Last year, I read a book called “The Power of Moments” (by Chip Heath and Dan Heath), and it made me realize why some people actually achieve their big wild dreams, while others set resolutions that fail within a week. I’m not talking about SMART goals or anything like that (because let’s be honest, I’m not interested in figuring out if my goals fit an acronym). I think goal-setting should be simple…and the secret to setting goals is equally simple: think in moments.
When will you know you achieved your goal? Start by visualizing the moment you finish. Close your eyes and try to imagine it. Picture being exactly where you want to be. Imagine it until it feels real, until you can feel and smell and see and touch the things around you. Until you know just how you will feel in that moment.
It might be crossing the stage to receive your college diploma—that’s a very definite, celebratory moment that can be remembered for the rest of your life. It might be holding a hardcover copy of your own book for the first time. Walking the red carpet at the premiere of your debut movie. Submitting your first screenplay.
It could be celebrating your wedding day, or watching the Northern Lights in Iceland, or drinking a glass of wine on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. Performing Can You Feel the Love Tonight on the piano in front of your friends. Taking your kids to Disneyland. Cooking a delicious meal on the very first night you move into your own apartment. Stepping into the Sistine Chapel, the Louvre, or the Colosseum.
Most of our daily life is forgotten. It’s not realistic for our minds to store every detail of every minute of every day of our lives, so we file away only the stuff that stands out. There’s a reason that birthdays, weddings, holidays, celebrations, funerals, graduations, and vacations are so memorable.
When we look back through all the memories of your life, the times that stood out were special—good or otherwise. When you get to the end of the year and look back, that collage of special moments become representative of the year itself.
How can we use this to our advantage when we set goals? Well, once you can truly visualize your wildest dreams, you know exactly what you need to achieve to get there. Work backwards from the end goal and figure out what steps you need to take this year, this month, today.
Don’t say you want to “do more yoga.” That’s too vague. Instead, say that you want to light a candle, stretch out your yoga mat, and do a ten-minute video before bed every night.
Instead of saying you want to “write a book,” say that you’ll wake up at six o’clock every morning to spend an hour writing your story before your day begins.
Knowing that you will graduate and receive your diploma in three years means that you understand the importance of studying for your history exam today. Knowing that next year you’ll be traveling to Thailand gives you a reason for saving a percentage of your paycheck today. Whatever your goal is, it should give you a reason for doing the simple steps: practice your instrument, write your story, show up to work. Think of the moments you want to remember, then make them happen.
<3 Olivia Grace
