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I genuinely enjoy writing this newsletter for various reasons, but I love taking all of you on a learning journey with me.
It's not a physical journey, but organising a Well-off Wednesday retreat would be exciting. Instead, I can share a journey of insights and perspectives with you in real-time.
This newsletter isn't an academic platform where I impose my truths and personal wisdom. It's a space where I share ideas, frameworks, and models I'm actively testing and applying to my journey.
I don't consider myself a teacher but rather a student who learns alongside all of you.
Today, I want to introduce you to a new concept I've found online: The Anti-Goals.
Getting to Know Anti-Goals
At the beginning of 2022, Sahil Bloom wrote an article called "The Goal Setting Guide," which outlined his framework for setting and achieving goals. Shortly after sharing it, his friend Andrew Wilkinson introduced him to the fascinating concept of "anti-goals." This got him thinking about whether his goal-setting framework needed a refresh.
Before sharing new concepts publicly, I prefer to put them to the test myself. So, I started implementing Sahil’s "Anti-Goals" for all my new projects, and it completely changed the game. Anti-goals became an integral part of:
Planning for new projects
Designing my life
Creating self-improvement plans
Now that I've thoroughly tested this approach, I'd like to share how you can utilise anti-goals to enhance your own goal-setting process.
The concept of anti-goals is rooted in inversion, a fundamental mental model that suggests complex problems are often better solved by working backwards rather than forward. One famous quote by Charlie Munger captures the essence of inversion:
"I want to know where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there."
When setting traditional goals, we imagine the ideal outcome and then develop systems that, hopefully, lead us there. While this is important and necessary, it's an incomplete approach. Anti-goals, on the other hand, employ inversion to provide a comprehensive perspective.
Anti-goals represent the outcomes or circumstances we want to avoid, either as final results or as part of the journey. I like to think of anti-goals as a way to steer clear of a Pyrrhic victory, a term coined after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who achieved temporary triumph while incurring devastating losses during a battle in 279 B.C.E.
The term now commonly refers to victories that come at such a high cost to the victor that they might as well be defeats.
Another advocate of anti-goals, Shaan Puri, explains it this way:
"Imagine your dream was to become a musician. You achieve it! But while touring the world, you gain weight, become addicted to drugs, your marriage falls apart, and your kids no longer recognise you... You won the battle but lost the war."
Anti-goals enable you to win both the battle and the war!
The Anti-Goal Framework
So, how can you incorporate anti-goals into your own goal-setting process? Here's a four-step approach:
Step 1: Choose Your Arena
Identify the specific project or area of focus you'll be working on.
Consider broad categories such as personal, work, or health.
Your arena should represent a project where you seek achievement, progress, or growth.
Step 2: Establish Traditional Goals
Set your traditional goals, which are the desired outcomes within your chosen arena. This step should be straightforward since you're already familiar with traditional goal setting.
Make sure your goals are clear and significant. As I mentioned in my Goal Setting Guide, having short, medium, and long-term goals can be helpful.
Step 3: Invert the Problem
To apply inversion, ask yourself a few crucial questions related to your traditional goals:
What would be the worst possible outcome?
What systems or actions would lead to that undesirable outcome?
What daily actions would you regret taking?
In essence, identify what winning the battle but losing the war would look like for you.
Step 4: Establish Anti-Goals
Based on the inversion process, work backwards to establish your anti-goals—the outcomes you want to avoid.
Think of traditional goals as your rudders that set the direction, while anti-goals act as a map that reveals potential obstacles or pitfalls.
A clear and thoughtful map will help you navigate smoother waters.
An Illustrative Example
Let's explore a recent example from my own life to better understand this concept:
Step 1: Choose Your Arena: Physical Fitness
Step 2: Establish Traditional Goals:
Run a 6-minute mile.
Reach under 8% body fat.
Deadlift 500 pounds
These goals might be ambitious for someone my age (24), but they feel achievable with dedication and enough sleep.
Step 3: Invert the Problem:
What would the worst possible outcome look like? It would be if my fitness pursuit took over my entire life. This would involve constant stress about workouts and diet choices, spending three hours a day exercising instead of enjoying time with loved ones, and trying to do everything myself.
Step 4: Establish Anti-Goals:
Never obsess over workouts; hire a personal trainer to create workout programs.
Never stress about diet; purchase pre-prepared healthy meals.
Never let workouts consume my life; schedule 90-minute blocks at the same time every morning as my workout window.
By combining traditional goals and anti-goals, my fitness project now has a complete picture:
Traditional Goals:
Run a 6-minute mile.
Reach under 8% body fat.
Deadlift 500 pounds
Anti-Goals:
Never obsess over workouts—hire a personal trainer.
Never stress about diet—buy pre-prepared meals.
Never let workouts consume life—schedule 90-minute blocks.
With a clear understanding of where I want to go and what I want to avoid, my rudders are set, and I have a map to navigate potential challenges.
Another example comes from Andrew Wilkinson, who described how he established anti-goals to design his work in his original blog post.
In his case, Andrew and his business partner aimed for success and wealth creation without sacrificing peace of mind. By incorporating anti-goals alongside their traditional goals, they were able to achieve both.
Conclusion
To sum up the Anti-Goal Framework:
Step 1: Choose Your Arena: Select the project you'll be working on.
Step 2: Establish Traditional Goals: Set specific desired outcomes.
Step 3: Invert the Problem: Imagine winning the battle but losing the war.
Step 4: Establish Anti-Goals: Identify the specific outcomes you want to avoid.
Next time you embark on a new project, try this framework. Incorporate anti-goals alongside your traditional goals to ensure you win both the battle and the war!
In the upcoming editions of Well-off Wednesdays, we'll explore more strategies and insights to optimise different aspects of our lives.
From lifestyle design to goal setting, we'll delve into topics that empower us to lead fulfilling, high-performance lives.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure.
Until next time, stay obsessed and keep striving for greatness!
Best regards,
Writer and Lifestyle designer
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