• Goals:
  • Describe the goal state.
  • Set amazing goals and reach them.

Goal State (What)

A goal (which I typically call a “goal state”) refers to the best conditions that can exist in the future for the actor (person or group) who creates the goal state, given their context.

Analysis: Here are the main points:

Goal and “Goal State”

The terms “goal state” and “goal” are synonyms. I use the term “goal state” because I use the term “present state” to mean conditions as they exist right now.

Present State

Conditions as they exist right now. Note that “state” in this context means “conditions.”

Best

The term “best” refers to the highest payoff. A payoff is rewards minus drawbacks taken holistically. The idea is to routinely seek the highest payoffs because more payoff is better than less payoff.

Context:

Context refers to the surrounding conditions. The best future conditions depend on an actor’s context.

Goal State (Examples)

Weight

Present State

Overweight

Goal State

Sustain the following: Healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) + Healthy Diet + Low or zero craving for food

Business Finances

Present State: Financial struggles, lots of stress

Goal State:: Healthy financials + peace of mind

Statistics

Present State: Strongly dislike the subject + Desire to avoid the subject because it is so confusing + A need to learn this subject

Goal State: Really good at applying statistics in real world contexts + grok the main ideas of statistics

Rationale

Here are some reasons why is it worth being skilled with setting and then reaching goals.

1. Satisfaction: Feels insanely good to reach motivating goals.

2. Passion. Effective goal states create super-high levels of passion (motivation, desire, etc.).

3. Persistence. Effective goal states put so much drive into an actor (person or group) that quitting is not an option.

4. Success. Setting the right goals and reaching them is a formula for succeeding (getting what you most want).

5. Collaboration. Puts everyone on the same page because a well crafted goal means the same thing to every person in group; there is no ambiguity or confusion.

6. Impact. Accomplish things that make a difference in the world.

Goal State (How To)

Framework

Repetitions: While quality is improving take the following actions:

1. Key Problem: List all your negative and positive concerns and select the useful concern to address. See this article for the details.

2. Logic: Apply Diamond Logic to create the the goal state. Here is a summary of the actions.

   1. Generating Question. Here are some examples.

      1. What conditions in the future might I want? most want?
      2. What future conditions might be desirable?
      3. What result might be awesome?
      4. What do I want if I can get anything I want?

   2. Goal Options: List as many answers to the generating question as you can.

   3. Conclusion: Select the best goal option or options.

      1. Typically, I select two to three.
      2. Make each goal option measurable.
         1. Figure out your measurement.
         2. Usually, avoid writing down how you will do the measurement because this is too detailed.
         3. Everything can and should be measured.
            1. This is an advanced skill.

3 . Communication: Encode your conclusion to maximize its effectiveness in the context of communication to your audience. 1. I recommend John Doerr’s method.