Goals are desired outcomes often achieved by a sequence of behavioral changes. Setting goals is easy. It is simply an intention. However, following through on goals tends to be challenging. The internet is full of self-help advice on achieving goals. Most of it can be generic or out of touch. The reality is that our lives and minds are complex and achieving goals requires us to dissect our routines, motivations, and discipline. In this post, I will detail what Neuroscience has to say about goal setting and then provide you with a goal-setting framework that should help you set up goals that are actually effective.
Setting and achieving an effective goal requires a change in behaviors and routines. Neuroscience has divided behavior into 4 categories:
- Complex Routine Tasks
- Complex Novel Tasks
- Simple Routine Tasks
- Simple Novel Tasks
Oftentimes, to achieve our goals we must follow Complex Routine Tasks. These are high skilled tasks where we often face low motivation. High motivation is triggered by novelty. Novel tasks are tasks that are out of the ordinary. Tasks that are still exciting because they have not been repeated so often.
Be Specific
When setting a goal, break the larger objective down into smaller objectives. A goal such as "getting fit" is far too broad and vague. Break down the goal into specifics.How many pounds do you want to lose? How many inches off the waist? What clothing size are you aiming for? Are there any specific features you want to emphasize, like abs or legs?
Write the larger goal and then include bullet points underneath it detailing the specific targets.
Now you have a better picture of what you want.
Steps & Chunks
A goal does not manifest until it is incorporated into our routine in bite-sized pieces. Let's go back to our working example. What can you do everyday to help you get fit?
You can start by eating more clean and whole foods. Let's say you are a busy person and you often order takeout. You will now have to make a lifestyle change to eat whole foods routinely.
Break the issue down further. This means you will likely have to look up a dozen easy-to-cook healthy meals and bulk buy the whole ingredients. You will then have to meal prep on the weekends for the following week.
Now say, eating so much healthy foods is tough for you and it triggers your cravings. You will then have to ease into it. Make most of your meals healthy but save space for a snack, a treat, or a cheat meal here and there. You will likely have to draft up a weekly meal plan to keep track of what you are eating and when.
Now let's tackle the other end of the fitness goal. The workouts. You will likely have to break this down into bite-sized steps as well. Start off by going on walks everyday. Slowly start adding more to your routine. Look up workouts you enjoy and start with small workouts a few times a week. Slowly build up from there. Add more advanced workouts as you start form a habitual routine.
Every facet of your goal needs to be broken down into little jig-saw pieces. When they all click together, it will form the bigger picture.
You need to enact each small step until it becomes routine, then you can compound further steps on top. Do not pile on all your tasks at once. It is a sure way to lose motivation and burnout. Small steps are the key.
Checkpoints & Rewards
Countless neuroscience research points to the hormone Dopamine when it comes to maintaining motivation. The neurochemical, Dopamine, operates in a loop. When you achieve something, dopamine "rewards" your nervous system by releasing "happy" feelings. Our brains are hardwired to seek this dopamine hit. It is a biological reward. This is why we feel lots of resistance when partaking in difficult tasks. Those tasks do not give us easy wins. We do not get frequent dopamine spikes and our motivation begins to wane.
As you break your goal down into daily, small, actionable steps, make sure to set checkpoints along the way. Back to our example of getting fit.
Say you lost your first 5 pounds. This is one of the checkpoints you set up. You will now reward yourself in some way for losing these 5 pounds. You may reward yourself with a fun day out, or by buying something you have wanted, or by treating yourself to something you have been wanting.
This releases that dopamine and further solidifies our behavior. You will not be motivated to move on to the next tier and achieve the next steps.
Commemorate every small win and cherish even the smallest of progress. Our philosophy of "I will be happy when I have X" is the surefire road to failure and burnout.
By commemorating every small win, you place yourself into a "winner" mindset. This will help you shed limiting beliefs and propel you to secure more wins.
I would recommend keeping a small notebook where you track progress, detail your steps, plan your tasks, and record your wins. Having a visual representation of your progress can come in handy on the days your doubts are driving you crazy.
Identify & Remediate Blockages
As you go about setting your goals and enacting them, pay attention to the areas you feel the most resistance. What tasks are harder to do than others? These are the blockages you need to fix.
Executive function refers to our higher-level cognitive skills. This includes attention, task switching, working memory, and inhibitory control. Our executive functioning is consciously active and involved when we are partaking in a novel and complex task. A part of the brain called the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex allocates our cognitive resources based on the complexity and amount of mental work required. Other regions involved include the Prefrontal Cortex, Premotor Cortex, Motor Cortex, among several other areas.
What does this tell us about overcoming blockages? Try adding novelty to your tasks.
In plain terms, try to make your tasks fun and engaging.
Let's say you feel resistance towards to act of working out. It takes a lot of pep talk to get yourself to hit the gym. Flip the script and add elements of fun to your workout.
For example, curate a playlist that gets you pumped. Get yourself cute fitness gear that really puts you in the mood. Assess whether your current choice of exercise is boring you.
Pick a form of exercise that stimulates you and engages you. Some people love to dance, some love yoga, some love pilates, and some love their cardio.
But what about specific fitness targets? Say you have to do ab exercises to hit your fitness target but you hate doing abs. Make the workout as fun as possible. Put on music or a tv show you enjoy. Pair your ab exercises with exercises you actually enjoy. Say you love to walk on the treadmill. Do your abs and transition to walking on the treadmill. Do not pair your ab workout with another workout you dread, such as legs for example. Save that for another day's workout circuit.
The key is to pair high resistance tasks with low resistance tasks, sprinkle in reward triggers, and now you have a routine you can commit to.
Executive Function Management
When completing a long and complex task you may find that your attention and engagement is waning. In Neuroscience, some theories refer to this as "ego-depletion." Your "active self" is essentially exhausted. Studies show that this can be remediated by taking small breaks where you do something completely different.
If you are sitting studying for hours and you feel your attention wane, take a small break. Time your break to hold yourself accountable. Go for a walk, do some exercises, eat a snack, get any sort of movement in. Do anything drastically different from studying. This will help your jog your executive functioning back "online." The break of pattern creates novel stimuli that jerks the brain "awake."
Priority & Desire
Science also claims that one is more likely to achieve a goal if the outcome is their priority. In other words, you are more likely to succeed at a goal if you truly want it. For example, every year you set a goal to make more money, to obtain more wealth. But year after year, you remain comfortable in your current financial setup. Do you really want more wealth? Always question your goals. Do you want them or do others want to see you have those goals?
When one truly wants to succeed at a certain goal they will become resourceful and creative in their approach to attain that goal. Every goal is not meant to be had. You must find the goals and plans you align with. In essence, you will do better by following your life's purpose.
Once you eliminate the urge to achieve goals that you don't actually want, you can make space for goals that truly matter to you.
Goal Setting Framework
I have created a goal setting template. It prompts you to break down the goal into actionable steps and includes checkpoints for rewards. Each month you can fill out this sheet and gain a clear vision on what your goals are and what steps you will be taking to achieve them. Feel free to print out as many sheets as needed. Click the image below to access the pdf!
In sum, to set and achieve goals, one must label the specifics, break the goal down into actionable tasks, assess whether the goal aligns with you, pair arduous tasks with novel stimuli, include rewards, celebrate wins, and make the process of achieving the goal fun and engaging!
Life gets easier when you make a conscious effort to make it enjoyable!
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