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Author: [[Steven Kotler]] Full Title: The Art of Impossible Category: #books 4 Goals GOAL SETTING 101 is that there’s an order to this process.9 For goals to be most effective at shaping perception, there’s a requisite first step. We need to know our needs—that is, our intrinsic motivations—before we can utilize goals as a way of fulfilling those needs. That’s why this book started where it did. With passion and purpose properly stacked atop autonomy and mastery, we’re now positioned to get the maximum benefit from goal setting. Yet, as Latham once told me, not every goal is the same. “We found that if you want the largest increase in motivation and productivity, then big goals lead to the best outcomes. Big goals significantly outperform small goals, medium-sized goals, and vague goals.”10 Big goals. That’s the secret. But what, exactly, is a big goal? High, hard goals, then, are all the sub-steps that can help you accomplish these larger missions. These, too, are key. HHGs jack up both attention and persistence, which are two factors critical for sustained peak performance. And they’re critical because high, hard goals are as advertised: difficult mountains to climb. The grind is real. That’s another reason why that extra attention and persistence matter. Yet, not so fast. For high, hard goals to really work their magic, Locke and Latham discovered that certain moderators—the word psychologists use to describe “if-then” conditions—need to be in place. One of the most important of these is commitment. “You have to believe in what you’re doing,” explains Latham. “Big goals work best when there’s an alignment between an individual’s values and the desired outcome of the goal. When everything lines up, we’re totally committed—meaning we’re paying even more attention, are even more resilient, and are way more productive as a result.” By giving voice to an aim, you’re creating what’s called a “social reality,” and this has negative consequences for real reality. The act of telling someone about your goal gives you the feeling that the goal’s already been achieved. This is the issue. Once you’ve already felt that high, it’s difficult to get back up for the hard fight required to actually earn it. As the saying goes, real bad boys move in silence. Most important, momentum matters most. High, hard goals need to be challenging but attainable. If you’re always stressed out about how hard your goal is to achieve, then you’ll wear yourself out long before you can achieve it. Plus, the real aim is self-efficacy, that fundamental increase in capability and possibility, the new and improved version of yourself that you get to become after achieving your goals. CLEAR GOALS Clear goals is where goal setting gets even trickier. Turns out, there are significant differences between high, hard goals and clear goals, which are all the daily… Clear goals are the inverse. They’re all the tiny, daily steps it takes to accomplish that mission. They exist over…

AI Summary

The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler presents wisdom from the contemplative traditions.

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