ROCKET Goals

“How you do anything is how you do everything”
- Martha Beck

While it might be tempting to start working on your biggest ROCKET Goals first, when you’re just starting out it’s worth practicing on some smaller goals to learn the mechanics of thinking FROM your goal, instead of thinking ABOUT your goal.

For example, if you are about to go and eat a meal, jump ahead in your minds eye and imagine yourself already sitting there. From the POV of your chair, who else is at the table? What food is on the table? What is your mood?

If you’re heading into a meeting, jump ahead in your minds eye and prepare yourself. Picture the meeting from the chair you will sit in. Predict who will say the most annoying thing first. Picture how you will respond if someone belittles your ideas.

If you’re getting ready for a party, jump ahead in your minds eye and imagine the party as if you were standing up to get some a drink. Who might you run into? What will they be wearing?

The power of immersive preparation and anticipation is what powers thinking from your goal, rather than just thinking about your goal. Use this skill of imagination and foresight to grab ahold of your goals in a visceral way, rather than just thinking about them in some abstract round about kind of way.

How you practice these smaller acts of immersive goal achievement lays the foundation for other seemingly bigger and more complicated goals - because the immersive mechanism for accelerated goal achievement remains the same for any accelerated goal achievement, by actively and continuously thinking FROM your goal rather than passively thinking ABOUT your goal every so often.

Here are Five Critical Steps for Thinking From the Goal

To effectively practice thinking from your goal instead of about your goal, it's crucial to focus on the mental shifts involved. Here are five steps to help you develop this powerful mindset:

 1. Visualize the Goal as Already Achieved

   - Close your eyes and vividly picture your goal as if it's already a reality. Instead of thinking about what you need to do, imagine how it feels to have already accomplished it. Engage your emotions fully—experience the satisfaction, pride, or peace that comes with the achievement. This mental exercise helps to anchor your mind in the present reality of your goal achieved.

 2. Adopt the Identity of Your Future Self

   - Mentally step into the shoes of the person who has already achieved the goal. Ask yourself, "How does my future self think, act, and feel?" By identifying with this version of yourself, you begin to embody the traits and habits that align with your goal, making it easier to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

 3. Focus on the Desired Outcome, Not the Process

   - Shift your mental energy from the steps required to achieve the goal to the outcome itself. This doesn’t mean ignoring the process, but rather focusing on the end result as if it’s already done. This perspective helps you avoid getting bogged down in details and allows you to maintain a clear, unwavering vision of your success.

 4. Reframe Challenges as Already Overcome

   - When faced with obstacles, mentally frame them as challenges you've already overcome. Imagine looking back from the future, where the obstacle is behind you, and you’ve grown stronger because of it. This shift in perspective reduces anxiety and builds resilience, reinforcing the belief that success is inevitable.

 5. Practice Consistent Mental Rehearsal

   - Make it a daily practice to mentally rehearse your goal as already achieved. The more consistently you engage in this exercise, the more natural and automatic this mindset becomes. Over time, this practice rewires your brain to think from a place of accomplishment, driving your actions and decisions toward making that imagined reality come true.

By focusing on these mental aspects, you cultivate a mindset where your goals feel inevitable, allowing you to move forward with confidence and clarity.