Goal Setting-“The Grand Canyon Effect”

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A few years ago, I wrote a post about how I use a particular technique to set and then get my goals.

Anyway, this morning, I received an email from Paul Chek, to whom I follow as he’s a well respected health and fitness expert.  His email was titled, “Have you heard of the Grand Canyon Test?”  In it he talked about writing your goals as if they had already been achieved and he discussed what would happen if you shouted your goal out into the grand canyon.  The obvious answer is that it would echo back to you.  His (and my) point is that if you write your goals in FUTURE SPEAK then that echo that comes booming back is the wanting or the willing, not the actual result.

By writing your goals in PRESENT SPEAK, as if its just come to fruition it transforms your goal from a wish or a want into a realization.  Only yesterday a client and I formulated her Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BIHAG) and without giving away too much, she wants to get back into her size 10 jeans. Here’s a portion of her goal: “It’s Saturday November 30^th 2013 and I have just tried on a pair of size 10 jeans.  (Insert kids names) are standing beside me looking at my reflection in the mirror.  We are all laughing and giggling.  Just look at me! I am looking absolutely gorgeous.”

You can see how more inspiring and empowering her goal is by writing it in present speak, rather than in future speak.  And to add more power to it, her goal has photos of her two daughters in it so when she affirms her goal twice a day, she not only hears it, but she see’s it and eventually she will come to believe it.

As I’ve said in previous posts, the true power of you is your mind.  Convince your mind that your goal will eventuate and it will.  Of all the people we listen to every day and take advice from, the most important person we should be listening to is ourselves.  Yet quite often, we aren’t talking to ourselves in the positive way that we should be.  If you would like some help on formulating your BIHAG simply drop me a line and I’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.