When achieving your goals is too much like hard work

I read this great blog post today and wanted to share it.

It’s a different way to look at goal setting.

You might have come across The Secret and the law of attraction.

Or the Napoleon Hill quote: “Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve.”

Or heard about the Reticular Activating System, which filters out background noise and helps you notice all references to that designer watch brand you’ve been longing for.

In a way, this post builds on all of those ideas, by talking about Perceptual Control Theory.

‘We bring about changes in the world by contrasting the perception we want to have with the perception we currently have. Our mind and body then work together to bring the world into a state that aligns with our desired perception‘

A way for the subconscious to help with goal-achievement, if we allow it.

The article goes on to lay out a 3-step framework for goal setting to make the most of this ability:

1. Be clear about where you are
2. Be clear about where you’re going
3. Resolve any conflicting goals

The post is long, just like my day today, so I’ll let you read it to get the detail.

But the main point is that, if you find that making progress towards your goals, professional or personal, is like driving with the handbrake of your car on, trouble shoot it by going through each of the steps to see where you’re stuck.