Goal Setting Activity

Time to Find your Life Purpose

In this goal setting activity, we are finally going to get your goal defined and written down.

It will take between 30-60 minutes to do it properly, I’d wager, so make yourself comfortable and get rid of any distractions – phone, wife, buddies, TV, etc... In an hour from now, you’ll have your dream for life written down in a concise statement – and be ready to start reaching it – so it’s worth your time to pull a bit of a disappearing act now.

Before you complete this goal setting activity, you’ll need a pen and paper to hand. You’ll also need to have your key values in front of you – which you defined earlier when you took part in Personal Values Development. If you haven’t already done this exercise, please do it now. As per Larry David, “I have a system” – and this system needs you to have your key values first. It will be much more effective if you do!

If you already have your key values, you know what drives you in life – and you know your best traits. You also have an idea of what you want to be remembered for.


You’re now ready to move on to defining the dream. For this you need an open mind - and a readiness to ignore the annoying saboteur voice in your head that says “you couldn’t possibly do that...” – Ignore him – he talks nonsense!

Defining the Dream

Everyone has a dream. Everyone! Most of us are too scared to tell others about it – or even to entertain the idea seriously ourselves.

This doesn’t mean your dream is wrong – far from it. Ignoring your deepest desires to pursue a life of unassuming mediocrity and 50 hour work weeks seems to be what we are conditioned socially for – but sod that, let’s give a middle finger to convention - and find out what you want to do with your life more than anything in the whole world.

Note - delving deep into your dream now might make you a little uncomfortable – but it’s an integral part of your goal setting activity, and it will soon be an integral part of your life... so, take a deep breath, and agree with yourself that you’ll answer the following questions as truthfully as you can. If you don’t, then you’re only cheating yourself – which is a bit of a poor long-term life strategy to follow...

It’s fun to do this goal setting activity – so just remember the words of the marvellous Notorious BIG – “think big, you get big” – and don’t sell yourself short with your goals. Don’t even stop to think if they are “unreasonable” or not – as you’ll soon learn plenty of techniques to make the unreasonable, reasonable!

Just answer the following questions as honestly as you can... Spend a good few minutes on each and jot down everything that comes to mind.

Goal Setting Activity – Part 1

Answer as truthfully and in depth as possible

1) What do you love doing so much that you would do it for free?

2) What are you truly passionate about? What do you love doing?

3) What are you best at? What can you do better than anyone you know?

4) If you were a multi-millionaire, what would you do with your free time?

5) What did you want to do when you was a kid?

Pause for a couple of minutes before going on. Odds are, you’re experiencing some pretty strong feelings at the moment... This is good.... Dig up the dream...!

When you feel ready, move on to these next questions – and remember, be as honest with yourself as you can. Write everything down – no matter how “crazy” it may sound to you – get it down now.

Goal Setting Activity – Part 2

1) What would you do if you were absolutely guaranteed success?

2) How much cash do you want to earn in your lifetime?

3) What skills would you love to master?

4) What do you want to give back to the world?

Got your answers? Good – if you’ve answered them honestly, you’ll be left with some pretty exciting – and frankly terrifying – answers.

A Brief Interlude...

It’s worth pointing out now that everything on your list is achievable... everything. Not necessarily if you’ve jotted down “I want to master the skill of flying unaided” as your key goal, of course, but everything else on there... you can achieve... if you decide to.

That’s a little scary, no? It’s scary – but it’s true nonetheless.

The thing is, when you know what you want truthfully, and you are more passionate about getting it than you have ever been in your life, you will get it.... IF ... you don’t give up.

Society, parents, governments and even friends will tell you otherwise... but they are wrong. You can achieve anything if you simply decide to accept nothing other than success. It’s been proven time and time again by single-minded people who refuse to give up – people as diverse as Bill Gates, Jay Z, Michael Jordan, Mr Obama, that dude on all the crazy drugs from the Chilli Peppers – it’s been proven that if you simply refuse to stop at anything short of achieving your dreams, you will reach them.

I’m so fundamentally sure of this that I can’t help but laugh at a time when I thought big dreams were only for “celebrities”... it’s madness. Dreams are for everyone – and especially you. Why? Because you’re taking the time out to research how to achieve your goals – and that puts you ahead in the pecking order to get them, my friend. Every little bit of effort you put in now will work in your favour – and every article you read on this site or elsewhere will give you a little bit of ammunition to add to your arsenal.

All you have to do is decide that you will achieve your goals, no matter what – and once you’ve done that, problems and challenges merely become a personal test to prove you will take what you desire.

When you know what you’re aiming for, problems don’t cause you nearly as much grief - they lose their sting. Most days, I laugh at problems... I know they are here to test me, and as such I treat them as opportunities to grow. You won’t get this mindset overnight – but it doesn’t take years either. Just watch how quick problems fall away when you expose them to the might of your dreams...!!

Anyway, I digress ;-)

What you need to do now is take all of your answers from above, ponder them for a moment and then answer the final goal setting activity question with a concise statement... Please remember to speak from the heart, the gut or wherever you find the “real you”...

Goal Setting Activity – Part 3

Write a Concise Answer Now
*Frame in the Positive*

If I could do, be or achieve anything – what would it be?


* * * * *

As before, no selling yourself short here... be honest with yourself. Write down EXACTLY what you desire – it’s just for you – so reach for the proverbial stars.

When you’ve got an answer, read through all of the questions above again. Check your answer against every question – you’ll know whether you missed anything out or not.

If you’re stuck, here’s my dream to nudge you in the right direction:

Be an amazingly successful writer and entrepreneur who helps people to change the way they see the world and achieve their dreams. Generate wealth by providing value to as many people as possible doing something I love – and help to change the world by truly understanding how people make themselves feel superb on demand.

Note that there are three main aspects to my goal – (1) business – writer and entrepreneur who generates wealth; (2) personal – doing something I love and understanding the brain; (3) altruistic – provide value to people, change the world! It’s likely that your goal will have similar aspects to it.


Now, write down your goal from this goal setting activity and stick it up somewhere where you can’t escape it!


I have mine on my bedroom wall – but if you’re a little bit shy, try pinning it inside your wardrobe or a cupboard where you will inadvertently see it several times a day. All that matters is you will not forget about this little gem of a mission statement!

Seeing this written down will fill you with excitement and hope – and will firmly communicate the dream to your subconscious. This is key – we need this goal to go underground to your unconscious – who will help you achieve it a lot easier than by conscious effort alone!

Goal Setting Activity Complete! Next Steps...

You have now completed the most emotionally draining part of goal setting – congratulations. This is one of the most important exercises you are ever likely to take part in.

What you will do next is set timelines for your goal – and then understand what resources you will need to make your dream a reality.

These are the more practical steps of goal setting – and will leave you with a personal development plan of action. There’s no rush though – take some time to enjoy the results of this goal setting activity first – you bloody deserve it!

If you’re really eager, you could also start visualising your goal being achieved – an absolutely critical practice you will engage in to fast-track your results.


As always, thanks... well done... and good luck!





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Go from Goal Setting Activity to Financial Goal Setting

Go from Goal Setting Activity to Personal Values Development

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Why Should You Visualise Your Goals?



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