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Lions & Tigers when born, do not specifically ask for meat. Do they? In fact, In Thailand, there is a place called Tiger temple. All the tigers here, are vegetarians. Strange, isn’t it? While even the grade1 school books have categorized tigers as carnivorous, meat-eating animals, doesn’t it sound unusual for them to eat green grass? Below is a pic of mine, with vegetarian tigers.

But can you guess, how & when did rest of the tigers turn carnivorous? Did anyone force them to eat meat? NO, definitely NOT. They happened to taste the blood, just one single time. And from there on, they permanently turned carnivorous. Post that, they cannot stay away from blood, anymore. No matter how difficult, no matter how scarce is their prey, they still do not eat grass, but hunt for the flesh. They do not need any motivational speech or any gyan, to find their prey.

The same philosophy applies to our minds too. Let me explain.

Our thoughts, dreams & goals mostly run haywire. We get impressed by someone lean & energetic, and suddenly our goal becomes to reduce self-weight by “x” kg. We hear some millionaires, crediting physical fitness for their success, and our immediate goal becomes to do fitness exercises & the gym for 2 hours each day. We see some videos of successful people, reading 3-5 books a week, and our immediate target becomes to finish 10 books per month. We hear about the workaholic behaviour of Elon musk and Steve jobs, and we start working 14-16 hours a day.

Some guruji tells a story of eating green food and we immediately declare a goal to eat loads of tasteless, uninterested vegetables in every meal. Someday we hear stories of businessmen working flexible hours, and the next day we start thinking about quitting our existing job & starting a business. Some other days, we hear stories of a few IT persons quitting their job & doing full-time farming, and our immediate next thought pops up, to set up agriculture production. And surprisingly, most of these instant goals, don’t last more than a week.

Did we ever validate, if these goals suit our personality, if these interests can sustain for a long-time or even converge with our long-term sight? Not at all! I have personally been the prey of many such glimmering goals. And more & more people are falling into this trap, exponentially. This instant-goal mentality is more evident, especially with new year’s resolutions.

Like many others, I fell prey to a weight reduction goal. My target was to reduce from 85Kg to 70Kg. I took it as my new year’s resolution. In Josh, I did gym for 1 hr and walked more than 15,000 steps, each day. But this routine didn’t last beyond 2 weeks.
It is not because I wasn’t interested in slimming, but because of 2 other primary reasons.

1. Firstly, my mind had no clue of what it FEELS as being slim.

2. Secondly, it was a shocker to mind, to suddenly ADAPT to such a heavy new practice.

I was curious to analyse the instant-goal mentality. Post a detailed study & self-introspection, I have crafted a simple process, which has worked wonders. It has helped to segregate true thrillers and fake imaginary goals. It has given a sense of direction & validation, to chase the real goals and dismiss the fake infatuations.

With my new process, I reattempted the weight reduction goal & I am fairly successful. I reduced from 85 to 77 kg in 14 months, and the process is still ON. Though not a rapid change, but a consistent & disciplined one.

My first step was to FEEL the weight loss, even if it meant just a few grams lesser. So, I set my first step, small enough, to achieve a minuscule change. 5,000 steps each day, for the next 21 days. This was quite easy, and my mind didn’t find any excuses to adapt. Within a few weeks, I could feel improved fitness. That was the moment of tasting the blood. From then on, there was no looking back. I gradually increased my daily steps to 10,000 and slowly started adding some diet controls, etc. Now, I enjoy the process. Every morning I don’t need alarms, or any motivational content to get up and go for a morning jog.

I had a similar experience in project management too. A few months back, I was asked to manage a project, that was at -47% margin, and was behind the targeted timelines by 40%. The expectation was to complete the project with a +10% margin and on time. It seemed as difficult to me, as to anyone else. So, instead of trying to motivate the team, to suddenly make leap changes, I set a small first step, to improve a few processes. And then, made small marginal productivity improvements.

When the team started to FEEL the impact of these small positive changes, there was more buy-in. There was a hope, that things could improve. More members came forward with different suggestions and willingness, to change our ways. Essentially, instead of giving a target of +10% margin on day1, I just made them FEEL the impact of small positive improvements. That was a moment of tasting the blood. From there on, our productivity kept improving. We ended up making a margin of +3% & delivered the project, on time. What seemed unachievable, was quite achieved, without much mental drain & pressure.

Based on my experiences, below is an easy 5 step process, to manage & commit to our goals, in a better fashion.

5-Steps to commit & achieve goals, in a consistent way

The very basic mistakes we do, in our goal-chasing process are-

1. Set bigger targets, without even assessing the strong reasons, commitment, priority & alliance to our long-term vision.

2. Secondly, we set high expectations & challenges, from the very first step. Thus, the quantum of big targets, a huge heap of TO-DO things, bogs us down.

Very soon, we seem to lose focus, interest & motivation. Subsequently, the target starts appearing to be a distant thing & unachievable. And we drop it within a week or a month at max.

The below 5 simple steps will help address goals-

1. Step1 – Evaluate WHAT goal you want to achieve

This is associated with a BIG-PICTURE view. Have clarity on what you want to do.
It is quite a simple one, as there will be many thoughts, fantasies, things you would want to do out of interest, or based on peer/societal pressure etc.
Ex – You may want to run 5kms each day, get physically fit, pass a certification, start a new business, switch to a new job, buy a new house, learn a new skill, overcome a longed fear etc.
There is another beautiful article on how to overcome fear. Below is the link to that article.

2. Step2 – Evaluate WHY you want to do that goal

This point is more towards identifying a compelling rationale, for achieving the goal. Think of the strong reasons, why you want to achieve that goal or task.
This is quite critical in the process and needs deep thinking, to associate reasons. It should be a clear motive of the pain point, you want to get rid of OR the additional gain, you will benefit from. Unless the WHY is clear, there are high chances of withering out during the journey.
If you are not convinced about your WHY, then you better drop the goal now & don’t spend any more time on it.
Ex – You may want to run 5kms, to address your high cholesterol levels OR to tone your body. You may want to pass a certification to get qualified for promotion OR to avail the cost benefits of your company. You may want to start a business, to have flexible working hours OR you see a potential market. You may want to buy a new house, to secure your stay OR for rental income OR to avail of tax benefits etc.

3. Step3 – Evaluate HOW & WHEN you want to achieve that goal

This point is more towards identifying the right strategy. Now that WHAT & WHY are clear, think of all the major actions to be undertaken to achieve the goal. Also, map to high-level timelines.
Ex – You may want to buy a house in Bangalore, by paying a 30% down payment, and a 70% loan. And you would want to complete it in the next 6 months. So, effectively you will have to decide on the options in the next 3 months etc.

4. Step4 – Break down the major actions for that goal, into small steps

Break down the major actions of step3 into smaller steps. Keep the first 3 steps, relatively small & easily achievable.
The first step usually takes longer, because there is still some uncertainty about the change, the committed discipline & the ability to achieve the big goal. So, NEVER EVER set a big mile, for the first few steps. You might achieve it on the first day in Josh, but the whole process is likely to fail from the 2nd week onwards.
Thus, you need to fool your mind, with the first few simple steps. Once the first step is attained, the mental barrier, confusion, negativity & self-doubt will get subsided, and you get more alliance from your mind to continue. It sets a unilateral direction and energy to achieve the next step and the next step and the next step.

5. Step5 – Taste the blood

Start execution. Focus on nothing else, but ONLY the FIRST STEP. Accomplishing the first step gives a sense of being on track, and gives a feeling of pride & confidence. It gives a sort of assurance & affinity that the big goal is worth chasing & can be chased.
The crux is to FEEL the early gains, so further ADAPTION becomes effortless. You will start seeing more & more dedication, conviction & commitment, after feeling the success of the first step.

The first few steps will act as a compass to tell if you really enjoy & should continue OR it’s just an infatuation you fell for, and should drop the goal.
Contrary to the example of a tiger tasting blood & turning carnivorous, an elephant doesn’t turn carnivorous at all. Not that a wild elephant might not have tasted blood. Maybe it hasn’t liked it, & thus remained herbivorous.

Pls NOTE – Contrary to what many motivational speakers and bloggers talk about setting realistic & achievable goals, I am actually in favour of dreaming about unrealistic goals. One of the famous Indian industrialists said – “If people don’t laugh at your goals, your goals aren’t big enough.” So, don’t shy away from thinking of big goals. But, at the same time, first test the waters, taste the blood, and experience the first steps, to decide if that big chase is real love OR just an infatuation.

Summary

There is no harm in getting motivated, by hearing others’ success stories. That’s good. But the debacle starts, when we aim to achieve everything at once, and by tomorrow. And that too without assessing their priority & alliance, with our long-term vision.

So, even before making a big jump to hunt a big target, follow the simple process. Define WHAT, WHY, HOW, WHEN and FEEL the experience of the first few accomplishments. If you like them, you will automatically ADAPT faster. And you will need no additional motivation to achieve the big goal.

With the new year 2023 around the corner, use this process, to consistently stick to some of the priority goals & achieve them. Good luck.