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Leveraging Your Unconscious to Achieve Your Goals

It’s highly likely that you have heard or read about the importance of setting goals.  In fact, it’s pretty commonly accepted that setting goals will increase your odds of actually achieving the goal.  The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) reports the following: 

• Of people who consciously decide to set a goal, 25% achieve their goal.
• Of people who decide when they will do it, 40% achieve their goal.
• Of people who plan how they will do it, 50% achieve their goal.
• Of people who commit to someone else they will do it, 65% achieve their goal.

Why does this happen?  It all relates to how our brain works.  The human brain is capable of receiving billions of bits of information, much more than we could ever possibly use or deal with.  In fact, research has shown that our nervous system can only “handle” seven, plus or minus 2 “chunks” of information, or about 128 bits.  The Reticular Activating System (RAS) in our brain unconsciously filters through all these pieces of information and decides which messages will receive our top priority and full attention.

By setting goals, we are able to focus our brain and our attention on a particular area to the exclusion of other thoughts and activities.   For example, a busy mom gets bombarded with numerous situations, problems, questions, and demands during the course of a day. Yet most moms are unconsciously able to prioritize so that the most important tasks get immediate attention.

When you set goals, especially after committing them to writing, the brain has a specific subject or task brought to the forefront.   When you repeatedly read, think about, and refine a goal, you focus your brain and unconsciously become aware of related matters and needed resources which are important in the realization of the goal.

Setting personal goals creates awareness so that you suddenly start to notice things related to the goal that you might have overlooked or not given any attention to if your goal was not in place.  

To quote Anthony Robbins in his book "Awaken the Giant Within", page 288: "This shift in mental posture aligns you more precisely with your goals. Once you decide that something is a priority, you give it tremendous emotional intensity, and by continually focusing on it, any resource that supports its attainment will eventually become clear.  Therefore, it’s not crucial to understand exactly HOW you'll achieve your goals when you first set them. Trust that your RAS will point out what you need to know along the way."
Use the RESULT formula to set your goals and ensure your success:

R.                          Make your goal realistic, and a challenge

E.                          What evidence will you have when you have achieved the goal?

S.                          Make your goal straightforward and concise

U.                          Unlimited possibilities; commitment comes before the resources

L.                           Create a Life Picture of how it will be when you achieve the goal

T.                          Vision your goal complete at a specific time

As you think about the goals you are committed to achieving on your journey to wellness, use the format below:

Think about what’s most important for you to create around your health.  How will it feel?  Smell?  Look?  How will you know when you’ve achieved it (your evidence)?   Where will you be?  What will you be doing?  Write 2 – 3 sentences that describe exactly what will be going on in your life and how you will know that you have achieved your goal.

Example:

Use the worksheet below to write your goals for 2008.  Then simply place the goals in a place where you can refer to them occasionally and let your unconscious do the work!

My Health Goals

Name:__________________________