Well, everyone sets goal, you know that without goals, it is impossible for us to achieve what we want, simply because success rarely happens by luck. Success happens purely from designing, I have already shown you so many real-life examples, over and over again, how having a clear goal can bring you what you want. Read this, The Power of Designing Your Destiny.
How Stretch Goals Force You to Think Out of The Box
If you want to set a goal today, you MUST set a stretch goal. So what is stretch goal exactly? Stretch goals are extremely powerful as they literally stretch your abilities and skills way beyond your current level. They force you to think out of the box and to develop ground breaking, revolutionary strategies.
Well, let me give you a clear example here. Imagine if there was a high jumper who had to get over a high jump bar. If he was into setting just normal, incremental goals, he would set the bar slightly higher than what he cleared the last time. If he cleared the bar at 5 feet the last time, he would set an incremental goal of 5.5 feet. With enough training and effort, he would eventually achieve this goal easily.
Now, what will happen if he was to set crazy stretch goal? Let’s say if he set a goal to clear the bar at 50 feet? Is it possible for him to achieve it?
Most people will think, “No way, it is impossible to jump that high”. Yes, you are right, it is impossible to jump so high. However, you must remember this, did I say that he had to jump over the bar from the ground? No! Jumping is just an assumption that we all make, since it is what he has always been doing! Success Is About Doing Things Differently.
So you see, if you keep on thinking the same old way, it will be impossible. But, if you were to think it from a different angle, everything is possible. Continue back to the story, what if he could use any strategy known to man to get across the bar? Would it be possible now? Of course! If you think creatively, you could come up with thousands of new ideas how to jump over that 50 feet bar. For instance, you could use a trampoline, pole vault, a rope, even helicopter.
You see, as long as we keep setting targets that are incremental, we will always have the tendency of doing what we used to do. We will always keep to the same paradigm of jumping from the ground. What most people do by setting incremental goals is that they will keep on doing the same thing over and over again, with the same strategy, try harder and harder.
Your Minds Will Think Creatively to Come Out with Strategies to Achieve It
If you set stretch goal, your brains know immediately that it is impossible for you to achieve it if you are using the same old strategy. What your brains will do then is to be forced to think out of the box, come up with a strategy that you never used before. As a result, you will tap so much more of your own potential. Did you know that you already have all the resources you need? You already have The Powerful Resource In You!
Take achieving financial freedom as example, if you are going to set incremental goal like to earn an extra $100 each month, your mind will tell you that you just have to do the same thing, but harder. However, when you set crazy stretch goal like to earn an extra $5,000 per month, your minds will tell you that it is impossible to achieve this by using the same old strategy. What you will do then is to come up with new strategies to achieve it.
Thirty years ago, if you told someone that almost everybody today will be walking around with a telephone the size of a credit card and it can also play music, take pictures, communicate with computers and send pictures, they would think you were crazy.
Is Your Goal Unrealistic?
Why is it now a reality? All it took was for someone to think the ‘impossible’ and then make it real. Everything you see around you first started as an idea in someone’s head. Everything is created twice, first in the mind, and then manifested in physical reality.
Were the Wright brothers being very realistic when they set out to build a flying machine? Not only were they not scientists or engineers, but it was believed by the scientific community that it was physically impossible for machines that were heavier than air to fly. Again, by setting stretch and crazy goals, it force them into thinking out of the box, and they finally invented the airplane.
Another thing is this, by setting stretch goals, it is going to motivate you even more. Why did I say so? Just think about it, is earning $1,000 a month is going to make you jump out of bed early in the morning when your alarm rings? Or maybe earning $100,000 a month will do the job better? Which one will make you jump out from your warm bed?
On the other hand, the thought of believing and commitment to earn $100,000 a month will certainly drive you to take a lot more action, right? I mean, think about it, if you were to set goals, then set stretch goals that are crazy, but make sure that they are achievable and have deadline. If you don’t know how to set goals, read this post, The #2 Ingredient For Success.
