorrow.

And that's because our brain is storing that image as something that it knows is absolutely true in a certain way,

And it's storing the image of your goal perhaps in a slightly different way where there isn't as much certainty.

So we are going to create more alignment between those two images by adjusting our submodalities.

So where is that picture,

The image of your goal?

If,

When you bring it up,

It's somewhere different from the picture of the sun,

Move it so that it's in exactly the same spot.

And is the image of you accomplishing your goal the same intensity of brightness as the image of the sun?

If it's not,

Go ahead and make it match.

And this could mean turning up that brightness dial or lowering it down.

Is your image as colorful,

Vivid,

And clear as the image of the sun coming up?

And again,

If it's not,

Go ahead and match the qualities of those images.

Adjust the details of your goal image so that it is as bright,

Colorful,

And vivid as the image of the sun coming up,

And it makes you feel as confident as you felt when you looked at that image you had for the sun rising.

If there are any sounds,

Add them in and make sure that they're coming from the same direction with the same volume or intensity as your image of the sun coming up.

And the sounds don't have to match.

Maybe you hear birds or traffic sounds with the sun rising and not in your goal,

And that's okay.

It's the quality or the aspects of the sound that need to match here.

And if you're feeling something in your body,

Just notice whether you're feeling the same way as you did when the sun image was in your mind.

And as you consider this newly adjusted image of you achieving your big goal,

Go ahead and let those good feelings wash over you.

Breathe into it and really enjoy that newfound feeling of confidence that you can and will achieve this goal that you've set out for yourself.

And as you do that,

Imagine locking this image in place,

Perhaps like closing a snap top container or super gluing something together so that you know you can find it again really easily.

Take your time to just breathe and enjoy the feelings of how confident you are that you are going to achieve your goal and know exactly what it feels like when you get there.

And once that feels settled and complete for you,

Go ahead and open your eyes.

And again,

You might like to take some notes about what you need in terms of resources to help you create what it is that you want,

This goal that you've put in your future.

How are you going to get there?

Whose help or support might you need?

And importantly,

What is the very first thing that you can do today to begin to achieve this result?

It doesn't have to be big.

In fact,

It's much better if it's a small first step.

Putting little steps in your future that feel bite-sized and achievable are much easier for you to follow and maintain momentum on your path towards this goal.

Feel free to make some notes and let me know what you thought of this recording and also feel free to share your goals if you would like some accountability.

And of course,

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I'd love to hear from you.

I really hope that you enjoyed this course and you now feel super inspired and confident to go after your big goals and dreams.

Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.

Thank you so much!