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Hey there, Mori Chana here, founder of the Mindsight Academy, neurocoach to executives, leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and educators. I'm also a neuroleadership trainer and business consultant using insights from neuroscience to help you flourish and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead to Excel podcast. Here is wishing you again a very happy and blessed 2020 and a fantastic decade. This is a show designed to equip you with knowledge to understand the science of how your brain works so you can unlock your leadership potentials with the tools to help you rewire your brain so that you can flourish, excel, and achieve high performance in every area of your life. I am so thrilled to be with you today because we are talking about a very important topic, very significant topic, and one that is so ignored. And it's how to achieve any goal so that you can live your best life. Your role as a leader, a manager, or a business owner entrepreneur is to get things done in your organization or in your life. Delivering results as a leader for your organization or your business requires competence, industry knowledge, but most importantly, the ability to set effective goals. How then does one go about achieving this? Well, grab yourself a cup of coffee, put your feet up and listen in. Our focus today is going to be on how to set brain-friendly goals. And you might be wondering why, what's the difference? Well, I'll start with a question. Do you ever feel like you're coasting through life with no real idea of what you want or where you're going? As a leader, do you feel that you're managing your team, but you're not quite sure, you don't quite understand or have clarity of what you really need to achieve at the outcome or how you will get there? Perhaps you know exactly what you want to achieve, but you have no idea how to actually get to where you want to be, or you're simply afraid to take the required step that you need or that you believe you need to get to where you want to be. Are you working hard on your job but not on your future? All these questions actually lead us to the importance of goal setting. Goal setting helps you think about your future, it gives you an opportunity to reflect on your values and helps you discover what really matters to you. It will bring clarity and allow you to see the bigger picture of your life. Goal setting will give you the opportunity to assess your current situation and will enable you to close the gap between where you are and where you really want to be. Goals are the first step towards planning for your future, and they will help you develop skills in various facets of your life, from work to relationships and everything in between. A quote by Robert Broad says, We are kept from our goal not by obstacles, but by a clear path to a lesser goal. And in the work that I do, I've worked in so many organizations with so many leaders, so many managers, and so many business owners and entrepreneurs. And it's a real shame that many people don't set clear goals. In fact, the irony of it is that many people don't even set goals full stop. And goal setting is one of the most important decisions you can make. Some people literally live their lives as though they have no control over it, and they simply wander through life and get blown in different directions by different circumstances and by people that surround them as well. There are people that literally start with one thing today and move on to another tomorrow. And when you then get to the end of the year, middle of the year, different points in your life, you stop and realize that you know what, I haven't actually progressed, I haven't moved. I've worked with teams, and when you speak to them, they don't know where they're going. They literally know, okay, this is what I've been asked to do. There's no accumulative knowledge of where the team is actually going. Now, this podcast today, I'm going to focus on goal setting for individuals. So if that's for you, if you're a leader, if you're a manager, if you're an entrepreneur or business owner, next week I'm going to focus more on goal setting for teams. When you don't set goals and you find yourself blown around in different directions and coasting through life, literally, what you're doing is giving your power to your environment instead of using it to create the life that you desire. And just think about this for a second. Would you set off on a trip without a plan? This seems very obvious, but it happens so much that it's actually worrying. Individuals, leaders, managers, business owners all working so hard with no definite focus or planning. Professor Gail Matthews of University of California found that the mirror act of writing goals boosted achievement by 42%. The mere act of writing them down is like the first action in the creation process. Setting goals also gives clarity and focus. This becomes an accelerator towards moving you closer to your goals. Research has now shown that the percentage of people in their 20s who achieve their goals is actually far greater than those in their 40s and 50s. Hmm, interesting, isn't it? This is most likely due to a lifetime of disappointments, which has made the over 50s lose faith. This is why you tend to hear some people say, this gold setting thing is a waste of time. If you really are serious about making significant progress in your life, in your career, in your business, then you need to invest time in setting goals and be determined to achieve them. We design our homes before we build them. Cars are designed before they are built and assembled. Just as your life also must be designed to enable you to live your desired life. With goals, everything is possible. But without them, nothing is possible. Your success does not depend on anyone else, it totally depends on you. You have the power to make your life whatever you want it to be. Most people don't go after what they want because they don't actually know what they want. The key initially is for you to be aware of where you're going and then have the belief that you get there. And I'm gonna talk about belief later. If you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to achieve things and specific things, then you don't have enough goals or you don't have the right goals. Every human achievement is an accomplishment of a goal. Paul Robinson says you can only grow as big as the goals that you set. Set goals that are meaningful and important to you because that's what will give you the compelling passion to achieve them. Don't let your current situation dilute your vision. Your dreams must be bigger than you. So it's very important to never allow your past to hold you hostage to your future. When you set goals, you give your mind a new set of eyes to be able to see all sorts of ideas, opportunities, creativity, and resources. So it actually starts aligning your goals with what's on the outside. So basically, what's inside your brain starts aligning with what's outside, and then you'll be able to see them clearly. So you'll be able to see those opportunities and then take the actions that you need to take. I must emphasize that simply having goals is definitely not enough because unclear goals or goals that are out of alignment with what you really want can be almost as bad as having none of it. The question then is how do you know if your goals are in alignment with what you want? This is actually looking at your subconscious and making sure that what you're saying consciously aligns with what is going on unconsciously. Brian Tracy says that people without goals are doomed to work forever for people who do have goals. Which one are you and which one do you want to be? Understanding the importance of goals and the techniques involved in setting achievable goals paves the way for your success. Now, listen to some reasons people give for not setting goals. I'm too busy. I haven't really thought about it. Being active and busy doesn't actually move you any closer to your goal or to achieve success. Activity is often unrelated to productivity, and busyness rarely takes care of the business. Henry Thorough says it's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are you busy doing? Now, one of the things that a lot of people are busy doing is having a to-do list. So let's talk about the to-do list because some people think that this equates to goal setting with your wants and other people's wishes flying all over the place, you know, left, right, center. Many people impulsively find themselves jotting down lists on scraps of paper just to be able to have some form of clarity, or some people have posting notes with lots of notes printed on them, and some people methodically keep their list either on a notepad, on a sticking pad, or on the fridge in the kitchen. A lot of people use time planners for daily, weekly, and monthly task lists as well. There are many apps now that are used for to-dos on the go. There's a constant encouragement to make lists, and though these lists can be useful, they can also distract you with trivial, unimportant stuff that you then feel obligated to get done because it's on your list. And because you've not set goals, they end up probably taking you away from where you really want to be going. High achievers operate differently. They have an eye for the essential. They pause just long enough to decide what matters based on their goal setting and then allow what matters to drive their day. They always work with a clear sense of priority from the planning of their goals. Let's look at the science of goal setting because you know I have to always talk about the science. Your subconscious mind can help you achieve your goal. Setting goals gives you a direction in life, but vague goals like making more money or being happy would rarely be achieved because of the way the brain interprets it. Your subconscious mind is like a powerful machine, and understanding how it works is a really big part of successful goal setting. It's like a GPS. For example, if you give your GPS an address, it will do whatever it can to get you to your destination. The subconscious mind behaves in the same way. I always start my webinars and workshops with an illusion image. Have you ever noticed a new pattern or design or even learned a new word only to find yourself seeing or hearing it everywhere you go? This is an example of your brain priming. In other words, your subconscious mind is scanning your environment for all information relevant to the pattern, to the design or word or phrase or whatever it is. This is why setting clear goals gives you a greater chance of accomplishing them. Many people tend to think and feel within the biology of their past memories. As a result, those thoughts and feelings create attitudes. Attitudes then create beliefs. The beliefs create perceptions, and the perceptions end up creating your reality. If your thoughts and beliefs are based on implicit memories, so that's the unconscious memory that reacts to the emotional intensity of events and situations of your past, then there's a strong probability that you'll be missing out on new opportunities. Not only will you not see future possibilities, and that's because your brain will not even be wired to see them. Setting new goals begins a neurological building process whereby you're essentially rewiring your brain, causing neurons to fire in new patterns and combinations. This new thought becomes a new possibility for your brain to achieve, and then it just scans around the environment and creates the motivation for you to take action and enables you to see the opportunities to enable you move forward and progress and achieve the goals that you want. So it's not just enough to write your goals down or have a lovely plan and a to-do list. A lot of it is to do with the brain. I can't stress enough how important it is to control the brain. Setting goals also increases self-esteem. Demanding goals not just high self-esteem. Low self-esteem, on the other hand, seeks the safety of the familiar and undemanding. So confining yourself to the familiar and undemanding ends up lowering and weakening your self-esteem. You can actually increase your self-esteem by setting clear goals and achieving them. Nathaniel Brandon, the author of the Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, says that part of our self-esteem comes from a disposition to experience ourselves as competent to cope with life's challenges. With every goal that you accomplish, you feel more equipped to tackle even bigger goals and life challenges. Consistently accomplishing your goals is one of the most efficient ways to build your self-esteem. Let's look at the brain and the power of beliefs in achieving goals. The brain is a goal-seeking organ. Once you set goals, it starts looking for opportunities and resources to help you achieve them. Your brain tries to align your beliefs with your experiences, which causes you to see what you instruct your brain to look for. When you define goals, you give your brain something to focus on and look for, such as ideas, creativity, innovation, and resources. Goals make you grow, so they must be big enough to challenge and push you beyond your limits to enable you to maximize your potential. Setting and planning goals does not guarantee that you will achieve them. And one of the reasons for this is limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs arise usually from the past, such as repetitive messages received from family, from friends, from teachers, and the media, and is one of the main restrictions to goal achievement. Your expectations shape what you believe is possible, which determines your perceptions and your actions. That means that they also shape your outcomes and your reality. To accomplish anything, you have to first believe that you will achieve it. That means acknowledging that it might not be easy, but believing in your capability to do it and achieve it. When you come across obstacles, your brain will then look for new ways or new solutions to solve the problem. And it's you bearing in mind that there's always a walkaround, a solution if you just keep working at it and pushing forward. There are a lot of limiting beliefs that hold people back. I'm unlucky, I never win at anything, I'm disorganized, I hate confrontation, I'm not cut out to be a leader. Nothing good ever happens to me. To be successful, I need to have a degree, I need to have a higher qualification. No one will pay what I'm asking, and there are loads more. The key is to reframe the meaning of what you're saying. For example, I'm not good enough, I need another qualification, and you reframe that to I can do this, I've got these qualifications, I've got the experience that I need, and I'm going to start now. And what I don't have at the moment, I will learn. And reframing that to I am more than capable of doing this. I've got the experience, I've got the knowledge, and you know what I always say? The people doing it, do they have two heads? If they can learn it, so can I. And the important thing is if it's a desire of mine, you know what? I'll do it. So reframe the negative and tell your brain the truth because the limiting beliefs are not true. So tell your brain what the actual truth is. Another negative belief that I hear a lot is life is tough. You know what? In life, there are challenges, but I'm going to face them because I can grow from them. I would learn and I will grow. So bring on the challenge. Actually, like challenges, and it's something I always say for those that know me, I thrive on challenges because without challenges, I won't be doing what I'm doing today, and I won't have achieved what I've achieved today. So it's changing the meaning of what you're what you've been given things. Golisa and Ottingen created the idea of implementation intentions, explaining that the best way to ensure goals are achieved is to create a cause and effect link in your mind. For example, when you make plans, that's implementation intention. So you're intending to implement something ahead of time and decide what actions you'll carry out. The proper behavior pattern is usually automatically carried out instead of being drawn from your limited reserve of willpower. In other words, you won't have to strain your brain with thinking or worrying about what you should do and when. Because automatically your brain has the plan of what it would do. And I've got some questions that I want you to think about. Do you have personal or professional goals? Are your goals written down or do you think they are in your head? Do you have any short-term, mid-term, or long-term goals? Do you have career goals? Does your company have company goals for this year? Are they written down? Does every employee in your organization know what they are? What are your company long-term goals? What are your business long-term goals? What are your personal long-term goals? Now, if you have not set your goals, and I'm not just talking of goals for 2020, I'm talking of actual your career goals, your goals for this year, your goals for the next three years, your goals for the next six months. If you have not set goals, this is the time to do it. I'm going to be running a workshop on goal setting using brain science to teach you how to set, plan, and engage your brain effectively to enable you to achieve the goals. Look in the description below. I'm going to leave a link for the goal setting workshop that I'm going to be running. I hope you found this podcast informative and useful. The next step now is for you to take action. Set your goals and set them effectively. Next week I'm going to go into the importance of setting team goals and how to set team goals as well. Thank you again for tuning in. There are a lot of challenges that are facing individuals and organizations today, but you have the key to achieve the success that you desire. Goal setting is not something to be ignored or pushed aside. Goal setting is extremely important. If you want to know more about what I do, have a look at my website. I'm going to leave a link at the bottom. So now I want to hear from you. What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? And remember, if you've not subscribed to this podcast, please make sure you do. Click on the button wherever you listen to this podcast. Because once you've subscribed, you will not miss an episode. If you're already a fan, I'd love a review on iTunes to keep bumping and ranking and spread the message of how to achieve effortless success by empowering people to maximize their performance and productivity using Brain Science. So I'll see you in the next episode. Have an amazing week. Bye for now.