In 2021 I stopped doing almost everything I disliked doing.

Sure enough, it was my most enjoyable/successful year.

For the past few years I've been setting "anti-goals".

Anti-goals refer to outcomes or occurrences that we aim to avoid, both in the short-term and long-term.

With that being said…

Let’s dive into what a Anti-Goal Framework looks like.

The Anti-Goal Framework:

You’re probably wondering:

“How do I leverage anti-goals in my goal setting process?”

The generalized version involves four steps:

1. Choose Your Arena

2. Establish Traditional Goals

3. Invert the Problem

4. Establish Anti-Goals

Let me walk you through each step:

Choose Your Arena:

The arena is the "project" you’ll be working on.

A few categories to consider:

• Personal

• Work

• Health

The arena you choose should be a specific project under a much larger category.

This is the place where you’re looking for progress, achievement, and growth.

Establish Traditional Goals:

These will be your standard goals.

The desired outcomes from your chosen arena.

Here are a few examples:

• Run a 6-min mile

• Build a 10,000 sub newsletter

• Get promoted to CEO

• Reach 100,000 followers

Big picture goals with clean intention are important.

Its often helpful to have short, medium, and long-term goals. Experiment with what works best for you.

Invert the Problem:

In order to invert, you need to ask/answer a few questions:

• What is the worst possible outcome?

• Which systems could contribute to that outcome?

• What are the daily actions that I would later regret?

In essence, think about what you would consider as winning a particular battle but ultimately losing the larger war.

Establish Anti-Goals:

Now work backwards to establish your anti-goals.

These are the outcomes you DON’T want.

Think of anti-goals as the map in which tells you where the dangerous areas are.

A thoughtful, clear map keeps you out of danger.

A Personal Life Example:

If you found the above framework a little confusing, let me give you my personal life example…

Choose Your Arena: Life Balance (Education, Work, Personal)

Establish Traditional Goals:

• Produce all A’s / B’s in school

• Build my online brand

• Spend more time with family

This may seem a bit simple, but as someone who is constantly busy, the little things can be challenging to find time for.

Invert the Problem:

What does the worst possible outcome look like?

Allowing too much of one aspect overwhelm me.

Constantly worrying about the next exam.

Not getting enough views on a post.

Ignoring family time.

Now, let’s break it down even further: What actions or systems would lead to that worst possible outcome?

Simple.

Trying to do all of this myself. Not looking for guidance. Not using my tools and resources at hand.

Establish Anti-Goals:

• Stop over studying. Set aside a few hours a day and work on a review given by your professor.

• Never stress over not posting. Use tools to schedule your content weeks in advance.

• Be more productive and efficient during the day and have more time with family at night.

When I put the framework together, my life balance project looks like this:

Traditional Goals:

• Produce all A’s / B’s in school

• Build my online brand

• Spend more time with family

Anti-Goals:

• Never over study—set aside time and focus on pre-made review sheets.

• Never stress on missing posts—schedule weeks in advance.

• Never put things aside and waste time—wake up early and be efficient.

It’s much easier when you know where you want to go.

What you want to avoid.

Here is another great example by Fadeke:

In this example, Fadeke expresses the things he doesn’t want in life, and produces ways for these things not to happen.

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