The Fastest Way To Achieve Literally Anything (You'll Never Feel Lost Again)

Summary

This script delves into the science of achieving flow states and aligning daily tasks with long-term aspirations. It narrates a personal journey from chaos to purpose, emphasizing the importance of goal-setting and the concept of 'goal-directedness' for clarity and productivity. The speaker introduces a 'goal stack' strategy, illustrating how to reverse-engineer goals for peak performance and flow. The talk concludes with actionable steps for structuring consciousness and harnessing intrinsic motivation for a fulfilling life.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker discusses the concept of constantly switching tasks without a clear sense of progress towards long-term goals.
• 🚀 The Flow Research Collective trains organizations like Audi, Accenture, and the US Air Force to access flow states using neuroscience-based principles.
• 🏉 The speaker shares a personal story about training to be a world-class rugby player and how a severe head injury drastically changed his life.
• 😞 He describes the feeling of being lost and directionless, a state called 'psychic entropy' by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
• 🧘 Psychic entropy refers to the natural tendency of the mind to drift into disorder and chaos without structure and goals.
• 🎯 There are two main ways to combat psychic entropy: internally through practices like meditation and externally through goal-setting.
• 🗺️ Becoming goal-directed helps structure consciousness and align daily actions with long-term aspirations, aiding in achieving flow states.
• 📚 The speaker found direction in life through goal-setting after reading a self-help book, which helped him overcome his mental chaos.
• 💪 Setting goals activates the prefrontal cortex, enhances decision-making, reduces negative mental chatter, and increases motivation.
• 🪜 The process of creating a goal stack involves setting an overarching purpose, high hard goals, annual goals, and breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.
• 🌟 Expanding your 'possibility space' by setting ambitious goals and believing in your potential is crucial for achieving extraordinary outcomes.
• 💼 The speaker uses examples like Elon Musk and a man who ate an airplane to illustrate the power of goal-setting and expanding one's possibility space.
• 🔄 Reverse engineering is key to breaking down high hard goals into smaller, manageable tasks, ensuring a clear path to success.
• 🗓️ The speaker emphasizes the importance of planning daily, weekly, and monthly goals to stay aligned with long-term objectives and enter flow states.
• ⚖️ Separating planning from doing and setting clear, specific goals helps reduce cognitive load and improves focus and productivity.
• 🔥 The speaker encourages a daily 'power down ritual' to review goals, plan for the next day, and ensure all actions are goal-directed to maximize productivity and flow.

Q & A

What is the main issue the speaker addresses in the script?

The speaker addresses the issue of 'psychic entropy,' which refers to the natural tendency of our consciousness to drift into a state of disorder, chaos, and despair if left unstructured.

What is the term 'flow state' as mentioned by the speaker, and how is it related to goal-directedness?

A 'flow state' is a mental state in which an individual is fully immersed in an activity, experiencing a sense of energized focus and enjoyment. It is related to goal-directedness because setting and pursuing specific, long-term goals can help individuals access flow states more regularly, thereby boosting their performance.

What is the significance of the 'goal stack' in personal development?

The 'goal stack' is a hierarchical structure of goals that range from an overarching purpose down to daily actions. It helps in aligning one's daily efforts with long-term aspirations, thus providing a clear path towards achieving one's objectives.

How does the speaker suggest overcoming the feeling of being lost and without direction?

The speaker suggests overcoming the feeling of being lost by setting goals and creating a 'goal stack' that structures consciousness, bringing order and purpose to one's life.

What is the role of 'possibility space' in shaping our lives according to the script?

The 'possibility space' refers to the range of potential outcomes or paths one's life could take. It determines what we see as possible to pursue, the actions we take, and ultimately the outcomes we achieve.

How does the speaker define 'psychic entropy' and why is it problematic?

'Psychic entropy' is defined as the natural tendency of our consciousness to drift into disorder and chaos without direction. It is problematic because it leads to aimlessness, unproductive daydreams, and a sense of wasted potential, which can compound over time and lead to despair.

What are the two main ways to address 'psychic entropy' as suggested in the script?

The two main ways to address 'psychic entropy' are internally, through mastering the mind with meditation, mantra, and prayer, and externally, by finding a goal or focal point outside of ourselves to orient our consciousness and bring order.

What is the importance of 'goal-directedness' in achieving peak performance?

'Goal-directedness' is important for peak performance because it structures consciousness, allowing individuals to ignore distractions, mitigate existential angst, and channel their energy with precision towards their long-term aspirations.

How does the concept of 'high hard goals' contribute to personal growth and flow experiences?

'High hard goals' are ambitious, long-term objectives that push individuals to their limits, demanding full concentration and engagement. Pursuing these goals facilitates flow experiences and optimal performance, as they require significant effort and growth.

What is the process of 'reverse engineering' in the context of goal setting as discussed in the script?

Reverse engineering in goal setting involves starting with a desired outcome or goal and working backward to determine every necessary step to achieve that outcome. This process helps in breaking down large goals into smaller, achievable steps with a clear timeline.

Outlines

00:00

🏈 From Rugby Player to Goal-Oriented Mindset

The speaker, Rand, co-founder of the Flow Research Collective, shares his journey from a focused and disciplined rugby player and surfer to a chronically debilitated individual after a head injury. This life-altering event led to a loss of purpose and direction, causing him to experience 'psychic entropy'—a state of disorder and despair within the mind. Rand's story emphasizes the importance of having a clear purpose and direction in life, and how the absence of it can lead to a state of aimlessness and unhappiness.

05:00

🎯 The Power of Goal Setting and Goal-Directedness

Rand discusses the concept of 'goal-directedness' as a way to combat psychic entropy. He explains that by setting goals, one can bring order and focus to their consciousness, leading to a harmonious alignment with their long-term aspirations. The speaker illustrates how goal setting helped him regain a sense of purpose and direction during his teenage years, even though he didn't become a doctor as initially planned. The key takeaway is that any goal can serve as a starting point for structuring one's consciousness and bringing meaning to one's life.

10:01

🌟 Expanding Possibility Space for Peak Performance

The speaker introduces the idea of 'possibility space' as a critical component in setting and achieving goals. He shares personal anecdotes and examples, including his brother's journey to the Irish national rugby team and Elon Musk's ambitious space exploration goals, to demonstrate how an expanded possibility space can reveal previously unseen opportunities and paths to success. Rand outlines three methods to expand one's possibility space: belief contagion, brute force big thinking, and setting goals that seem impossible with current resources.

15:03

🤔 The Importance of Self-Efficacy and Big Thinking

Continuing the discussion on goal setting, Rand emphasizes the role of self-efficacy—the belief in one's ability to achieve goals—in expanding one's possibility space. He suggests that by setting and achieving big, seemingly impossible goals, individuals can build self-efficacy, which in turn allows them to set even more ambitious goals. The speaker also highlights the importance of reverse engineering goals to create a clear path from current actions to long-term aspirations.

20:04

🛠 Reverse Engineering Goals for Strategic Action

Rand explains the process of reverse engineering as a method to break down large, high hard goals into smaller, achievable steps. He uses the example of a man who ate an airplane by breaking it down piece by piece and the concept of starting a billion-dollar climate tech company to illustrate how to work backward from a desired outcome to determine necessary steps. The focus is on creating a logical progression of goals that build upon each other, leading to the ultimate goal.

25:05

🎯 Committing to Goal-Directed Actions for Flow State

The speaker discusses the importance of committing to 'goal-directed actions' as the core driver of peak performance and productivity. He differentiates between the busyness of non-goal-directed tasks and the focused progress of goal-directed actions, which directly contribute to achieving one's high hard goals. Rand suggests that by identifying and prioritizing these actions, individuals can enter a flow state, increasing productivity and creativity while working towards their goals.

30:05

🔍 Separating Planning and Doing for Optimal Performance

Rand introduces the concept of separating planning and doing as a strategy to enhance performance. He explains that planning requires divergent thinking, while doing requires convergent thinking, and that these two cognitive modes should not be combined. By separating them, individuals can reduce cognitive load and increase the likelihood of entering a flow state. The speaker outlines a 'power down ritual' for planning the next day's goal-directed actions and setting clear goals to ensure alignment with long-term aspirations.

35:06

🚀 The Goal-Directed Pyramid for Peak Performance

In the final summary, Rand presents a model for becoming goal-directed by leveraging a 'goal-directed pyramid.' This pyramid aligns aspirations with actions and attention, starting with a clear purpose at the base, followed by a staircase of progressively smaller goals leading to the apex. At the heart of the pyramid is the core of goal-directed actions, which are high-impact tasks that create a domino effect of progress. The summit represents clear goals that provide focus and initiate flow. The speaker emphasizes the importance of a daily power down ritual to review and plan for goal-directed actions, ensuring that every moment is spent in alignment with one's long-term vision.

Keywords

💡Flow State

Flow State refers to a highly focused mental state where an individual is fully immersed in an activity, experiencing a sense of energized focus and enjoyment. In the video, it is presented as an optimal state for peak performance and productivity, where daily efforts align with long-term aspirations. The concept is integral to the video's theme of structuring consciousness and aligning actions with goals.

💡Psychic Entropy

Psychic entropy is a term used to describe the natural tendency of the human mind to drift into a state of disorder, chaos, and despair if left unstructured. In the video, it is depicted as the state of aimlessness and lack of direction that can lead to existential angst. The concept is used to contrast with the structured consciousness of goal-directedness.

💡Goal Directedness

Goal directedness is the quality of being purposefully oriented towards specific, long-term goals. The video emphasizes that by becoming goal directed, one can organize their experience and channel their energy with precision, which is essential for accessing flow states and achieving peak performance.

💡Goal Stack

A goal stack is a hierarchical structure of goals that range from an overarching purpose to specific actions executed on a daily basis. In the video, building a goal stack is presented as a method to ensure that each daily action contributes to the achievement of long-term goals, creating a clear path from current actions to future aspirations.

💡High Hard Goals

High hard goals are ambitious, long-term objectives that are challenging and require significant effort. The video uses the term to describe goals that push individuals to their limits and are crucial for reverse engineering a goal stack, breaking down large aspirations into smaller, achievable steps.

💡Purpose

In the context of the video, purpose is described as an overarching reason for one's pursuits. It serves as the foundation of the goal stack and is essential for providing a sense of direction and meaning. The video suggests that purpose is not something to be found but rather something to be chosen and iterated upon.

💡Possibility Space

Possibility space refers to the full range of potential states or outcomes that one can envision for themselves. The video discusses the importance of expanding one's possibility space to see and pursue more significant goals, which in turn shapes one's reality and potential for success.

💡Goal-Directed Actions

Goal-directed actions are specific tasks that directly contribute to achieving a goal. The video emphasizes the importance of identifying and committing to these actions to ensure that daily efforts are aligned with long-term goals, providing examples of how these actions can be derived from a well-constructed goal stack.

💡Perceived Importance

Perceived importance is the personal significance assigned to an activity, which influences motivation, commitment, and concentration. In the video, it is explained that the more goal-directed an action is, the higher the perceived importance, leading to increased dopamine release and facilitating entry into a flow state.

💡Power Down Ritual

The power down ritual is a process of reviewing and planning at the end of each workday to ensure alignment with long-term goals and to prepare for the next day's goal-directed actions. The video describes this ritual as a way to minimize wasted effort and maximize goal attainment by setting clear goals and identifying the most critical tasks for the following day.

Highlights

The concept of breaking free from a cycle of constant task-switching and aligning daily efforts with long-term goals using science-based methods.

Introduction to the speaker's background as a co-founder of the flow research Collective and experience with high-performing organizations.

Personal narrative of the speaker's journey from a purpose-driven youth to a period of chronic debilitation and loss of direction.

The introduction of the term 'psychic entropy' and its implications for a lack of structured consciousness leading to chaos and despair.

The idea that psychic entropy is the human mind's default state, leading to aimless wandering and unproductive thoughts without direction.

The two main ways to address psychic entropy: internally through meditation and externally by setting goals to bring order to consciousness.

The importance of goal-setting in structuring one's consciousness and the impact of committing to a goal on reducing mental chaos.

The concept of becoming 'goal-directed' as a means to channel attention, organize experience, and infuse life with meaning.

The prerequisite of goal-directedness for achieving a Flow State and its role in enhancing decision-making and focus.

The process of expanding one's 'possibility space' as a means to envision and pursue more ambitious goals.

Examples illustrating how an expanded possibility space can lead to extraordinary outcomes, such as the story of the speaker's brother and Elon Musk's vision for Mars.

Three practical ways to expand one's possibility space, including belief contagion, brute force big thinking, and building self-efficacy through goal attainment.

The process of reverse engineering goals to create a 'goal stack' that bridges the gap between minute-to-minute actions and long-term vision.

The importance of identifying 'goal-directed actions' that are the most impactful steps towards achieving one's high hard goals.

The concept of 'perceived importance' and how it influences neurochemistry to enhance motivation, commitment, and concentration.

The benefits of separating planning from doing to decrease cognitive load and increase the ability to enter a flow state.

The 'power down ritual' as a method to end the workday with a clear plan for the next day's goal-directed actions and clear goals.

The 'goal-directed pyramid' model that aligns aspirations with actions and attention, providing a visual representation of the process to achieve goals.

Transcripts

have you ever felt like you're

constantly bouncing from one task to

another never quite sure of what you're

doing is actually moving you closer to

your goals well there's a science-based

way to break free from this cycle and

tap into a state where your daily

efforts align perfectly with your

longest term aspirations and vision now

I'm ran DARS co-founder and Co of the

flow research Collective we've trained

everyone from Audi AS centure and the US

Air Force to use neuroscience-based

principles to access flow States at will

now when I was 13 I had a surprising

amount of purpose and direction in my

life I was training to be a worldclass

rugby player I was weight training with

monk-like discipline 6 days a week and I

was surfing with religious dedication

and these Pursuits were a tunnel through

which my attention and energy could be

funneled the world made sense because it

all revolved around a destination my

future on that Rugby field then

everything changed a head injury nearly

killed me for a year I couldn't get out

of bed there would be no more rugby no

more surfing even a 30-minute walk

became a serious Challenge and for 6

years I was chronically debilitated

blurred vision Amnesia barely able to

function at all but worst than the

physical pain was the hollow in my chest

by the time I was 15 2 years into that

accident my mind started to subtly

unravel there were no goals anymore no

future point to orient my Consciousness

around and make meaning out of the

daytoday with the identity that I had

built disintegrated I was unmowed lost

and unclear on who I was what I was here

to do and why it was even worth waking

up in the morning and one day on the way

to school I had an overwhelming impulse

an image flash in my mind me hopping off

the train disappearing into the fields

beside the Train on the way to school

and just walking and walking and walking

until I couldn't take another step the

vision was to sleep under a tree wake up

and start walking again and repeat I

just wanted to break free of everything

in a single desperate act and there's a

name for this sort of aimless chaotic

seeking this desperate grasping for

something that feels perpetually Out Of

Reach I was experiencing what

psychologist Mii chmi called psychic

entropy now psychic entropy refers to

the Natural tendency of our

Consciousness to drift into a state of

disorder chaos and even despair if it is

left unstructured Shmi argues that

psychic entropy is not just a temporary

State it's actually the human mind's

default setting without Direction our

Consciousness wanders aimlessly we

ruminate on path mistakes worry about

the future get lost in unproductive

Daydreams and overwhelmed with

existential angst it's like a leaf being

tossed by the wind no Direction no

control and a nagging sense of wasted

potential that compounds on itself every

day we spend in this state and the pain

of knowing you have more to give but not

knowing how to unlock it eats away at

you with every misaligned action

confidence arose and you start to

question your worth especially as you

see others who seem to have clarity and

properly channeled ambition with their

lives seemingly all figured out now

there are two main ways to address

psychic entropy internally through

mastering the mind with meditation

Mantra and prayer the second is

externally by finding a goal or a focal

point outside of ourselves that we can

Orient to so as to bring order to our

Consciousness for most the external

approach is more practical easier to

implement and there's a surprisingly

simple way that Peak performers use this

external approach to structure their

Consciousness so they can ignore

distraction mitigate existential angst

and channel their energy with Precision

we cover that in a moment but at the

peak of my psychic entropy as a teen

lost confused identity list I read a

musty old self-help book that had

survived my mom's last bookshelf Purge

for the first time in ages something

clicked the book was about goal setting

and how setting goals can help you focus

classic self-help kind of stuff it seems

simple enough I thought maybe it could

work I just need a different goal than

becoming a professional rby player given

my current condition my inability to

exert or function with the head injury

and I picked a goal as distant as could

be fairly arbitrarily I decided I'm

going to become a doctor at the time

that felt like my way out a path back to

stability as I committed to that goal

something interesting happened the chaos

in my mind slowly began to recede as

this sense of purpose this desire to

become a doctor increased my conscious

experience became increasingly

harmonious I studied harder I ate

healthier so that I could study better I

became more selective with who I spent

time with I even slept more diligently

with all of my behavior starting to

recalibrate with intentionality around

this goal each chunk of previously

disorganized experience in my day

started clicking into place orienting

toward this North Star of eventually

becoming a doctor I had discovered the

surprisingly simple way all PE

performance structure their

Consciousness and bring Harmony to The

Human Condition

as articulated by Mii Chi semii decades

ago and it's called becoming gold

directed when you become goal directed

you gain the quality of being

purposefully oriented towards specific

long-term goals as professionals

approach work like a pinball they're

bouncing around from one task to another

ricocheting off obstacles and

distractions with goals you're a guided

missile locked onto your Target and

empowered to conquer them beyond that

becoming gold Ed is a prerequisite for

Flow State as Mii chihi the man who

popularized the term Flow State puts it

when an important goal is pursued with

resolution and all one's varied

activities fit together into a unified

flow experience the result is that

Harmony is brought to Consciousness

someone who is in harmony no matter what

he does no matter what is happening to

him knows that his psychic energy is not

being wasted on doubt regret guilt and

fear but is always usefully employed

gold directedness funnels attention

organizes experience and imuse life and

The Human Condition with meaning

extinguishing the thrashing pain of

psychic entropy it's also a prerequisite

for peig performance and access to Flow

State you simply can't perform at your

best if your Consciousness isn't

structured through goals the goals of

pipe through which your Consciousness

flows without goals there's no flow and

goals activate your prefrontal cortex

enhancing decision- making and focus

they reduce the negative chatter of your

brain's default mode Network combating

worry and rumination and most

importantly go is light up your brain

reward centers giving you a sense of

purpose and fulfillment as you progress

toward them now interestingly as I

became goal directed as a teen I didn't

end up becoming a doctor but that's not

the point it doesn't matter so much that

the initial goal is accurate as you'll

see one of the biggest blockers to

becoming goal directed and to Peak

Performance r large is wanting to feel

certainty around the goal you're

pursuing and it being the right one for

you instead what matters most is

structuring your Consciousness with a

goal sometimes any goal now becoming

goal Ed is just the starting point the

peak of goal edness is when as high a

percentage of your daily actions as

possible are tied directly to your

long-term Vision that's what we're about

to cover now you might have a decent

idea of what your goals are already but

we're about to dive far beyond goal

setting we're about to build you what's

known as a goal stack the goal stack

involves you building out Direction and

go all the way up from an unattainable

infinite purpose down to what are called

go directed actions that you'll execute

on a weekly daily hourly even minute to-

minute basis I've put together a free

guide that reveals the three key pillars

of becoming gold directed so you can

access Flow State more regularly and

boost your performance to access the

free guide just click the link in the

description below and you'll be able to

download it right away and you want to

think of this go stack as a set of

stairs that you construct with the right

structural Integrity to lead you to the

eventual end State each step has to

actually lead to the place you want to

go if a single step is missing you can't

get to your destination and for most

people their ultimate goal remains a

lofty idea in their head with no

staircase or one that's partially

finished leading nowhere to avoid this

we'll ensure each goal builds upon the

one before it will architect this goal

stack together based on each of these

layers first off we've got purpose which

is an overarching reason for your

Pursuits then there's High hard goals

then you've got your annual goals

breaking down your high hard goals into

what you can achieve within a given year

we've got quarterly goals monthly goals

and then weekly goals and then of course

we have to execute these on a daily

basis now don't worry if this seems a

little overwhelming I'm going to take

you through it step by step and show you

how to actually construct this so you

can become gold erected so that you're

always living and working in a way

that's on track towards your greatest

goal this brings us to the first

preliminary step for building your goal

stack which is to expand your

possibility space now growing up in

Ireland my little brother kin and his

friends shared a passion for rugby they

were equally skilled but as they grew

their paths took wildly different turns

one of the boys set his sights high he

wanted to play for his local County team

given a skill he believed this was

possible he trained accordingly

following a standard regimen and playing

in local leagues his actions aligned

with his belief and he achieved his goal

of making the county team the other boy

dreamed even bigger he told the other

two boys that he planned to play for the

provincial team he knew would take much

more practice but he believed it was

possible so he sought out better

training he traveled further for tougher

competition he invested his Savings in

higher quality Equipment all thanks to

his expanded thinking his belief that he

could reach the provincial team but my

brother kin he was a little different as

an 8-year-old he didn't just dream of

County or provincial Glory he saw

himself captaining the Irish national

team even competing in the World Cup it

was a ludicrous goal for a little kid

kind adults would dismiss with a

condescending smile but because he

believed the seemingly impossible future

was possible he didn't just train harder

he uprooted his life taking actions that

the other two boys would never have even

conceived of as worth taking or possible

to take Kellen sought out legendary

coaches that pushed his body to the

Limit his expanded belief in what was

possible led him to Black Rock College a

renowned institution known for producing

Elite rugby Talent without this

expansive belief kale wouldn't have

taken these actions he easily could have

peaked playing rugby against his friends

or the local team team he simply

wouldn't have seen any other option as

viable and years later as I watched kin

lead the Irish national team and play in

Paris for the Rugby World Cup I marveled

at the width and expansiveness of his

conviction and how it had led him to

this point he had turned an improbable

gold into a reality and it struck me

that these three boys all started with

the same raw skill the difference was in

what they believed they could become

their possibility space their internal

map of what they saw as possible for

themselves dictated the roads they saw

and the routes they dared to take the

bigger your thinking The Wider your

possibility space this concept

possibility space comes from complexity

science and possibility space refers to

the full range of potential States or

outcomes that a complex system can

occupy similarly your possibility space

holds your belief about the potential

paths your life could take the career

outcomes that you see as viable for

yourself the relationships you think you

could realistically engage it the skill

you feel you may be able to possess

think of it like the beam of light you

use to navigate the world it determines

what you can see and what remains hidden

in the shadows like a flashlight the

first boy could only illuminate a narrow

possibility space the boy who played for

the provincial team he had a wider

flashlight Spotlight revealing more of

the possibility space but still leaving

some areas unexplored kin's flot light

however bathed every corner in light

exposing paths to extraordinary success

that others might have dismissed as

impossible and again it's not that Kenan

had more resources or Talent he was just

an eight-year-old just my little brother

he simply had a larger sense of what was

possible and worthwhile his possibility

space turned what looked like

unrealistic options or actions to the

other boys into viable ones for Kalin

that he ended up pursuing which ended up

resulting in that extraordinary outcome

another example of how your possibility

space determines your reality can be

seen with Elon Musk Elon musk's wildly

ambitious goal of making Humanity a

multiplanetary species stems from his

expansive possibility space he believed

it was possible to establish human life

on Mars This belief opened up previously

unseen options such as flying to Russia

to speak with rocket engineers and

calculating the cost difference between

raw materials and assembled Rockets Elon

musk's belief in radically cheaper

Rockets led to the Falcon 1 its success

fueled more launches more data and

ultimately the first commercial

spacecraft to dock with the ISS this

Relentless pursuit of lower costs paved

the way for reusable Rockets a feat musk

achieved with the falcon today the same

belief drives the development of

Starship a reusable spacecraft designed

to carry humans to Mars however if musk

had a narrow possibility space he might

have just taken his Paypal fortune and

decided to invest it in a fairly boring

tame SAS compy or if he had a slightly

broader possibility space maybe he would

have focused only on incremental

improvements to NASA's efficiency rather

than pioneering a transformative

approach to space exploration without

his expansive possibility space musk

wouldn't have taken the actions that

revealed the solution that ultimately

ended up matching his vision the

possibility space is the invisible force

that shapes Our Lives it determines what

you see as possible to pursue in the

first place the actions that are

available to you to follow and of course

those actions that end up creating the

outcomes that are available to you or

not so when building your goal stack to

become goal directed you want to expand

your possibility space otherwise you

will create blindness to options that

would unlock order of magnitude greater

outcomes now here are three ways to

expand your possibility space first

there's belief contagion belief

contagion also known as social contagion

is the most widely recognized way to

expand your possibility space it turns

out that all of those old self-help

quotes you've probably heard like show

me your friends and I'll show you your

future you become The Five People You

spend the most time with or proximity as

power they're actually accurate at a

neurological level the science shows

that beliefs are stored in the same part

of the brain of social interaction which

is why surrounding yourself with people

who have a larger possibility space can

be transformative your brain's

ventromedial prefrontal cortex acts kind

of like a belief vampire strengthening

beliefs that match what you already

think and changing beliefs when faced

with new information especially when it

comes from credible sources it matches

what your social group believes or

triggers an emotional response this

shows just how much our social

interactions and connections shape what

we believe and proximity to people

drives belief expansion or contraction

more than almost anything else the

second way way to expand your

possibility space is through Brute Force

big thinking just pushing yourself to do

what Kin did to think big by asking

questions like what would 100 times this

goal or outcome look like or what would

I attempt if I knew I couldn't fail what

goals have I dismissed as unrealistic or

impossible philosopher and psychonaut

Terren McKenna who explored the outer

edges of human consciousness and

returned to Rave about what he saw like

to ask this really simple but profound

question what would I do if I could do

anything and bear in mind a good goal is

impossible to reach with current

resources imagine a startup a new

company with three team members what if

they set goals based on the assumption

that this company would always only have

these three team members that would be

absurd when a business sets long-term

goals it assumes it will add resources

people Capital capabilities to make the

goal possibility assume the same for

yourself you may not have the knowledge

the skills the work ethic the traits the

connections the resources to hit your

goal right now but don't set the goal as

limited by that assume that you will

amalgamate them along the way as you go

if you set goals based on current

resources skills contacts abilities

whatever it is you're forever going to

be anchored to these and limited by them

instead set goals that seem impossible

given your current situation your

resources will change on route to the

goal from there your big thinking will

become easier over time through goal

attainment which will expand your

selfefficacy and that's the third way to

expand your possibility space through

goal attainment and building

self-efficacy now self-efficacy is your

belief in your ability to achieve goals

simple as that as you set and Achieve

goals your possibility space expands

like running towards a receding horizon

line each success reinforces and expands

your possibility space allowing you to

set and Achieve even bigger goals take

Elon Musk for example building and

selling first company then founding and

selling PayPal expanded his possibility

space he didn't start with the goal of

sending humans to Mars but each success

made that seemingly impossible goal

achievable thus widening his possibility

space this is why it's so key to have a

goal stack in the first place you have

to set goals in order to become goal

directed but you also have to set them

in order to attain them so you can build

the increased self-efficacy the

reinforcing sense that you can achieve

goals which will lead over time to a

bigger possibility space and bigger and

bigger goals from there on out and this

brings us to the next step of building

your goal stack the difference between a

dreamer and a doer is the dreamer stays

stuck in the big thinking not knowing

what steps to take next even with big

thinking they remain a leaf in the wind

fantasizing rather than executing one of

the main reasons dreamers don't achieve

their goals is that the goals weren't

reverse engineered such that there's

alignment between your minute to- minute

actions and your decade to decade Vision

the goal directed doer Bridges this Gap

by reverse engineering goals this

involves starting with a desired outcome

or goal and working backwards

systematically to determine every

necessary step to achieve that outcome

this brings us to the Second Step which

is reverse engineering your goal stack

now it's time to actually build out your

goal stack this is what will Orient your

Consciousness and structure it for Flow

State but to orient you again here's

another quick overview of each layer of

the goal stock we've got that infinite

purpose then High hard goals annual

goals quarterly goals monthly goals

weekly goals and daily goal directed

actions and we're going to reverse

engineer from an infinite and

intentionally unattainable purpose all

the way down to the actions you need to

take hour to hour first let's pinpoint

your purpose now earlier I told you how

at the age of 13 I experienced a head

injury that had profound effects on my

mental state and I stumbling across that

book on goal setting gave my life

Direction just before I stumbled upon

the book I was at the peak of my psychic

and as a teen lost confused identityless

reading books about life's purpose and

this led me to believe that purpose was

a static entity something that you

discover through introspection but this

approach left me plagued with endless

uncertainty then having struggled with

my health so much I decided I wanted to

help others with theirs so I chose to

pursue becoming a doctor in doing this

my understanding of purpose began to

shift I realize the purpose isn't

necessarily something that finds you

rather it's something that you simply sh

choose and then iterate upon as you

engage with life in other words I

realize that purpose is more a verb than

a noun it's something you do not

something that you have I didn't need to

find it at a treasure chest lying deep

in my psyche it's subject to constant

revision and may change with the seasons

of life it's not something to overly

identify with or even get overly

anchored to it's a functional tool so

instead of finding my purpose I realized

that I could just pick a problem I asked

myself something messed up about the

world that I wish wasn't so messed up

that I resonate with personally and the

idea that anyone out there could

struggle with their health like me

bothered me and this changed everything

it instantly lowered the stakes around

finding some lofty purpose and gave my

life Direction becoming a doctor as I

said before even though I didn't end up

becoming a doctor in the end it gave my

life meaning purpose and Direction and

creative movement and momentum this

approach actually reminded me of rby how

the hell do you know what position your

best start on the Rugby field without

getting on the field where you got to

get into play there's no way to know but

once you're in Play Your Role will

self-correct and clarify itself fast the

assumption that conviction certainty and

confidence in your goals or direction

are prerequisites to determining a

direction is a misconception that

seriously hinders progress limits

potential and wastes years of many

people's lives so here's the rule pick a

problem not a purpose ask if I could

change one thing about the world what

would it be maybe it's something you see

personally with your friends family or

the World At Large the key is to not

overthink it this also addresses the

common problem of picking a niche for

wouldbe entrepreneurs for example you're

walking along a beautiful beach but

instead of pristine sand you find it

littered with plastic bottles that has

washed ashore problem here is plastic

pollution in the oceans your potential

purpose to create a world where oceans

and marine life Thrive free from the

negative impact of human activities or

you see a news report about a community

where children have to walk miles every

day just to collect water from a

polluted river risking their health and

missing out on school the problem access

to clean water your potential purpose to

build a world where basic human rights

are respected and upheld for all or

maybe your friend has been struggling

with depression but they're afraid to

seek help because they don't want to be

seen as weak or Crazy by others the

problem here may be mental health stigma

your potential purpose is to ensure that

every person on Earth has the resources

they need to live a healthy and

dignified life or you might already be

working on a problem you picked maybe

you're an athlete and you want to

advance the frontier of human

performance maybe you work for Google

and the problem you're picking is to

pursue their mission of organizing the

world's information the key here is to

realize that clarity about your

direction in life is a choice it's

similar to order of food off a dinner

menu maybe you come to the restaurant

and you already know what you want but

the chances are if you're like most

people you don't you get there you look

at the menu you order something and then

you eat it believe it or not it's kind

of similar with choosing a direction or

a purpose in life some people come to

life knowing what they want to eat on

the menu or they figure it out really

early on but most have to look at the

menu and just pick Unsure how it's

actually going to taste just pick so you

don't become starved with purpose and

over time the problem you pick can

evolve into a purpose all right so

you've picked a problem to give your

life purposeful Direction at a high

broad level now let's turn your purpose

into a plan through reverse engineering

The Next Step is to set what's called a

high hard goal to illustrate how to set

High hard goals consider the Strange

Case of the man who ate an airplane the

first time he swallowed glass he was 9

years old thus began Michelle lao's

fondness for eating dangerous objects in

1959 gastroenterologist examined him his

condition Pika a taste for unusual

nonnutritive items this launched an

incredible career mon Mau Mr edol which

was his nickname was known to eat 2

pounds of

every day how well he would reduce metal

objects into smaller pieces and keep his

throat lubricated with mineral oil

throughout his career his diet included

18 bicycles seven TV sets two beds 15

Supermarket trolleys one must wonder

what was going through his mind as he

munched through the 14th trolley by the

way a computer a coffin including the

handles skis and six chandeliers but the

Pinnacle in 1978 he ate an entire Cessna

150 airplane more precisely he began

eating it in 1978 it was a piece by

piece process that took 2 years in 1980

he emerged Victorious from the Battle of

man versus flying machine now how the

hell did he do this how did Michelle

manage to pull this off well he used the

same process we're going to use for

architecting your goal stack reverse

engineering reverse engineering turns

large goals into small achievable steps

it clarifies the tiny task involved in

achieving a Titanic goal and sets a

timeline to get them done but first what

is your high hard goal what's your

equivalent of Michelle's airplane well

in the 1960s Dr Edwin lock conducted

groundbreaking research on goal setting

and motivation he found that setting

specific challenging goals led to higher

performance than setting easy vague or

no goals at all Lock's research laid the

foundation for understanding the

psychological mechanisms behind

motivation and performance then the term

High hard goals coined by sports

psychologist Stanley beum encapsulates

the type of goals that lock found most

effective and that can facilitate flow

experiences High hard goals are both

challenging and require significant

effort pushing individuals to the edge

of their abilities and demanding full

concentration and engagement a high hard

goal is an ambitious long-term objective

that takes 1 to 5 years to achieve High

hard goals force you to grow and develop

new skills when you pursue Higher Goals

you create the conditions necessary for

entering Flow State and achieving

Optimal Performance in m Michelle Mr

eols story eating the airplane was the

high hard goal Michelle deconstructed

the parts of the plane with its

subcomponents then he started with the

most manageable part ground it down and

then took his first spoonful of lead you

want to do the same with your goals from

airplane to spoonful of dust now let's

ground it with another example suppose

you want to start a billion dooll

climate tech company your high hard goal

could be build a climate tech company

that reaches a valuation of a billion

within 5 years to achieve this high goal

you need to reverse engineer it and

break it down to smaller annual goals

the high hard goal is your airplane but

we need to work backwards from the

outcome and grind it down to a spoonful

of dust in order to eat it using this

example here are some example annual

goals year one is to validate problem

and solution to develop prototypes and

secure initial funding in year two maybe

you want to build the team refine the

product and establish Partnerships and

in year three you decide you're going to

scale the business and secure

significant funding now you can see that

each year builds upon the previous one

then the next step is to take the year

one annual goal and break it down into

quarterly goals here are examples of

what your quarterly goals for the year

one may be maybe you decide that in

quarter 1 you're going to conduct market

research identify target market and then

Define the problem to be solved and in

quarter 2 based on the defined problem

you're going to develop a prototype

solution and gather user feedback maybe

in quarter three you're going to refine

the Prototype based on user feedback and

each quarter builds upon the

achievements of the previous one

creating a logical progression towards

the ultimate goal now continuing with

our reverse engineering let's create

monthly goals that directly support the

q1 goal month one maybe you identify

target market and conduct 40 customer

interviews to gather insights about

their needs and pain points in mode two

maybe you analyze interview data to

identify common themes and Define a

clear problem statement and maybe mode

three you ideate potential solutions to

the defined problem and craft a unique

value proposition that sets Your

solution apart now next next let's plan

weekly goals that directly lead to

achieving the month one goals week one

maybe you decide you're going to create

a customer interview script and identify

50 potential interviewees who fit the

target market criteria week two you're

going to conduct the first 10 customer

interviews using the script you get the

idea for week three and for week four by

ensuring that each level of the goal

stack directly supports and leads to the

next completing each goal set the stage

for the next much like Domino's falling

in a precisely planned sequence now bear

in mind as you do this you don't want to

get too caught up in perfecting every

detail up front your reverse engineering

doesn't need to be Flawless things will

become clearer As you move forward think

of it less like waterfall project

development where you plan out

everything in detail before even

starting and then follow that plan

exactly despite learning new things and

much more like The Lean Startup approach

you set a Direction but you hold the

plans lightly refining as you go the act

of moving ahead will illuminate the

right path the skill is to approximate

as close as possible to what the next

step may be and as far as possible out

in the chain of course it's not going to

be perfect you can't read the future but

you want to map it out in a lot more

detail than most do regardless so don't

put too much pressure on yourself sketch

out your best estimation of the reverse

engineered sub goals needed to reach

your high hard goals with that in mind

at this point you should have built out

a goal stack comprised of a series of

steps that lead to your high hard goal

with the goal stack you've anchored

yourself to a goal to structure your

Consciousness the first step in becoming

goal directed but now how do we convert

this goal stack into daily hourly and

minute by minute actions that actually

lead us up the staircase and attain that

critical minute to decade alignment well

this brings us the absolute core driver

of Peak Performance and productivity

which is to commit the goal directed

actions now that you've built your goal

stack you've given some longer term

structure to your Consciousness you

still have to deal with what to do in

any given moment what's right in front

of you you still to deal with the

demands of the day and the dozens of

decisions that come along with that how

do you ensure that the actions you take

and what you work on will actually lead

to you reaching your goals well think of

your productivity as a car Elite

performers spend nearly all their time

driving directly to their destination

taking the best route possible on the

other hand most people spend a tiny

percentage of their time actually

driving directly to the destination 90%

of it is spent driving in circles down

culde saacs turning down the wrong roads

or crashing into trees and having to

reverse the this I remember during my

early years in business I was at a

business Mastermind at Powder Mountain

in Utah I was observing two different

entrepreneurs who had the same goal of

building their business to eight figures

in the same industry and I'll keep their

names private but here's a snapshot how

they spent their day aor a wakes up and

spends 15 minutes wondering what the

most important thing might be to work on

then takes a break from wondering about

it and answers all her email that has a

hunch that it might be good to improve

her branding because one of the emails

she just responded to mentioned that

branding in her company has some room

for improvement so she spends 90 minutes

on that then she gets a call from her

team and oversees what they're doing

then decides it could be good to explore

expanding their social media presence so

she spends a few hours researching

vendors calling a few of them up but

then she decides not to continue with

that she's floating through her day like

a leaf in the wind without clear

direction or orientation around gold

directed actions while entrepreneur B

knows that from the day before the

single goal for the business right now

for this quarter is to increase lead

generation she also knows that for this

month the single most important way to

do that is to focus on the most

effective marketing channel which is

Facebook ads she also knows that the

most important way to improve Facebook

ads is by rewriting all the ad creative

so she sits down for 3 hours drops into

flow and rewrites every ad sends them

out to her team members to implement and

then ties up the rest of the Loose Ends

and finishes her day the night before

she had determined everything and before

checking anything she attacks that one

thing that she knows isn't the thing

that will drive her her toward that goal

of getting her business to a figures so

think of your goal stack as a towering

stack of dominoes the top of the whole

structure you need to identify the one

key Domino that will trigger the best

cascading Chain Reaction unlike everyday

tasks that keep you busy but not truly

progressing these are the tasks that

directly Propel you toward where you

want to go with maximum speed these

Domino toppling tasks are called go

directed actions a gold directed action

is simply the action that will progress

you more toward a given goal than any

other possible action conceivable it's

an action that when completed directly

brings you one step closer to your high

hard goal or whatever goal it is that

you're pursuing it's the Domino that

knocks down the next domino in line most

effectively tasks that aren't gold

directed action are the equivalent of

being hamster on a wheel there's a lot

of activity and movement But ultimately

the hamster isn't going anywhere

performing goal directed actions while

in a flow state is the Cornerstone of

Peak Performance now as you're learning

about goal setting when a quick tell you

about a goal we have for the channel

which is to get to a million subscribers

by the end of the year we're growing

rapidly and we think we're going to be

able to do it but only with your help

and if you're able to help us pull that

off we will release a free chapter of

our upcoming book on Flo at the end of

the year when we hit the million

subscribers thanks so much for your

support much love and go ahead hit

subscribe so we can continue leveling up

your ability to access Flow State with

more consistency and reliability once in

flow within a gold rack that action our

productivity and creativity increases so

we are both working on the best possible

thing we can work on then lead us

directly to the goals and our goal stack

while also in the most effective State

of Consciousness possible in doing the

work go direct that actions also ramp up

what's called perceived importance

perceived importance is the personal

significance we assign to an activity

this Alters our neurochemistry

increasing dopamine which heightens your

motivation commitment and concentration

leading to Greater attention paid to the

task when you perceive it as more

important which in turn leads to faster

entry into Flow State so the more goal

directed your actions are the greater

the dopamine release the more flow you

will get and the easier it will become

to get into a flow state in the first

place and this is much of the reason why

we focused on developing a minimum

viable purpose by picking a problem

within the goal stock purpose increases

the perceived importance of the task the

meaningfulness of the given goal

directed action which attracts our

attention and drives us into a flow

State at this point you've grasped the

significant impact that go directed

actions have on entering Flow State and

boosting your productivity so how do you

know what your go directed actions are

well that brings us to the last step in

becoming go directed which is to

separate planning from doing most

professionals approach their work like

shotgunners against a herd of zombies in

a video game they pray and spray and the

pray having to react to every zombie as

a matter of life or death when you

become gold erected you become more like

a sniper you're high up in the sniper's

net able to survey the whole landscape

on your time with no hurry you can take

a deep breath hone in and then bam knock

out the target with maximum efficiency

to move from reacting to deciding we

need to separate planning from doing

Each of which require different modes of

cognition Divergent thinking is creative

where we link disperate and farf flowing

ideas to form something new on Virgin

thinking is when our attention Narrows

in on a single thing but both states are

critical but they don't blend well

together we want to use one or the other

diverge when planning converge when

doing separating these two brain States

through separating planning from doing

free us to act without questioning

whether or not that we're about to do is

the best thing we could do now according

to Dr canan's dual process Theory our

cognition involves two distinct systems

the fast intuitive system one for doing

and the slow analytical system to for

planning separating planning and doing

allows each system to function optimally

without interference and John sw's

cognitive load Theory posits that are

working memory has limited capacity and

trying to plan and act simultaneously

increases cognitive load the amount of

information we're trying to hold our

minds at any given time which

dramatically impairs performance and

blocks flow inversely decreasing

cognitive load increases our ability to

slide into a flow state so separating

planning from doing is critical because

it all so eliminates reactivity the more

strategic you are the less often

reactionary tasks will occur you then

get to treat each gold directed action

as an event this Clarity reduces

overwhelm and prevents you from working

excessive hours and improves your

quality of life immensely you don't need

to do as many things when you find gold

directed actions that maximally Advance

you toward your goals all the wasted

effort that is non- gold directed and

start to drop

away now as things get overwhelming and

busy to invest even more in planning to

do this at the end of each work day take

10 minutes to plan tomorrow's gold

directed actions this will ensure you

always working on the most go directed

actions while in Flow State which

amplifies your productivity while

working on those go directed actions

think of it kind of like a power down

ritual there's a few steps to it the

first is to avoid gold drip this this

step involves revisiting your goal stock

review your long-term goals at the end

of each day the purpose is to check your

daily activities against your high hard

goals to ensure alignment it helps in

identifying gos drift deviations from

your long-term objectives so you can

course correct this review acts as a

compass keeping you truly focused on

what matters most all you do here is

pull up your goal stock and make sure

that you're on course hitting your goals

based on all of the reverse engineering

you've already done the next step in the

power down ritual is to line up The

Dominoes this is where you find and line

up The Dominoes such that you can flick

one and it'll knock down the next and

the next most effectively identify the

three maximum three most critical your

directed actions for the following day

these should be tasks that have the

greatest movement toward your long-term

goals that you can possibly conceive of

these tasks should ideally be

challenging yet achievable aligning with

your skills to do this take the weekly

goals you've identified as part of your

goal stack and break them down as a

daily goal directed actions what we'll

do here is focus on one to three

critical tasks no more than three each

day that will move you closer to your

weekly Target building on our example of

a climate tech company here are the

example daily go directed actions for

week one of the goal stack Monday it

might be to draft customer interview

scripts create a list of 50 potential

interviewees Tuesday it might be to

revise and finalize our interview script

based on team feedback and prioritize

our top 20 interviewees and fine contact

info and so forth for Wednesday and

onward now daily go directed actions

turn your high hard goals into bit-sized

achievable tasks the next part is to set

clear goals each goal directed action

clear goals are quintessential flow

trigger unlike bigger goals like those

you set on a daily and weekly level and

Beyond a clear goal is an action to take

like kicking a soccer ball into the net

not broad outcomes like winning the

soccer match now the trouble most people

have when trying to set clear goals is

they don't set them anywhere near

clearly enough the key is to set wildly

specific clear goals for each of your

big gold directed actions that way the

brain doesn't have to expend resources

in wondering how why or what to do to

achieve this you want to break the task

down into micro goals even if the task

will only take an hour this way you get

a steady drip of dopamine for example

maybe the first step is to write the

intro to the presentation the second

clear goal is add the data from past

client results into the presentation

third clear goal is to design the

graphics with our brand colors this

doesn't need to take long you can write

these clear goals down within 60 seconds

then take the first step to the first

step building on the presentation

example the first step to the first step

is opening up a word processor how in

the document and saving it in the right

folder it's part of your power down

ritual when you map out your gold

director actions with these wildly clear

minuscule clear goals within the task

and take the first step of the first

step you can dive right into work the

next day and get into flow think of it

like having a personal trainer in the

gym all you need to do is lift the

weights they move you each machine load

up the weights and all you need to do is

push compare this to wondering around

the gym trying to configure different

machines wondering how many sets you

should do of each thing how much weight

you should add whether you did too many

bicep curls or not enough legs on and on

and on clear goals are would help you

turn gold directed actions into

something similar the final step of this

power down ritual is to clear out any

undone tasks and tie down all Loose Ends

so you have a free and clear runway for

working on gold directed actions the

next day the average knowledge worker

never does anything close to this power

down ritual at best they'll make a

somewhat arbitrary bullet list on a

Monday often determined by a superior or

whatever mood they happen to be in in

the moment it's not all anchored to the

long longterm Vision it's not reverse

engineered and it's not scheduled into

the calendar so that it actually gets

done on the other hand the most elite

performance on Earth are the most gold

directed that's just how it is there's a

conscientiousness about how each moment

is being spent and the degree to which

it actually has to be thought out as to

whether it will move them maximally

forward or not and a level of violent

attack on those go directed actions that

leads to extreme accomplishment the

degree to which you effective at

identifying go directed actions is the

to which you will minimize wasted effort

and maximize goal attainment with

minimal sacrifice the aim is to make

sure that every hour of the day is

disproportionally allocated toward gold

directed actions building your goal

stack gives structure to your

Consciousness gold directed actions

ensure that what you are working on now

will lead you up the goal stack to where

you want to be in the far future and

clear goals give us a target for our

attention and drive us into flow living

your goal stack is the way you maximize

minute to de alignment which structures

your Consciousness and gives your moment

to moment Consciousness Harmony by anre

it within the context of a goal even if

that North Star is decades away from the

present moment it harmonizes your

Consciousness to tie all of this

together here's a model for becoming

goal directed by leveraging the three

key pillars of being goal directed your

goal stock goal directed action and

clear goals for flow the gold directed

pyramid aligns aspiration with action

and attention picture this you're

standing at the base of a massive

inspiring pyramid the pyramid is your

guide to achieving your most ambitious

aspirations and living truly fulfilling

life first off you've got the base of

the pyramid which is your goal stack the

aspiration the base of the pyramid is

your purpose a meaningful problem to

solve that fuels your ambition Above

This Foundation is a staircase of

progressively smaller blocks your high

hard goals broken down into annual

quarterly monthly and weekly Targets

this is your goal stack with each level

supporting the one above it linking

daily actions to long-term aspiration

then youve got the core your go directed

action at the pyramid's heart a glowing

path of Stepping Stones Ascend to the

Apex each stone is a gold directed

action a high impact task that propels

you forward and creates a domino effect

of progress the stones shine brightly

contrasting the dimmed surroundings

emphasizing the importance of

prioritizing gold directed actions over

less critical activities and then you've

got the summit your clear goals

attention at the Pinnacle a focused

Light Beam illuminates the path

representing your clear goals the

specific actionable substeps for each

goal directed action this light shows

the immediate next action to take

providing exact directions to initiate

flow it symbolizes how clear goals

command Focus eliminate ambiguity

minimize distractions and enable deep

concentration end each day with a power

down ritual review goal stack plan

tomorrow's gold directed actions and set

clear goals start each day with your

most important goal directed actions

clear letting clear goals guide you into

a flow State regularly review and

realign actions with aspirations or

correcting As you move forward because

getting into the deep now through flow

requires clarification of the far future

and to build the far future you need

time in the Deep now deep in a flow

State producing your greatest work the

deeper the Flow State you experience now

and the more what you work on in that

flow State ties to shaping the far

future the more gold directed you are it

EMES actions with meaning and

responsibility it's the antidote to

apathy The Cure from bom and anxiety and

revitalizes a directionless life into

one of clarity and fulfillment now if

you want to take this deeper there's a

way to power up your long-term goals

with intrinsic motivators that way no

matter what kind of external progress

you're making towards your goals you

still have unwavering consistency and

motivation to keep climbing click the

video on screen to find out how