How to Get What You Want

Have you ever gotten in your car to go for a drive, but you didn’t know where you wanted to go? Perhaps you decided that you didn’t want to go to a certain town or store, but you did want to drive...

So you circled town aimlessly until you either ran out of gas or got tired and returned home. Of course, you haven’t!  We’ve all gone on a relaxing drive in the fall to see the yellows and reds of the fall foliage, but we knew what we wanted to see and where to go to see it. Every year millions of people set off on a resolution journey to not have the poor health they had the year before, but they have no idea what they actually want to achieve. This is one of the main reasons that people fail to change. 

The first step in setting a goal is knowing what you want.  This step is represented in the SMART goal tool as the Specific step.  Making a decision about what you want when it comes to your health and wellness it is an easy decision using the following acronym, PECSAW. 

Positive

“Coach Will, I just don’t want to be fat anymore!”.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard this statement, well…I’d finally be retired on the beach in Florida.  One reason why people have such a hard time achieving their goals is because they don’t actually know what they want.  State what you want in the positive – what you do want versus what you don’t want. Stating the desired outcome in the positive allows our mind to focus on what we want, and not waste energy focusing on what we don’t want.

• What do you want? 

• What do you wish to achieve?

Evidence

Decide what’s the evidence which will indicate that you have successfully achieved your goal.  Make sure the evidence is objective, something that you or someone else could recognize.

• How will you recognize when you have this?

• What will you see and hear when you know you have achieved this?

Context

In realty they say it’s all about location, location, location...which is true.  In goal setting and getting what you want it's all about context, context, context…which is also true.  Sometimes behaviors you want are ideal in some areas of your life but not in others. Be clear on when and where you wish to apply this goal.

• When and where do you want this?

• When and where do you not want this?

Self-Achievable

It is critically important that you choose a goal or outcome that is in your realm of control. Because we can’t change other people’s behavior, we can’t expect an outcome that requires others to change in order for us to be successful.

• What resources do you need to be able to achieve this?

• What do you need to achieve this goal?

• Is this something which you, yourself, can achieve?

• Is this goal dependent on other people changing their behavior?

Advantages & Disadvantages

“Change creates change.” Any change we make in our lives will have advantages and disadvantages.  This step requires us to weigh up the pros and cons of our goal before committing time and energy to it.

• What are the advantages of making this change?

• What are the disadvantages of making this change?

• As a result of achieving your goal, what will you gain and what will you lose?

Worthwhile

Knowing your why with your goal will help you to feel your motivation to your goal-pursuing actions and keeps you on track. This step enables you to recognize how your personal values will be affected by your goal.

• What’s important to you about getting this outcome?

• What will this outcome help you avoid feeling?

• What is the benefit of this outcome?

Putting It All Together

Now that you’ve worked through our PECSAW tool to help focus you on what you want to achieve with your health and wellness we want to include our senses in this process to create a mental image of our desired outcome. 

We can do this by simply allowing ourselves to be fully absorbed in the experience, imaginative, and playful. Now, as you focus on your desired health outcome, begin to notice how you might move your body as a result of this positive change.  How does your body feel?  Do you have more energy? What do you hear around you as a result of this positive health change? 

Continue to focus more and more on your desired health outcome and allow all of your senses to explore this new positive health state you’ve obtained.  How do things look as a result of accomplishing this new health state?  The more you connect with this image the more you feel motivated, inspired, and connected to your desired health outcome. 

You feel unstoppable, and completely confident in your desired health outcome because you know what you want and you are putting together a game plan of how you will get it.  

In the final few moments, see yourself stepping into this new desired health outcome and try it on for size.  Notice how it fits just right, as if it was a part of you. 

Finally, notice how you now embody your desired health outcome, it is you, and you are now focused, motivated, and inspired to get the health outcome you’ve always desired.

In gratitude,

William Malcolm

IntuitiveWellnessNow