From Preston Ely, Mindset Advisor...
We all want success.
And however you define the word, you've at least got some idea of what it means to you and I know you’re interested in somehow making it your reality.
We all also know that the path to success is not random. It’s not erratic, it’s specific. It’s chosen. It’s planned. You have to know exactly what you want, and then be able to plan a route to get yourself from here to there. And that’s what you probably call “goal setting”.
I call it delusions of grandeur. At least for most people. Probably for you too.
Well, maybe not. I see you’re here right now. That’s a good sign. Keep reading and we’ll see.
Truth: Most People Will Never Achieve Their Goals
Look, I’m not trying to insult you. But the simple fact is, most people have no freakin' idea how to set worthwhile goals and then actually achieve them. And even if you know how to do it, most people don’t actually even like setting goals, and aren't motivated by them.
Just look around you. It’s painfully obvious.
The bad news is: there’s not one secret formula.
The good news is: there’s not one secret formula.
Those who've done it… who do it… Those who seem to have a ridiculous knack for incredible goal-achieving awesomeness – their success leaves you clues. Your job is to get out your handy dandy notebook and follow them.
I Have a Clue for You
First you should know that I've achieved a lot of my goals. No, I've crushed them. And I've done so very quickly.
Seriously, you have no idea. I've earned, built and now thoroughly enjoy a lifestyle that most people only dream of.
And all by 36.
I’m not telling you this to brag – you just need to know that I’m coming from a place of real world experience in this. Otherwise why even listen?
Today I seem to have a knack for visualizing big goals, then just making them happen. But it wasn't always this way. Over the years I've fought fiercely to crack the achieving goals thing – mostly fighting with myself. Finally, eventually, I prevailed – thanks in no small part to what I've learned from the giants who I've chosen as mentors.
One of my giants is a guy named Eban Pagan. And today I want to share with you an epic, goal-crushing lesson I learned from him. If you pay attention and apply this, your success in achieving whatever goals you set for yourself is virtually inevitable.
Let’s get started.
Defining Inevitable
If you toss a brick straight up in the air, and you don’t get out of the way, you've got a personal meet and greet with the ER scheduled. That’s inevitable. There’s no way you can miss your target (or your target can miss you).
The act of pitching that brick straight up in the air while standing in its natural path of descent – incredibly stupid, kids, don’t try this at home – it sets up a natural sequence of events:
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Trip to the ER
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Snide behind-your-back comments questioning your IQ
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Possible brain surgery (or physician-ordered counseling sessions)
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Massive bills
How Inevitability Applies to Your Life
There’s a tangible way this applies to your life (other than the obvious head-and-brick-analogy). It’s a little something my boy Eben dubbed Inevitability Thinking.
Here’s how he puts it…
“Inevitability Thinking is thinking and acting as if what you are doing is a forgone conclusion because you set up the conditions for it to happen.”
Said another way, Inevitability Thinking is when you set a goal, then ensure you’ll achieve it by somehow structuring your environment so that the outcome of your goal is towards almost impossible for you to mess up.
As in, thanks to the conditions you created heaving that brick up, then stupidly standing there, your outcome is certain.
Sounds great. But what’s it look like in real life?
So glad you asked.
One Example: Go Public
One way to do this is to set yourself up for public humiliation and ridicule.
First set a big goal.
Then tell everyone you know about your new commitment. Tell everyone in the whole world that you care about. I mean seriously put your tail on the line, and make it so that if you don’t do that thing, whatever it is, you’re losing major face.
For most people, simply setting a goal is a very low-end motivator on an emotional level. But when you make promises to others that you’re going to do something, no matter what it is, and you've got to deliver on it just to save face – that takes things to a whole new plain, doesn't it? Otherwise, you’re going to look like a jerk who can’t keep their word. And nobody wants to look like a loser.
Thus making success …inevitable.
Let Me Make This Super Personal…
I remember a few years ago, I’d just broken this girl's heart. I knew I’d wronged her, and I was feeling super bad about it. Like so, so bad, because I've done it so many times.
Side Note – I’m happily married now to the most amazing, Godly woman I've ever known. But in years past I was a total heart breaker. I’m not proud of it. I've never pretended to be an unflawed person. Trust me, my life’s run amuck with the flaws.
But I remember at that moment, I came to a defining moment in my life and I said, “You know what? That's it. Never again. I will never, ever, ever hurt somebody like this ever, ever again.”
Big words, right? At that moment I definitely set a goal and meant it. But then to make it super real and put myself on the line, I took it to the next level by going public. I immediately sent an email out to all my close friends – maybe 25 people – and said, “Listen guys, I just want to let you guys know about something that just happened…and I just want to publicly state before all of you that I will never, ever do this again.”
And I never did. My neck was out there. I now had others praying for me, supporting me, rallying around me, and willing to kick my tail and shame me if I ever did the same thing again.
I never did.
“If you set up the conditions so that the thing you want to have happen is inevitable, it shifts your thinking. Creating conditions so that something will happen itself is very different from trying to make the thing happen.”
Another Example: Accountability
Let’s say you want to lose some weight. You know you eat too much and don’t exercise enough, but saying, “I really need to change” and actually doing it are two very different things, aren't they?
So you start with will power. You start pushing back from the table a little faster every day – you sign up for a gym membership. Then you hit a wall and things start getting hard. Or boring. Or both. Once again, will power alone just isn't enough, is it?
You know you’re not going to feel like going to the gym. And there's a fat chance you may just pull the covers up over your head, sleep in, and eat a whole box of Cocoa Puffs when you wake up. (Note to self: Don’t do this, Preston… it doesn't work.)
An example of inevitability thinking would be to call a friend who could work out with you, right? Ask them to pick you up at 7 AM tomorrow so you can go together. Bam! Now you’re stuck. That’s right, stuck, but in a good way.
You've kind of locked yourself in there, trapping yourself into hitting the bricks at 7 AM for some exercise. It's inescapable at that point because if you aren't on your front doorstep when your friend shows up, I guarantee you won’t be allowed to keep sleeping. Cause he’s going to lean on your doorbell (or toss aforementioned brick through your bedroom window like the world’s heaviest, most effective alarm clock).
Either way, you’re getting up. It’s… inevitable. Hopefully because breaking that commitment with your friend would be more painful than having to do the workout itself.
Another Example: Pay Up
You can do something like this at mealtime, but instead tell everyone you know that you’re on a massive weight loss crusade and you need their help. Offer up a painful little reward – like fifty bucks if they catch you eating too much, or gorging on Ho-Ho’s. Or better yet, fifty bucks donated to the campaign of the politician you most despise.
Bam! Think that’ll motivate you more than simple will power?
The key here is, your success becomes inevitable because you've
1) put some pain in place and
2) told others about it, who’re able and willing to hold your feet to the fire if it comes to it.
If you do it right, you really amp up your chances of success with whatever you set up to be inevitable, simply because your alternative would be more painful than actually doing the thing you’re trying to do.
The whole point of inevitability thinking is to set up these pain points for yourself, and use them to your benefit.
Ultimate Inevitability Thinking
I used to have this boss.
Just saying that word just almost fused my mouth.
But it’s true, I used to have this boss while I was in sales back in my early 20s. And he would say, "You know what, I want you to go out and do one of two things. 1) Buy a BMW or 2) have a baby."
And you know what? What he was really doing was trying to push us to create circumstances in our lives that were so motivating, that it would literally force you to make more money. Either because we had to pay off that car or had to put food on the table for your child.
And isn't that true? I've noticed time and time again that when guys do one of two things, when they A) get married or B) have a baby, they start making insane amounts of money. Think about that.
And what is that? That's like the ultimate inevitability thinking. By having that baby, you're making it inevitable that you're going to start making more money, because if you don't your baby is going to die. And obviously, that's a pain point.
So, what I'm trying to help you do is to arrange these pain points on purpose and not just let them come to you on accident. Use these as leverage points.
The Inevitability Thinking Process
The full process to making your success inevitable can be fairly systematic. Start by answering these 5 questions:
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Where do you want to be in _____ amount of time?
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What are the required steps to get you there?
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What is the one highest leverage thing you could start doing immediately to move you forward?
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What conditions will you need to set up so that doing that thing is inevitable?
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What can you do to get that condition in place as soon as possible? How can you make the outcome for you inevitable?
Don't be afraid to be radical with this. I am. All the time. It's like the regular goal setting process, on steroids.
-P
Now it’s time to take your own trip on Preston’s inevitability paradigm. Setting up the conditions so that the thing you want becomes inevitable - it shifts your thinking. Creating conditions so that something will happen itself is very different from trying to make the thing happen.
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Define what you want to do (scope out 25 properties this week, write 5 offers this weekend, start back on the treadmill, whatever).
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Now what conditions do you need to create? Set up the conditions that make your success inevitable (stick your neck on the line, really put it out there, give yourself no way out)
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Get fully vested in your success by having yourself held accountable. (This is huge. Accountability forces action.)
Bam! Now go make it happen.