Here is a goal setting exercise

“Pound The Rock”.

Actually it’s not a “goal setting” exercise it’s a “goal getting” exercise that works really well, in fact, it works so well that it’s a little scary. It will seem confusing at first but bare with me because it is worth it. It’s called the Pound the Rock journal. The name pound the rock comes from the story of Michelangelo’s “David” and how he describes the beautiful sculpture came to be. According to the story when Michelangelo was asked how he was able to create the sculpture “David” He said David was already there, inside the stone. All he had to do was chip away what was not “David”. He started with a piece of marble and he took away everything that didn’t belong until David appeared. He worked backwards and took away everything that didn’t fit the image he held.

With the pound the rock journal we are asking you to start backwards go into the future and work backwards from your goal. Chip away everything from you life that doesn’t fit the person you would like to become “your statue of David”. What in your life do you have to change, to be the person / have the body/ the health/ you’re after? What do you have to get rid of?

Why this works: Your brain does not know the difference between what is real and what is imagined. Think of the last time you watched a scary movie and even though you, in reality, were in no physical danger your body still reacted and responded (heart rate racing, muscles tensing, temperature rising, adrenaline flowing) as if something were physically happening to you. That’s because your mind responded to the situation as if it were real. With the Pound the rock journal we are asking you to go into the future, to the imaginary version of yourself, and work backwards creating a detailed story of how you got there.

Make it up, lie, lie, lie, makeup a story about the changes you went through, the compliments you started getting, breakthroughs you experienced. Write everything as if you were re-telling me the story of how you got to where you are now (except now is some arbitrary date in the future that you pick).

Here’s .. How to start your journal…

The rules:

A. Write in it every single day (preferably at the same time of day, for instance place it on your pillow and before you can go to sleep you have to stop and write in it.) Some days you really will not feeling like writing in it, some days you will feel more like a hypocrite than others. But the number one rule to this, is that you write anyway!

B. You are writing from the future as if you were reminiscing about the past. You must keep this thread going the entire time. For example you might write : “One day sticks out in my mind, Christmas Day 2009. On that day I was able to fit into a pair of pants, that I hadn’t worn in years. I was so excited. Everyone at the party commented on how great I looked and I remember feeling like I was flying that day!”.

C. Get as emotional as possible. Yes, for once you have free reign to be emotional! The more “real” you can make this the better it works. Remember You never have to show this to anyone!

D. How would you feel if you were already there? Create that person and work backwards. What changes did you go through to get there?

Here’s an example:

If my goal was to run the rock n’ roll marathon in June 2010 and come in under 4 hours. Here’s what a few pages of my journal might look like:

Page 1- I remember in the early stages of my training I remarked to myself how easy it was to stick to the schedule. I started feeling really inspired that it was something I could actually accomplish. I noticed that the plan seemed perfect for me.

Page 5- I remember the first time I was able to hold an 8:00 minute pace for 6 miles That was a huge breakthrough for me! It’s funny looking back on that now. These days that’s just an easy run for me.

Page 7- Then one day I realized that I was no longer walking when I got to the hills. I used to hate running up hill, I used to immediately break into a walk but that day something flipped in me and from then on I found it rather easy to run up hill.

Page 38- That was the first marathon that I ever ran “sub four” (San Diego 2010) I cried when I saw the clock as I came around the corner to the finish line. I just couldn’t believe it said 3:55 It’s very hard to run and cry at the same time. After that it was on to Chicago and a sub – 3:30 marathon.

Page 40- about a week after the San Diego marathon I was shocked to find how quickly I was recovering, not only was it my fastest marathon, I had ever run, but it was also my fastest recovery.

Notice how the tone of the journal entries is from the perspective of having already accomplished the goals and looking back on them. That is key!

Have fun and remember the more real you can make this imaginary “you” the more results you will get.

If you have any questions or comments,  just post them below