Have you ever heard the term reverse or backward goal setting and wondered how to do it? Here is a quick guide to set your next goal and start crack on the tasks. I will first introduce the main concepts in reverse goal setting and key ideas and then we will go through and example.
Outline:
Traditional goal setting
Imagine you have a goal to become the top graduate in the class, or to become a writer or excellence in whatever the career you are struggling with right now. Or even it may be a spiritual goal or a health goal you are going to achieve. In traditional goal setting you would write down your goal and then kind of do a SWOT analysis. Then create and action plan to adhere to achieve the goal. (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). And that is a good way of doing it. But sometimes it seems tiring to achieve the goal by this means if you are not clear of what you are going to achieve. The goal seems too far away.
Hence reverse goal setting is used. Some people define a reverse goal setting as to go back from the podium, backwards in time sequential to determine each milestone you need to pass before you achieve your goal. However, this method is essentially the same as pre- planning method.
What is not reverse goal setting.
Reverse goal setting is not writing down your goal and thinking backwards in time. It is not putting down milestones from biggest to smallest. It is not about chronology at all. really speaking you may still want to do some traditional goal setting even if you brainstorm with reverse goal setting.
Instead, Reverse goal setting is a method of brainstorm ideas, so you have better understanding of the end results you are going to achieve.
Advantages of reverse goal setting
Reverse goal setting we focus on the goal, in an indirect manner. More focus is non the process, not the final outcome. It is more holistic approach. Compare this to a mission statement of a company. Mission statement does not directly talk about outcome targets, yet a broad picture. By combining it with traditional goal setting we will have all the tools necessary to improve ourselves. And also, reverse goal setting is reducing the mental burden of the target by not giving direct inputs about it. However, there will be wide areas of improvement which will combine together once you have done it.
Only drawback I can think of currently is that it is somewhat time consuming than traditional target method
So, how are you going to do it.
How to Achieve Your Goals by Reverse/ backward Goal setting: A Step-by-Step Guide with Example
Doing it right
First step is to write down your goal as in any case. Do it on a piece of paper or on your board.
Second and most crucial step is to imagine a person who is inevitably going to achieve this goal. And list out all the characteristics of this person. And weigh each of these characteristics in relative importance. If you are an organization, you can think that this is a person and write down characteristics of such organization which achieves this target easily. This will need lot of study of other similar persons, or systems. Hence might take more time than simply writing down goals and setting up quarterly targets by breaking it down.
Thirdly, you can Do a SWOT analysis and identify areas of improvement, from your current status to the type of person who achieve to become your goal. And this will lead to identify and action on these areas. (here you will use ideas from traditional goal setting to put down a plan) But instead of focusing on the target, you are looking at holistic improvement of your process. Or the personality or characteristics in general.
Can you see the difference of these two methods? fundamentally here in proper method of reverse goal setting we are trying to become a person who is capable of achieving your goals rather than trying to achieve goal in your current status. You are changing your life, to be a better person. In the long term which is not only get you to achieve your goal but make you feel better every day as you become a better person.
Example.
Let's do a reverse goal setting, I will do the first two steps and most important steps. You will be able to figure out the rest.
Goal: To lose 10kg weight in 6 months and be a healthy person.
Type of person: A person who is energetic, happy and strong. A person who enjoys exercise daily and have healthy eating habits. A person who enjoys running, with or without company of similar healthy beings. Caring for others and loving the work that Do. Mentally and spiritually strong. Good healthy friends and family supporting to achieve the goals.
As you can see losing weight seems to be not easy. Idea of losing weight is inherently bound to lot of other areas in your life. If you do not achieve overall physical, mental and spiritual healthy lifestyle even losing weight will not be easy. Initially it will work but it will fail at some point as it is not sustainable. You may have a different person in your mind, I suggest you write it down so you can identify areas of improvement. It is not about losing weight of 2kg per month starting from next.
That is a start. Now you can write down what you can do to become such a person. And that will be your action plan. You no longer have to worry about the goal as when you become that person, the goal will be achieved anyway.
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In summary: Reverse / Backward Goal setting
Reverse Goal setting is brainstorming ideas about holistic view of the process you want to improve than focusing on the end result.
This will open up views about different areas of improvement than seen by traditional target goal settings.
It will make you less paralyzed about the goal but will give more control over achievable.
Reverse Goal setting focuses on the minor areas of improvement so the achieving the target is inevitable, if you fulfil these.
It can be combined target approach, for better actionable steps.
Thank you for reading Reverse / Backward Goal setting - how to do it example.
You may also like to read: Process is more important than results?
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