“We can’t create a new future while we’re living in our past. It’s simply impossible.”
― Joe Dispenza, You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter
It’s the wonderful time of year where we all get super jazzed about goal setting. This year, though, I want you to do something completely different.
Instead of setting a SMART goal, I want you to set an extraordinary goal.
Let me explain…
If you want to listen instead of read, here’s the podcast episode that goes along with this post — Impossible Goals .
How To Set An Extraordinary Goal
An extraordinary goal is a HUGE goal you don’t think is even possible for you.
If you had told me 7 years ago I’d be a life and business coach, living in Chicago, making a ton of money working from home, I would’ve never believed you. Ever. It was impossible.
What do you really want? … If anything was possible.
Spend time thinking about what you want. Seriously! We don’t do this enough.
Don’t think about your current results or your current circumstances.
Think about all possibilities and what you’d pick for your life.
Would you…
- Lose 50lbs
- Meet the man of your dreams
- Make a million dollars
- Pay off your house
- Work in your dream job
- Run a marathon
- Start a business
- Only work 3 days per week making 2x as much money
What do you want most? Your deepest desire, if anything was possible?
Why Set An Extraordinary Goal
The crazy thing here isn’t actually the extraordinary goal—it’s why I want you to set it.
And it’s not what you’re thinking.
It’s not because life is better on the other side of the achieving of the impossible thing.
It’s something completely different.
When you set a big goal, you have to expand your thinking, which results in blowing your own mind (among other things, like building really valuable skills).
You will experience life differently. It’ll be an identity crisis in the very best way.
It’s a lot of fun. It’s also scary and awful (in the best way).
It’s oh so worth it.
(If you are unsure how to track your goals, listen to my podcast on Tracking Your Goal Progress.)
Why NOT Set An Extraordinary Goal
A quick note here that you’re not doing this so you think more highly of yourself.
In the achieving of the impossible, you don’t become a better human.
Great news.
You’re already 100% worthy and no goal can change that.
Just know that you’re a human and you’re worthy and however you choose to experience life and spend time is up to you. You’ll have problems, obstacles, and negative emotions here and over there. It’s not better over there. It’s just different. Reaching your goals is truly magical.
Related: Why Do You Skip Dessert
How To Set An Extraordinary Goal
Now lets get to the nitty gritty of how to do this.
To set an extraordinary goal, do the following…
- Choose ONE goal you want to accomplish that is currently impossible for you. It can be anything that you truly desire. Set big dreams. For me, it’s making seven figures in my business in one calendar year. Choose one thing that would mean the most to you.
- Practice believing in it hard. You’re going to believe in something that’s impossible right now. So you have to practice believing this is true for you. Sounds simple, but trust me, my friend, it’s not exactly easy. When you think the impossible goal that you want to consider, who do you need to become in order for that to be possible? What would you need to be thinking, feeling, and doing in order for that to be a possibility for you? Think about what you used to think was impossible that now is something you do. I used to think it was impossible to make money online. Then, I thought it was impossible to make six figures and quit my job. Now, I think it’s impossible to make a million dollars as a life and business coach. Since I already know it’s impossible it’s okay with me to go for it anyway. I don’t care if I miss the mark this year. I can keep trying. My work now is me thinking about who I need to be—what I need to think and feel—to get that result. The way I get the result is by becoming the person who makes seven figures first (not the other way around). You have to feel the results.
- Take one small action forward at a time. Every action (even if it’s a failure) is an action forward. You’re putting yourself out there and moving. If it’s the “wrong” action and it doesn’t get you the results you want, it’s still action well spent because you will see the results and know to try something else. You don’t need to know the how. If you knew how you’d have the results. You just need to do small, daily actions that move you forward.
- Fail forward on purpose. Learn from your mistakes. You have to be willing to fail every single day. It means doing the webinar, going on consults, asking someone out, and failing miserably at all of it. The way you succeed and achieve the impossible is by trying and failing over and over. Like good old Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
- Don’t rush your results. It’s important you build momentum and move forward, slow and steady. There’s no rush. If you rush and force the how you’ll be in scarcity.
- Track and evaluate your progress. You have to know what’s working and what’s not. For example, setting a goal to lose 50lbs and not losing any weight vs losing 10lbs. Notice when there’s progress and when there’s not EVEN when you aren’t getting results, you must still believe. The follow up is to try new and different actions. Most people quit and stop believing instead of just trying something else. After you evaluate, you must change action and move forward.
- Coach yourself. You have to notice your current thoughts and feelings and completely change them. You’re becoming someone new in the pursuit of an impossible goal. It means giving up your current identity. Prepare for a lot of negative emotions. This is where coaching comes into play. Coach yourself and get coached so you can really work through all of it instead of resisting, avoiding, or reacting to the changes. To best achieve your goals, I recommend getting a life coach.
9 Life Changing Bonus Tips
Setting an extraordinary goal sounds fun, right?
It’s different than the traditional, more practical SMART goal setting.
But it really works. It’s just a lot harder. Most people won’t do it.
If you want to be extraordinary and achieve the impossible, here are 9 life changing bonus tips that will help you do it…
- Don’t look for proof in order to believe in the possibility of the goal. You don’t need the results to believe. You need to believe to get the results.
- Think big—act small. Meet yourself where you are for the next step. Don’t try to lose 10lbs today. Try to stay on your meal plan today. Don’t try to create a course in one week. Try to plan your week out and produce one module every day.
- Commit to massive action, massive thinking, and massive results. Uplevel your thinking. Take actions until you get results. Align with your future self.
- Visualize and write Future Self Letters. Every morning, get into state (thoughts and feelings) by visualizing your future self having achieved the thing you want to achieve. Write letters from your future self to your current self with the results you have.
- Use a Being List. Use a Being List to make sure you’re taking action from the future and making decisions from the place of already having the results.
- Create space for thinking time. This means slowing down and thinking about what it’s like to have the results.
- Intentionally choose your Goal Fuel. Choose how you feel about your goal intentionally. Get really good at feeling that way. You must be completely obsessed, focused, and committed. You must be in love with the result.
The Results Of Doing This Work
The best part of this isn’t the achieving of it. (Although I’ll admit, that part is really fun).
The best part is who you become on the journey of accomplishing your goal.
I have so much more confidence in who I am as a person from having set and achieved my own extraordinary goals.
I’m more secure, more willing to fail, and I love myself more because I know I can do hard things and experience any negative emotion that comes up in the pursuit of changing my identity and achieving the impossible.
If you’re interesting in setting extraordinary goals, check out Grow You, my virtual life coaching program.
A Final Note!
My wish for you this year is to set one ginormous, extraordinary goal.
Have the courage to dream big, fail forward, and blow your own mind.
Up Next – watch the YouTube video…
It’s funny, I never made seven figures in my career in one year but since I retired slightly early four years ago I’ve been offered over seven figures to go back to the corporate world. I turned it down, I really have no use for that money and lots of better uses for my time, I wonder if I can still count it? I like the idea of big goals, since I’m a chemical engineer, mired in the literal meaning of terms, I can’t call them impossible goals. I had a goal to run one marathon and have run 15 of them, most in my fifties. Wanted to raise functional adult kids, have all three of them out in the world now supporting themselves and chasing their own dreams. Had a goal to run the company I first interned at by the time I was 40, missed that by only one year. Spent ten years bushwhacking to every known waterfall in our state with my wife, finished that last year! Currently fishing around for the next big thing. At this point, goals seem to have less urgency, maybe because we’ve gotten so many of them crossed off? Great post Natalie!
This is so scary! And so great! I want to set an impossible goal but I am afraid of letting myself down when I dont get there. How do I keep the mindset? How do I push past my limits? And trust that I am on the right path? I am working on my goals for the next year right now. Maybe this impossible goal should be my 5 year plan! Thank you for the inspiration!
You can do it! The uncomfortable and scared feeling is where you will grow the most once you push past it! The podcast on this topic may help you as well: https://nataliebacon.com/impossible-goals-podcast/
Xx.
Thank you so much! I listened to the podcast as well and I am putting it into action. The big takeaway I got was that I have to change how I think and become the person who already has the goal…that is taking some mental work, but I like it!
It is all in the mindset and takes practice. You got this!
Pingback: Plutus Awards Weekly Showcase: January 10, 2020 - The Plutus Foundation