Hey friends
Learning the right way to set goals is one of the simplest ways to enhance performance.
The good news is that it doesn’t require exceptional talent to work.
The bad news is that there are right and wrong ways to goal setting.
Setting the wrong goals, or even setting the right goals in the wrong way will significantly impact your chances of success.
Choosing the right goal-setting method is an important step toward setting the right goals.
Focusing on the process of setting goals has a significant impact on our ability to accomplish them.
3 simple and effective goal setting methods that have helped me set achievable goals are:
- High Hard Goals + Clear Goals - Define your High Hard Goal, reverse engineer that into small Clear Goals, and execute until your High Hard Goal is accomplished.
- Process Goals vs Outcome Goals - Focusing on Process Goals allows you to start with small and achievable challenges that lead to 'quick wins'.
- S.M.A.R.T. Goals - S.M.A.R.T. Goals are effective because they provide you with clarity, focus, and motivation.
🚀 Performance Hacks
How to create more time for deep work (1min)
Do you find yourself distracted all the time and unable to start important work. I’ve been using these two methods to create space for deep work. Check out this thread for a deeper dive on how you can implement both methods.
Start “Writing to Learn” - what Nir Eyal taught me about problem solving (2mins)
Like you, I’m always interested in learning. I currently spend between 10-20 hours a week on personal development and online courses. Over the last 6 months I’ve started writing online and it’s really started to help me become a better problem solver.
🧠 Brain Food
Blog Post: Productize Yourself. Figure out what you’re good at and apply as much leverage as possible. Make sure you follow Naval on Twitter as well.
Book: The Alchemist. This is one of my favourite reads and a modern classic. A relatively short story, it contains some valuable lessons about following your dreams and recognising opportunity. It sounds good on Audible as well with Jeremy Iron’s narrating.
Podcast Episode: Richard Wiseman on Lessons from Dale Carnegie, How to Keep a Luck Diary, Mentalism, The Psychology of the Paranormal, Mass Participation Experiments, NLP, Remote Viewing and Attempting the Impossible. This is a fascinating podcast episode. Richard Wiseman is Britains only professorship in the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. I loved the segments on keeping a luck diary and getting an insight into Mentalism. Don’t be scared off by the title, this episode is well worth a listen.
📱 Tools + Tech
💻 App: Sleep Cycle. I’ve been using this app for over 3 years. It tracks and analyses your sleep and helps you wake up at the right time so you feel rested. The Sleep Cycle blog is also a really helpful resource for learning about sleep, factors that impact your sleep and how you can improve your quality of sleep. Sleep Cycle helps you to better health through better sleep. Try it for FREE.
Notebook: Do you journal or enjoy keeping written notes? I’ve been using this Moleskine Classic Ruled Paper Notebook as my Bullet Journal for the last couple of years. I love writing in it every day so much that I even wrote an essay about it!
🐦 Tweet Thread: Pain is good for you. Suffering is a choice. A thread looking at life from a mystical eye.
Chill out: The Zen Zone offers 3 simple games for when you need a short, calming break.
✍🏾 Quote of the Week
“People love it when you give your secrets away, and sometimes, if you’re smart about it, they’ll reward you by buying the things you’re selling.”
From Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. Resurfaced using Readwise.