Page 88 - Hard Goals

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you plan to funnel it all into a college fund for your kids and
you won’t even really feel the impact of it for another 15 years.
And fi nally, how does it make you feel about yourself to have
accomplished this HARD Goal?
• Setting: Where is this picture taking place? Just like in a

great novel, the setting of your goal will influence its outcome.
I’m talking about more than just a room or a place. Season,
time, objects, weather, and so much more can be part of the
setting for your goal. A lot of successful diet goals have been
built around the looming vision of bathing suit season. Where
does your goal take place, what does it look like and smell like?
Does it feel relaxed, celebratory, or even a little bit scary or sad?
Sometimes achieving our goals means giving up things from our
past that, while we accept, we never quite overcome. As a for-
mer smoker, I admit, I’ll always miss just a little bit the rush of
sucking nicotine into my body. And even though my thoughts,
feelings, and moods are a lot happier without this toxin, there
are moments when I grieve its loss. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just
reality.
• Background: What’s going on in the background? Par-
enthetically, sometimes in pictures like this, other unconscious
goals start to creep into your background, making them feel
pretty important, thus increasing your eagerness to attain them.
“Sure, I want to double sales; but why do I need a cheering audi-
ence when I announce our sales fi gures? Oh, right, because one
of my unspoken goals is my deep-seated desire to be adored.”
• Lighting: Describe the lighting. If you’ve ever had the
winter blues, you know how important lighting can be in deter-
mining your mood and energy level. That’s not to say all your
goals have to take place in well-lit rooms or the sun in order to
be effective. What you envision may only be possible at night