How to Set Goals to Achieve More AND Remove Stress

I'm not a naturally content guy. I want to get in better shape, always. I want to build a better business than anyone has, work harder, achieve more, and so on. So, I set these massive goals with short timelines, and I'm seeing the downsides to operating and thinking in this manner.

If you're driven, ambitious, goal-oriented, or, if you simply want to improve, somehow hit your true potential, and live as great a life as you can live, stick with me.

In this article we'll cover the best method to set goals that will help you achieve much more, having more energy while you do it, while removing the stress of not having what you want to get (the goal).

What are Goals?

We have to rethink what a goal is at its core. It isn't a thing we get that makes our life better, that somehow makes us happier and more fulfilled.

It's a direction we point our life toward, nothing more.

When we set a goal, maybe the goal of building a great business, or making millions of dollars, or getting in great shape, we signal to our brains where we want to point our habits and actions.

Getting in great shape, as a goal, simply means we want to adopt certain habits that will create the goal. Essentially, we're pointing our habits in the direction of this end, this final point.

Thus, a goal is simply a shaper of our habits. It tells us what tasks we should do, which we should avoid.

Mistake #1: Timelines

When we set goals we typically set a timeline to achieve said goal. This has to be removed. 

Sure, this goes against nearly every self-help book known to man. But timelines are destructive. We know where we're heading, we know what we have to do to get there (habits) - or we know the direction we're heading, and we can figure out the best habits as we move in that direction, constantly trying, tweaking, and learning what works best.

The direction is all that matters. And the direction isn't the goal, necessarily, of losing 10 pounds or building a billion-dollar business, the number is useless. The direction is what we're building...

...A great, healthy, lean, strong body...

...A great business that serves its customers well...

...A great marriage and family life...

...And adventurous life filled with wonderful, grand experiences...

No matter what the goal, we're building something, and building anything requires a foundation and a process. There are steps involved that have to be checked off. There are tasks that need to be done.

So long as we're completing the tasks, we're building, we're moving toward a better place, and we ought to accept the results (rewards, even) of moving in this direction as they come, in the numbers they come in, not in the numbers we want, when we want them.

So, forget the numbers and release the timelines. 

Mistake #2: Numbers

Michael Jordan didn't set out to win 6 championships and 5 MVP's. He simply tried to be the best at his craft.

Rockefeller didn't set out to become a billionaire, the guy was born dirt poor, he simply build a company, step by step, that ended up being massive. 

Musk didn't set out to make $200 billion. If you told a 20 year old Musk that he'd be worth that amount in 30 years, he'd likely laugh. He set out to create and build things.

The problem with numbers is that they don't really mean anything, and we can get hung up on them. 

Every self-help book says to set a massive goal, a huge number that you aim at. 

All that does is make us act and think in a way that we're missing something, that we won't be complete until we hit this number. When, in reality, our lives are amazing right now, without that number being hit.

And, these arbitrary, massive numbers that we have in mind, are irrelevant if we don't complete the tasks.

Michael Jordan wouldn't have done squat if he was worried about winning a championship and if affected his play. He had to become great, skill-wise, but also play great, which demands great skills but also a complete absorption of being in the moment.

In short, the goal we may think we want is dependent only on us completing one task after another.

How to Think About Goals

Essentially, forget about the goal. Focus only on what you're building, and build it as best and as fast as you can (more on speed later). The fact that you're building it means you want to achieve. 

We think we have to set massive goals as a signal that we have grand ambitions. It's a signal to ourselves and possibly others that we want to win, and win big.

But it's irrelevant. The number, the goal is meaningless other than serving as a direction in which we point our lives, our work, how we choose what we do as far as tasks, and how disciplined we are.

Michael Jordan even said, have a goal, then release it.

He also said, "I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot … When you think about the consequences you will always think of the negative result." 

Forget about the result, the outcome, focus on the process. And...

"If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life."

Or, all that matters is the tasks you have to complete, the work, nothing else matters, so why focus on it?

We can have goals, but putting a number on them, and a deadline, at some point, can be counter-productive and ineffective, and all we want is effectiveness.

Technically, effectiveness relies on one thing: the work being done, and the tasks being completed.

Choosing Tasks Optimally

So you have a direction you want to head in, or, rather, something you're building.

Let's keep calling it 'that thing you're building', because it applies to a great life, wealth, a company, a strong, healthy body, and so forth.

A goal is merely to build something as best you can, as fast as you can, without quantifying that thing or placing a deadline on it.

Choosing tasks/habits can be difficult, especially when we don't know 'the best thing' we ought to be doing.

Let's take business as an example, because when someone wants to start and build a successful business, they typically don't have an exact blueprint on how to do so. And, that blueprint can change depending on issues faced, like a down market, competition, even global issues and disruptions.

RE: building a better body, that's a lot simpler. The habits are very clear. Follow a good meal plan (like these), lift 3-5 days per week (follow our free workouts in the Tribe), do cardio 4-6 days a week to optimize cardiovascular health if you're concerned about health - weight training is best for fat loss, and supplement effectively (namely with POWER).

If you eat the right foods in the right amount, and workout consistently, just let time do it's thing and eventually you'll have a great, strong, healthy body. It's more of a habits x time thing, but with building a great life, business, whatever, there are other things that come in to play, so what do you do and how do you choose your habits/tasks?

Research, and never stop.

Always be learning. Every day I'm searching for answers and better ways to do things, which determines my experiments (tasks).

Apply/experiment.

A task is often an experiment to see if it moves the needle. Try things. See if they help/hurt, and if they help, keep doing them, always.

Have the things you always do, uncompromisingly.

There are some things we will always do, no matter what, because they're good for us, and for what we're building. Every day I answer customer service emails and social media questions. Every day I write and work on a newsletter to provide value.

In life, that may mean a wake up time, or a daily amount of time you spend reading and learning. Never stop doing these foundational tasks that need to exist to build whatever you're building, and then search for other ways/experiments to add to what you're building.

Building this business, this life, this body, it's all about doing the right things for a long enough period of time. And when you find what the right things are, you just double down on them, keep doing them better, and never stop doing them.

You create compounding effects, like a snowball rolling down a mountain that gets bigger as it continues forward.

 Build it Fast... Kind of.

While timelines are useless, speed isn't. 

This doesn't mean you have to hit your number by a certain date, but that you want to get things done well, fast. 

I.e. You never, ever, ever want to be lazy. 

Do the work. Do it well. Do it fast. 

Burnout isn't a real thing. It typically only occurs when we're too stressed. Stress doesn't really exist in the flow state - actually, it can't.

When all we're focusing on is the work, is the tasks we're completing, stress doesn't come into the equation, at least not chronically. 

A task may have a deadline, which it has to, but the acute stress of hustling to complete it in time isn't destructive, not like the chronic stress that exists from chronically not being good enough, not having enough, not being close enough to your goal in the timeline you're trying to achieve it by.

So, work more. Work harder. Be more disciplined. But focus on the work, not on any overall timeline to build this thing by, or amount or number of the size of what you're trying to build.

Just build well, and build fast.

Building for the Sake of Building

Whatever number or goal we think we want is dependent on us building something. 

It's the building of the thing that matters, no matter what we're building.

Thus, to achieve 'great things', we have to build. We have to be in the moment. We have to react to bad things happening and fuel the fire of momentum, whatever is demanded of us.

A better way of setting goals, then, is just to build.

Build a great life by reading great books, learning, and applying. By being good, by serving.

Build a strong body by training well, consistently, over a lifetime, not over a brief period to hit a goal, and once that goal is hit you revert back to your previous habits.

Build a great business by providing a great service every day until you die - along the way, who knows what will happen, but for now all you can focus on is building.

Stress-Free Achievement

This brings us to the holy grail.

Any ambitious guy who wants to REALLY live well, achieve great things, be in great shape, etc... always has that nagging need for more.

We need to achieve more, have more, do more, be better, and so on. 

We think stress has to exist for us to get great work done. We don't think we can fully be content and happy until we achieve that thing we're chasing.

This is a flawed view of life. Period.

Chronic stress that comes from always pursuing a goal is horrible for you, but it's also counter-productive for the pursuit of the goal.

We lose sleep. Our family life suffers. Our health suffers. Our energy declines, stress doesn't give us more energy over the long term. The quality of our work suffers. How we treat people can degrade, and to succeed in life you need to treat people well. 

You don't need stress to win. 

You need energy and clear-thinking. You need to make great decisions. You need to work hard and get into the flow state. You need a great life outside of the work. You need to be happy while you're hustling.

All that we've talked about thus far is designed to help us focus on what matters. And that, simply, is the tasks we have to complete.

You'll learn along the way. You'll see what works. You'll see what doesn't. And you'll iterate. That's just a natural part of living and learning. 

But what if everything's really going to hell? 

What if your back is against the wall and you're close to losing your house, or the business is close to folding, or something else happens, you get injured, you can't train, and so on?

Welcome to life.

I hate to say it, but life is brutal. There are always a million reasons to be stressed. Put them in the 'life tax' box.

They're just a part of being human. 

All you can do is control what you can, and get back up if you get knocked down.

And, you're setting yourself up to avoid many of these problems if you simply do the right things, right way, as best and as fast as you can, forever. 

This is somewhat of a plea to change how you see achievement, even life, and reaching your potential.

It's not just a plea to you, but to me.

This is the best way to think, and to achieve, and to be at our very best, and it makes every area of life better while we're doing it.

To bring it all together:

Have the thing or things you're building: you can have different games in life you're playing all at once - in fact, you should. You should be trying to be the healthiest you can possibly be, while having the best relationship with your wife that you can have, while being the best dad you can be, while being as successful as you can be.

Identify the tasks that build each thing: what to eat, what and when to train, what work to do, and so forth. These are the things you have to do to build whatever you're trying to build.

Complete the tasks every single day, and forget about any timeline for achievement, or number you're trying to achieve.

Just do the work, do it well, do it fast.