Quickly, what is your goal for April?

For many that is an odd question. ”What do you mean? Goals for April? I don’t have any goals for today, let alone this month.” If that’s you I’ll be a tough mentor: either go use a goal setting guide or wallow somewhere else because this post/blog/universe isn’t going to help you until you’ve got some goal in mind.

For those who are still reading, is that goal talking about where you’re going or what you’re doing along the way? This is the difference between an outcome and a process goal.

Either one will be much more likely to occur if it follows the NLP criteria for a well formed outcome: positively stated, individually driven, sensory based, and ecological.

Is your goal focused on what you do want or what you don’t want? What you want to have or what you want to no longer have?

Does your goal depend upon the actions that you take or is it in the hands of other people or circumstances?

Do you know what it will look like when you reach your goal? What will you hear? What sensations do you feel? Smells? Tastes? Or will you ”just know”?

What unintended consequences will reaching your goal have? Who else will be impacted? What things will or won’t happen because of you reaching your goal?

All of these ”criteria for well formed outcomes” also apply to process goals. Are you focused on what you will be doing as you move forward? Did you change an outcome to a process goal so you could focus on what is in your control? Do you know what maintaining your process goals will look/sound/feel/taste/smell like? Are the unintended consequences of the way you’re doing things acceptable for everyone?

Today’s mission is to double check your 30 day experiment goals against these four criteria. If you need to change an outcome to a process goal then make those adjustments. Now share your outcome or process goal for the month below for feedback, support, and public accountability. (Yes, that means you too Sarah!)

FYI: I maintained my momentum with two aborted Turkish get-ups (only ‘bell on hand was too big!), 10 swings with good form, and a solid snatch for good measure.

Now go do your something and report back!