When you decide that you’re going to go away on holiday, what do you do? Do you make the decision and then forget about it, making the assumption that it’ll just happen? Of course not! You’re not just going to pack your bag on the day you’ve decided to go, and then wait aimlessly at the front door. You plan where you’re going to go, how you’re going to get there, what to do with any pets while you’re away, where you’ll stay and what you’ll do once you’re there. All that planning for one short period of your life. And yet so many people only plan for those short periods of time, for their holidays. What about the rest of your life? How much time do you spend planning it?
It’s been proven time and time again, that us human beings are happier when we have a purpose in life. And here’s the thing: goals don’t just give us purpose; we’re actually designed to achieve the goals we set. The Reticular Activation System (RAS) is the part of our brains that filters the thousands of pieces of information that it receives every minute of every day. It filters out the bits we don’t need and leaves us with the few key pieces of information that we’ve told it are relevant. Our brain instinctively knows that we want to survive, so it’s already on the look out for any threats to our survival, but we tell it what else we need by focusing on things. Like goals. When you set a goal, you’re telling your brain what you need, so it can start noticing opportunities to achieve that goal and instead of filtering them out, present them to you. If you’re not convinced, try this experiment. What colour, make, or model would you like your next car to be? Focus on that for a few minutes and then notice how many cars of that colour, make, or model you see in the next few days. The RAS is your friend when you set goals.
I saw this in action so many times when I worked with professional basketball players. They’d have set the goal of becoming a professional basketball player when they were children, and that goal would’ve driven the decisions they’d made ever since. It was particularly telling by the time they got to college, when they’d be at practice or the gym before and after their normal classes. They’d sign contracts to say they wouldn’t do drugs; drink alcohol or coffee; eat cakes, biscuits, or sweets. If their grades dropped below a certain level they’d be off the team, so they’d be studying after practice finished at 8pm every weeknight. All of this while their friends from class would be going out, eating and drinking whatever they wanted. But it wasn’t a struggle for these athletes. Because they had a goal, a powerful and compelling goal, which guided their choices and behaviours towards achieving it.
All areas of our lives can benefit from setting goals; so why not pick an area of your life right now, create a vision, and set a goal. I’d love to know how you get on, so please use the comments to let me know or ask any questions about setting goals.
Categorised in: General