How to Begin

1. Set a Worthy Goal: Thrilling, Important, and Daunting

A Worthy Goal entwines ambition for yourself and for the world.

Defining a Worthy Goal. A Worthy Goal must be Thrilling, Important, and Daunting. Thrilling means it excites you and speaks to your values. Important connects to giving more to the world than you take, making a difference beyond self-gratification. Daunting pushes you to the edge of your comfort zone, creating a flutter in your heart.

Finding Your Focus. Explore three dimensions to find your Worthy Goal:

• Sphere: Work & Not Work
• Scale: Intimate to Broad
• Class: Projects, People & Patterns

Testing Your Ambition. Apply three tests to refine your goal:

1. Spouse-ish Test: Get feedback from someone who knows you well
2. FOSO (For the Sake Of) Test: Connect your goal to a bigger purpose
3. Goldilocks Zone Test: Ensure it's not too small or too big

2. Commit to Your Goal by Recognizing False Starts and Mosquitoes

Resistance is futile celebrated.

Acknowledging False Starts. Recognize past attempts at similar goals that didn't succeed. This isn't about beating yourself up, but understanding patterns and learning from experience. False Starts are evidence that you're on a path that matters.

Identifying Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are current actions and inactions contrary to your Worthy Goal. They include:

• Things you're doing that undermine your goal
• Things you're not doing that would support your goal

Naming these Mosquitoes helps you see how you're actively colluding against your own ambitions. This awareness is crucial for making progress.

3. Weigh the Status Quo: Prizes vs. Punishments

Until you fully understand this commitment, promises that run deep and are often unspoken and unrecognized, it's hard to shift that allegiance.

Prizes of the Status Quo. Identify what you gain by not pursuing your Worthy Goal:

• Comfort, status, authority, privilege
• Familiarity and control
• Protection of vulnerabilities and insecurities

Punishments of Inaction. Consider the costs of not pursuing your Worthy Goal:

• For yourself: Missed opportunities for growth and fulfillment
• For others directly impacted: Lost benefits or positive change
• For the broader world: Unrealized potential contributions

Weigh these Prizes and Punishments to clarify your commitment. If Punishments outweigh Prizes, you're ready to move forward.

4. Take Small Steps: History, Experiment, and Practice

Small steps lead to good feelings lead to small steps: the virtuous circle strengthens and rises.

History. Look to your past for evidence of your capability and to calibrate risks:

• Find stories where a version of your best self has appeared
• Identify past experiences that help you understand real risks

Experiment. Design small, contained tests to gather data:

• Keep it simple and low-risk
• Focus on learning, not success or failure

Practice. Commit to ongoing small steps:

• String together a series of experiments
• Stay conscious and open to learning
• Collect feedback and adjust as you go

These approaches help you make progress while managing risk and building confidence.

5. Remember Your Best Self with "This/Not That"

We're not looking to contrast the highs and lows of Triumph and Disaster. We're looking for something more subtle: What manifests when you're On Your Game and when you're Slightly Off?

Creating Your This/Not That List. Develop pairs of words or phrases that describe:

• This: You at your best, in peak moments
• Not That: You when slightly off your game (15% off)

Examples:

• Step Forward not Step Back
• Provocative not Sycophantic
• Playful not Serious

This tool helps you reconnect with your Best Self during moments of doubt or challenge. It serves as a powerful reminder of your capabilities and optimal state.

6. Don't Travel Alone: Build Your Support Band

No one travels alone. Now's the time for you to choose your travel companions.

Identify Who to Leave Behind. Consider people who:

• Want you to stay unchanged
• Sow seeds of doubt
• Trigger the worst in you

Choose Your Companions. Select people who embody these archetypes:

1. Warrior: Has your back, helps channel frustration
2. Healer/Lover: Brings gentleness and encouragement
3. Teacher/Magician: Offers insight and creates space for reflection
4. Visionary/Ruler: Stretches your ambition and demands better of you
5. Trickster: Challenges and provokes you

These companions provide diverse support and perspectives as you pursue your Worthy Goal.

7. Unlock Your Greatness by Wrestling with the Angel

When we take on Worthy Goals, we wrestle with the angel and it changes us. We unlock our greatness by working on the hard things.

Embracing the Challenge. Pursuing a Worthy Goal is like wrestling with an angel – you never truly "win," but the engagement itself transforms you. It's about doing work that matters enough to call forth your best self.

Continuous Growth. The journey towards your Worthy Goal is ongoing:

• You move from You+ (incremental growth) to You 2.0 (transformative leaps)
• Each challenge helps you unlock new aspects of your greatness
• The process of striving itself is valuable, regardless of the outcome

By taking on Worthy Goals, you commit to a path of continuous growth and self-discovery, ultimately contributing more to the world than you take.

Last updated: August 8, 2024