Instead of just having goals to strive towards in the new year, we should all have anti-goals. It may seem counterintuitive, but what if we could get to where we wanted by avoiding and preparing for failure? Here are some tips to avoid and prepare for failure.
What are anti-goals?
Anti-Goals create a balance by showing us a tangible set of values or actions that we don’t want to be
- Examples: don’t be buried in debt, don’t spend more than you can afford, and don’t work until midnight
The Anti-Goal Persona
Take each element of your Anti-Goals and shape it into a living, breathing persona
- Have character and personality, personality, what they want, and how they approach every day
- Motivate yourself to be the person you want to avoid becoming
An Important Caveat
Anti-Goals are important, and once you’ve selected them they can be a great motivator.
- However, there are pitfalls to avoid:
- They shouldn’t remain stagnant
- Don’t let your anti-goals to make you complacently
Why Anti-Goals?
Stem from the concept of inversion or ‘premeditatio malorum’ which was proposed and used by several stoic philosophers including Seneca, Foucault and Socrates
- Used to envision worst-case scenarios in order to resolve yourself against failure
- Provides a benchmark of failure to avoid and allows us to anticipate ourselves at our worst
Maintaining your Anti-Goals
When we strive towards what we want, it is easy to tunnel-vision on our goals and growth, unconsciously taking up habits or traits we wish to avoid in the name of progress.
- Therefore, we have to make sure that these Anti-Growth Persona’s develop with us and help inform our knowledge of where we are and how we grow
- Revisit our Anti-Goal Persona every month and see how they have grown or changed, reflecting any changes in priorities we may have had as well
Developing Anti-Goals
Break it down into several key areas: values, habit, physical, emotional, relationships, values, Habit, Physical, Emotional, Relationships
- It is often easier to ask “what do we want to avoid” than to consider “what we want”
- Values: What standards or behaviors do you not want to embody
- Habit: What actions do you want to consciously avoid
- Physical: What physical health issues should you avoid?
- Emotional: What emotional states of mind should you strive to avoid?
