Well-formulated result

The HSR technique is designed to:

a) Exclude absolutely all undesirable scenarios for achieving your goal.

What kind of undesirable scenarios are we talking about? For example, when you requested to double your income, but you achieved it through inflation.

b) Achieve the goal as accurately, quickly, and easily as possible.

There will be no more soup made from permanent laziness, procrastination, and disappointments.

Ideally, this technique should become integrated into your thinking so that any goal is automatically formulated by you according to the HSR technique.

Get ready, there will be plenty of food for thought.

Well, let’s go!

Positive formulation of the goal

• Is your goal formulated positively?

Sometimes we define a goal as something we want to get rid of or avoid: not eating after 6 PM, quitting smoking, stopping being offended, and so on. But such goals are quite difficult to achieve because knowing what I don’t want doesn’t give me an understanding of what I do want. Imagine going to a store with a list of things you don’t want to buy. Or think of the riddle of Nasreddin Hodja about “not thinking of a white monkey.” That’s just not how the mind works.

Negation can be expressed both with the negative particle “not” and with words like “refuse,” “stop,” “quit,” “break up,” “avoid,” and so on.
So the goal should be formulated positively — what you want to achieve: to become slimmer, to buy your own apartment, to feel confident…

Therefore, if your goal is currently stated negatively, it needs to be rephrased in a positive way.

to quit smoking — to control the urge to smoke;

not to worry — to be calm;

leave a job — find a new job;

not being afraid to meet new people — feeling confident when making introductions;

Stop taking criticism personally — approach it constructively.

This rule is based on scientific principles. The fact is that our limbic system does not understand words; it only understands symbols and states: images, sounds, smells, sensations, and emotions. There is no symbol for avoidance or denial in the brain; it hasn’t been invented yet. However, there is definitely a symbol for what you want to avoid. That symbol will appear in your subconscious, programming it for realization.

Do you want me to prove it? Try it now:

• not to imagine a dog;
• don’t think about the elephant;
• forget about sweets.

Well, did it work? Probably not. That’s because our brain can only imagine what has been said in one case: if it doesn’t know what it is and what it looks like.

How to do it correctly

Declare what you aspire to, not what you are fleeing from.

For example:pay off a loan; become slim and toned; lead a healthy lifestyle, etc.

Control of the goal

• Do you control your results, and only you?
• Is your achievement related to anyone else?
• If it’s connected, what can you do to achieve this goal?

Achieving a goal should always depend on you. You are the cause, not the effect. This, by the way, often distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful ones: the former take action, while the latter let things happen to them. Therefore, the formulation of a goal should not include the will of another person or people.

There are things that depend mainly on us: becoming slimmer, learning English, feeling confident— and then there are things that also depend on other people or circumstances: getting married, building a house, becoming a department head, gaining fame. We cannot directly control many events and other people, but we can influence them through our behavior. Therefore, achieving an “external goal” such as a career, wealth, or fame will primarily be related to what you can do to make it happen.

• I want to be liked by girls.
• What can you do about it?

And in many cases, to achieve an “external” result, one must first change oneself — that is, achieve an “internal” result. Continuing the dialogue…

• To behave more confidently.
• Can you behave like that?
• Not yet. So for now, you need to learn to feel confident when communicating and to behave accordingly.

Making your goal dependent on other people is at least unwise. Phrasing it like “for my boss to give me a raise” or “for Vasya to fall in love with me” hands over control of the outcome to someone else. The funniest part is that these people often don’t even realize that something depends on them.

This also includes popular “I want” statements: “I want my child to do well in school,” “I want to be forgiven,” “I want my husband to admire me,” and so on. All these goals are beyond your control. This means that you may not receive any feedback from the world, or you might receive feedback, but not what you were hoping for.

How to do it correctly

Ask the question like this: what can I do / who can I be to make the desired possible?

For exampleI want to be attractive to the opposite sex; I want to become an art director at a certain company; I want to be a good and caring mother, etc.

Sensory perception

• How will you know that you have achieved your goal?
• What will you see, hear, and feel when you achieve your goal?

Simply wanting something “just because” is fine. But understanding what you want to feel, see, and hear when it comes to fruition is essential.The brain needs a clear picture.This includes not only visual or sensory aspects but also emotional ones. The goal should have indicators that will make it clear when it has been achieved, and, even more importantly, that it brings you joy.

The correct goal-setting process involves formulating the goal in the present tense. Be sure to visualize your desire and see yourself from the outside as if the goal has already been achieved.

It’s important to visualize your goal: to see, hear, and feel it, rather than just naming it. So at this stage, you need to imagine what it will be like when you achieve your goal: what you will see around you, how you will look, what you will hear, how you will feel, what you will say to yourself, what others will say, what exactly you will be doing, what the smells will be like, and so on.

In other words, you create a complete sensory illusion of achieving the goal.

• When I reach my goal, I will see…, hear…, feel…, do…, tell myself…

Due to this neglect, people may not get what they want, or if they do, they end up disappointed with the result and feel cheated. Everything seems to be in order, but it just isn’t right.

Meanwhile, it seems there’s nothing to complain about, because:

• They got married, and it was indeed the person they described. But for some reason, there is no happiness.
• We got the desired promotion. However, the drawbacks of the position far outweigh the benefits, and the job now feels like a punishment.
• You earn the desired amount. But now it’s not enough for you, or these money no longer matter;
• We moved to the country we wanted. However, the reality turned out to be much more mundane and problematic than we had hoped.

How to do it correctly

If you want to become a happy person, first understand what it means to “be happy” in measurable terms.Текст для перевода: ..

For example:

When I become the director, I will:

1. to feel pride, excitement, and inspiration at work
2. to feel the soft leather chair and the smooth surface of the table
3. to hear phone calls and the voices of my subordinates consulting with me
4. to see a spacious, bright office in front of me and a computer screen
5. I will be stamping documents and holding meetings with subordinates and partners.

The appropriate context for achieving the goal.

• Are there situations where you wouldn’t want that?
• Where, when, and with whom do you want this?

Not everything is desirable in every situation, at any place and time, and with any people: calmness might not be very suitable for watching a comedy, and it’s more enjoyable to go on vacation with your wife rather than your mother-in-law. So it’s important to determine the appropriate context for your goals—here I want it, and here I don’t.

If the goal is “internal”: confidence, calmness, relaxation, energy, persistence — then identify the contexts in which you want to have these qualities and where you don’t. For example, relaxation is great during downtime, but not very suitable while playing football. In other words, the goal will be defined for a specific context: confidence when communicating with your boss, enjoyment while watching an interesting movie, persistence in achieving a goal. If the goal is more “external”: going on vacation, building a house, getting married — specify with whom, when, and where you want to achieve this. For instance, I want to go to Spain in the summer with my husband and kids, but not to Vorkuta in the winter with my mother-in-law.

The goal should always be specific:

• in time
• in space

Just like with a good joke, timing is everything when it comes to achieving your goal.

In other words, goals have an expiration date. If a goal will bring you all the possible emotional benefits in a year, it may become irrelevant (and most likely will) in five years. It’s quite disappointing if a goal seems to have been achieved, but it feels out of place and, overall, just doesn’t matter. Therefore, it’s important to set goals in accordance with their expiration date.

The same applies to the environment (place) in which it is implemented.

Let’s say you have a goal of earning $2,000 a month. Right now, that’s a significant amount for you. However, in a completely different place (let’s say New York) and at a different time (when the exchange rate changes), those $2,000 may not hold the same value you expected. In that case, it might not even be enough for what you currently have.

How to do it correctly

It is necessary to define clear temporal and spatial boundaries, framing the goal within the context in which its implementation is most desirable.

For example:I want to earn 2000 dollars within a year, at the exchange rate ***, while living in Dnipro.

How ambitious is my goal?

• Does the goal have a suitable size?

If the goal is too big, motivation can be lost along the way. If your goal is to “completely master the English language” with very strict criteria, even with long and intensive study, you won’t notice your progress.

Criteria are discrete things. Let’s say that for you, the criterion for knowing a language is being able to communicate freely with English speakers. You learned 1,000 English words—checked—still not able to communicate freely. You memorized the verb tenses—checked—no, still not able to communicate freely. You read “Moby Dick” in the original—no, still not able to communicate freely. And motivation is lost.
Therefore, it’s easier to break a large goal down into smaller “sub-goals,” which are simpler to monitor and provide quicker feedback. For example: learn 100 new words in a week, lose 2 kg this month, and so on.

Naturally, there is also the reverse process — the goal may turn out to be too “small,” like “learning 10 English words.” In that case, it’s worth figuring out what larger goal this is leading to.

The sustainability of the set goal

• What will you lose if you achieve the result?
• Do you agree with these losses in order to achieve the result?
• How can you compensate for these losses (or work around them)?

When we gain something, we usually lose something in the process. For example, when we get married, we lose some of our freedom; when we become freelancers, we lose stability; and when we get fit, we lose the ability to blame our failures on our appearance.

In this step, we assess the potential losses and determine whether they are acceptable. Am I willing to lose “this” in order to achieve the goal? We can also go back to the first step and redefine the goal to minimize the losses.

If you feel discomfort or, worse, aversion while pursuing your goal, it indicates that you are doing something completely different from what you truly want to do.

Be sure to consider: will someone else be worse off if you get what you want? For example, robbing someone to get money is not a pure goal, and it shouldn’t be pursued in principle, as it’s unlikely to bring you satisfaction once achieved.

We are all deeply entangled in systems. These include family, work, social circles, areas of activity, city, and country. Just like individuals, each system has its own goals, primarily focused on continuing to function. I think you would agree that the methods these systems use to achieve their goals are much more extensive than those of an individual person.

The ecology of goals is about how to climb a tree without scratching yourself, if possible. And it’s usually the systems you exist in that “scratch” you.

In the systems you live in, which seem unrelated to your goals, you will start to face difficulties. Since your new goals don’t fit into a specific system, it will either try to push you back towards its own advantageous goals or expel you.

This can be called a “period of turbulence,” during which the old system starts to push out the element that it finds inconvenient. For example, loved ones don’t understand and try to dissuade you, colleagues roll their eyes and stop communicating, work becomes incredibly difficult, and some even fall ill.

There are two exits here:

1. Complete transition. This is a move to a different, more suitable system that aligns with your goals.
2. Changing the rules of the game. This is a gradual “subjugation” of the existing system through flexibility and slow, yet steady changes.

The first option is quite clear — burn bridges and dive into the new. Find a new job, change your circle of friends, relocate, change cities, or even countries. There are rare instances when this is the only possible, albeit difficult, measure to assert your right to growth and choice.

But since few of us want to completely sever ties with the systems we have come to love, the second option is optimal for most: to change the system itself. To do this, it is necessary to convince all participants that achieving your goals will also lead to the achievement of their goals. In other words, while your goals may differ, they do not contradict the current system and may even benefit it.

Makes sense, right?

This resembles the approach of candidates in presidential elections: “I want to become president, but only to give you what you want.” Therefore, it is crucial to adapt and build rapport with the system or systems you want to be part of, which may even become your allies (or at least not hinder you).

How to do it correctly

Here are the key points to consider when setting a goal:

• Who could be against it and why?
• Who can the achievement of the goal impact, and in what way?
• How can this goal be beneficial to the systems you are involved in?
• What systems might you lose support for upon achieving your goal?
• What systems can you acquire support for upon achieving your goal?

What obstacles may arise while pursuing a goal?

• What is stopping you from starting to achieve your goal right now?
• What obstacles might you encounter on your way?
• What can you do to overcome these obstacles?

Analyze all the obstacles that may arise on your path to understand how to achieve your goals. Is there anything preventing you from getting what you want right now? Will it come up later? Think ahead about how you will respond to these obstacles and the actions you will take to overcome them. If the obstacles currently seem “insurmountable,” reframe them as a goal and go through the entire process of HSR with this new goal in mind.

Necessary resources

• What resources do you need to achieve your goal?
• Can you have access to them?

It’s simple: to gain something, you have to give something in return. And the more benefits the goal promises you upon completion, the more resources will be required to achieve it. Therefore, you need to clearly calculate the type and amount of resources needed to reach your goal.

There are a total of 5 types of resources:

1. Money
2. Time.
3. Information
4. Connections.
5. Skills

By calculating the necessary and already available resources, you will see reality as it is. You will understand how close or far you are from your desired outcome. Sometimes this can be sobering, and at other times it can be inspiring, but it is the very list of ingredients without which you cannot make borscht. If you are lacking a certain resource, then formulate a goal for obtaining it using the same method.

To feel confident at the interview, I need confidence, calmness, faith in success, and a good suit. I have confidence, calmness, and faith in success, but I need to buy a suit.

How to do it correctly

Calculate:

• How much money do I need?
• How long will it take to achieve the goal?
• What do I need to know?
• Who do I need to get in touch with?
• What do I need to know?
• What can you do if something is missing?

The first step towards the goal.

• What will be your first step towards achieving your goal?

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (c) Wikipedia says this is by Laozi.

The first step is very symbolic, as it paves the way for all the others. So make it easy and clear, to build up your appetite for achievements rather than plunging yourself headfirst into yet another round of procrastination. No, you need to start right now.

The power of simple and small actions that lead to a goal is striking. It leads to the regularity of these actions, and regularity is the key to the future realization of what you desire. Why is that? Because only by not fearing failure and facing insurmountable difficulties can your brain willingly start working. And once it begins, it can accomplish much more in the flow of activity than was initially expected.

If you decide to act perfectly and start a “new life,” you risk finding yourself a year later still “eating the same breakfasts” in the form of promises.

How to do it correctly

Decide for yourself:

1. What can you do right now, today, or tomorrow?
2. What will set this flywheel in motion?
3. What would you feel comfortable starting with that would spark your appetite for more?

Are you planning to find a new job? What will you do to start your search this evening or tomorrow morning? It could be something as simple as browsing job listings or posting your own resume on a job search website.

If you want to become slimmer, determine your very first step: tomorrow morning I will go for a run, and starting today I will eat fewer pastries and more fruits and vegetables.

A well-formulated result is a great helper in achieving goals!
These ten questions above serve as a kind of filter, helping to eliminate everything unnecessary from your goal and make it as specific as possible. Be sure to ask them of yourself, and you’ll realize that if your goal is set correctly, achieving it becomes much easier!

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