Setting goals is easy. Achieving them? Well, that’s the hard part, right? Fortunately, you can use psychological tricks to coerce your brain into sticking with your goals. Review and implement some (if not all) of the 7 ways to trick your brain into folllowing through on your goals, so you can be on the path to having and enjoying your ideal business and ideal life.
By understanding how your mind works against you, you can deploy clever strategies to override self-sabotage. Ready to learn how? Let me share 7 sneaky ways to help you follow through on your business and personal goals, so you can accelerate your results to have your ideal business and ideal life.
- Micro commit to Small Tasks
When a goal feels too imposing, your brain panics and gives up before starting. Let’s say you want to read 52 books this year—that’s a book a week! Instead of fixating on the big picture, shift your focus to bite-sized tasks.
Commit to reading just one chapter a night or 15 pages before bed. These “micro commitments” feel achievable, tricking your brain into cooperating one tiny step at a time.
According to research, people who break large projects into smaller tasks complete 92% more goals.
- Eliminate Excuses In Advance
Your brain loves making excuses. Eliminate its go-to rationalizations by preparing solutions ahead of time. For example, if your workout gear is dirty, it often derails your gym plans. Always keep a freshly laundered set of workout gear ready in your bag the night prior.
“By planning for obstacles, it’s easier to move past them, which leads to higher execution rates,” says psychologist Dr. Timothy Pychyl. Disarm your excuse-generator brain by strategizing backup plans even for unlikely obstacles.
- Temporarily Restrict Choices
Faced with unlimited options, your brain gets overwhelmed and struggles to pull the trigger. Thus, temporarily restricting choices helps spark momentum. Want to finally write a specific book that has been on your must-read list for a while?
Disable the internet on your computer for blocks of time to prevent distractions. Similarly, create arbitrary restrictions, like vowing to only write at your local coffee shop or waking up an hour early before work, to help kickstart your creative flow.
By putting temporary barriers around common obstacles, you limit decision fatigue and trick your mind into following through.
- Compete Against Past Self
Leverage your natural competitive instincts by pitting current you versus past you. Studies show that people persist longer on unpleasant tasks when told they compete against peers.
Why not compete against your former, lazier self too? Set specific metrics like beating your word count or page numbers from the week before.
Imagine edging out your prior efforts taps into the innate human drive to triumph over rivals. Use this to incentivize your brain to stick to writing goals, even when motivation lags.
- Go All In On Temptation
Here’s a bizarre trick psychologists swear by to help you give into the temptation completely. Say you’re trying to avoid late-night snacking. Allow yourself to binge eating cookies or chips once during the witching hours. Get it totally out of your system.
Fully indulging in the craving suddenly makes it lose its power over you. This tricks the brain into realizing the binge isn’t as enjoyable as its anticipation built it up to be in your mind. For best results, do this in conjunction with a new competing habit, like nightly reading sessions or meditation.
- Stop Counting Sheep, Schedule Worry Time Instead
Here’s an unusual fix for insomnia: stop trying to quell your racing midnight thoughts. Instead, designate 5-10 minutes of “scheduled worry time” earlier in the day to vent anxieties. Keep pen and paper handy to jot down rumination for processing later during the allotted window.
Come lights out, remind yourself that concerns are saved for tomorrow’s angst appointment. Research shows that compartmentalizing worries into designated daily slots helps free our minds for better sleep. So, trick your overactive brain by postponing fretting with assigned worry sessions.
- Go Public
Evolutionarily, the brain fears rejection from the tribe. Tap into this by publicly sharing your goals to create social accountability. Post progress photos on Instagram, announce milestones on Facebook, or blog about your literary adventures.
Knowing that peers are watching keeps us consistent due to fear of humiliation. According to Dominican University research, you’re 65% more likely to meet goals shared publicly over merely personal ones. Fool your brain by pretending the whole village is tracking your efforts.
The human mind has all sorts of ways to undermine goal achievement. Outsmart it by strategically tricking your brain by using these psychological tactics.
From micro committing to going all in on temptations to scheduling worry time, you’ll discover what works best. Stay alert for mental sabotage and be compassionate with yourself.
With playful experimentation, you’ll unlock the focus needed to transform your dreams into reality. Ready to become the best version of you this year? Let’s do this!
Unlock a blueprint to creating and having your ideal business and ideal life by scheduling your free consultation with me today!
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