Recently I finished a book called LifePass, written by Payal Kadakia, a successful entrepreneur and founder of a fitness and wellness company called ClassPass.
You may have never heard of that company, or are interested in building businesses. But what the author shared in her book is a unique way of setting and reaching goals that I think is very effective and worth learning about.
One key feature of Kadakia’s goal setting approach is to use so-called “dream words” to guide and direct your goals. Here is how it works. Before you set any goals, think about and reflect on your recent past, and come up with a list of words that best describe or summarise your past year.
For example, when I reflect on my past year, I might use words like: Unpredictable, Lonely, Passionate, Focused, Unhealthy.
Next you will think deeply about what you want your future to be and come up with a list of new or different words that best describe it, thus so called “dream words”.
Again using my own example, for now I may think up my dream words such as Consistent, Peaceful, Laughter, Energetic, Growth.
Once you have your dream words, you can then go on to design what goals you want set that may best achieve or align with what your dream words represent.
What’s so great about this approach is that when you have your dream words guiding your goals, your goals automatically propel you to what you want to feel. Even when you don’t get to reach a certain goal, you won’t feel too disappointed or frustrated. Because your real goal is your dream words, not any concrete goals. You can make adjustments, or set a new goal to align with your dream words again.
Now your success no longer depends on whether your goal is reached or not, but rather how close you feel you are towards your dream future.
This is indeed a unique and interesting goal setting method. I would encourage us all to give it a try. There are a few other goal strategies the author shared in the book which are all worth experimenting. If you are interested, read the book and try it out for yourself.
Harry
