How can you turn your dreams into reality? Setting goals is easy—whether it’s at the dawn of a new year, during a performance review, or after a major life event. But achieving them? That’s where many of us stumble. Despite the best intentions, our progress often stalls, leaving us wondering where the months went and why we didn’t make the strides we envisioned.
Enter the concept of a “Well-Formed Outcome,” a powerful tool that can turbocharge your goal achievement. By creating a vivid mental blueprint of your desired result, you ignite the motivation to keep pushing forward. This method doesn’t just help you set goals—it helps you achieve them.
The structure behind the Well-Formed Outcomes model is rooted in the principles of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler in 1979. It draws on the success strategies of high achievers, offering a set of targeted questions that sharpen your focus, clarify your intentions, and propel you toward success.
How to Create a Well-Formed Outcome
Follow these five steps to craft a clear and compelling outcome that motivates you to take action and reach your goals faster.
Step 1: Define Your Outcome
Start by gaining clarity on exactly what you want to achieve. Use the SMART formula to guide your goal-setting process:
- Specific: What exactly do you want to achieve? Where will it happen? Who will be involved?
- Measurable: How will you know when you’ve achieved it? What evidence will you have? What will you see, hear, or feel?
- Attainable: Is the goal realistic? Do you have or can you access the resources needed to succeed?
- Relevant: Does this goal align with your core values and priorities?
- Time-bound: When do you want to achieve this goal by?
Once you’ve defined your goal with SMART, apply the PURE perspective to ensure it’s not only achievable but meaningful:
- Positive: Frame your goal in a positive light, focusing on what you want to achieve rather than what you want to avoid.
- Under your control: Ensure that you have full control over the necessary actions to reach your goal.
- Right size: Make sure your goal is appropriately challenging—ambitious yet realistic.
- Ecological: Consider how achieving this goal will impact others, ensuring that it’s positive and beneficial for everyone involved.
Step 2: Identify Roadblocks
Sometimes, the biggest obstacles to achieving our goals are internal—and often, we don’t even realize they exist. To uncover any hidden roadblocks, ask yourself:
- What do you gain from not achieving your goal? Are there any subconscious rewards tied to failure?
- What would you need to change or give up to move forward?
- Are there practical limitations, like time or resources, that might hold you back?
By identifying these obstacles early on, you can create strategies to eliminate or reduce them, allowing you to move forward with confidence.
Step 3: Create a Mental Movie
Your mind is a powerful tool—one that can’t always distinguish between what’s real and what’s imagined. So, why not use this to your advantage? Visualize yourself succeeding in your goal, creating a mental “movie” that is as vivid and detailed as possible.
- Sight: What do you see? Picture the moment of achievement clearly.
- Sound: What do you hear? What words will you say to yourself? What will others say to you?
- Feelings: What emotions will you experience? What physical sensations will accompany your success?
The more detailed and sensory-rich your mental movie, the more real and achievable your goal will feel.
Step 4: Build Your Well-Formed Outcome
With a clear vision in mind, ask yourself these probing questions to connect even deeper with your goal:
- How will you measure success? What benchmarks will let you know you’re on track?
- What resources or support do you need to succeed? Are others involved, and how will they contribute?
- What are the specific benefits of achieving this goal? How will it improve your life or career?
- How will your success impact other areas of your life—positively or negatively?
- What would happen if you don’t achieve your goal?
These questions help ensure that your goal is holistic, realistic, and in tune with both your desires and your broader life context.
Step 5: Integrate Your Outcome
Now that you’ve refined your goal, immerse yourself in the movie you’ve created. See, hear, and feel what it will be like when you achieve your goal. Walk, talk, and act as if you’re already there.
This exercise isn’t just about daydreaming—it’s about creating a compelling, motivating image of success that makes the path forward clear and achievable. Once you’ve fully visualized your desired outcome, shift your focus back to the present moment, and start taking concrete actions that move you closer to your goal.
Example of a Well-Formed Outcome
Step 1: Define Your Outcome
“I am now a confident and inspiring training manager at XYZ Company. I lead a team of 10, delivering high-quality courses to clients who consistently rate us as ‘highly satisfactory.’ I spend at least one hour each week developing my leadership skills and meet with each team member biweekly to provide guidance.”
Step 2: Identify Roadblocks
“If I don’t achieve this outcome, I may fall into complacency, and the team’s energy could diminish. I need to carve out time to study leadership skills and build stronger connections with my team members.”
Step 3: Create a Mental Movie
“I see a vibrant office where my team is energized and productive. I hear laughter and positive feedback. I feel a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing I’ve made a difference.”
Step 4: Build Your Well-Formed Outcome
- Success will be evident when client feedback is consistently ‘highly satisfactory’ and team members are meeting performance targets.
- I will need time to study and connect with my team, but the effort will strengthen our bond and boost our performance.
- Achieving this goal will help me earn a bonus, develop my leadership skills, and contribute meaningfully to my company.
Step 5: Integrate Your Outcome
Imagine yourself confidently leading the team, achieving those “highly satisfactory” ratings. Now, bring that vision into your daily actions—schedule study time, plan those biweekly meetings, and start cultivating the leadership you aim to embody.
Key Takeaways
To turn your dreams into reality, first write a SMART goal. Then, check that your goal is PURE—positive, under your control, right-sized, and ecological. Identify and eliminate internal barriers, create a vivid mental movie of success, and integrate all of these elements into a motivating, action-driven plan. This process will turn your goal from a distant wish into an achievable reality, keeping you on track and focused as you move toward your success.