How Setting a Half-Assed Goal Can Help You Win

You probably think you have to go all in to achieve a BIGG goal. But today we’ll share how a half-assed goal might be the better way to go!

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We definitely have fun talking about this “half-assed goal” concept on The BIGG Success Show. Click the player to listen. Here’s a summary of the discussion…

Today’s show is inspired by a TED Talk by sociologist, Christine Carter.

When the pandemic hit, we all experienced a change in our routines. For Christine, one of those was exercise. She’s a BIGG goal-getter by nature and embraced the idea of outdoor running. She picked a half-marathon to train for, and spent a week meticulously creating a detailed plan…only to abandon her training after a few weeks.

To overcome her lack of motivation, Christine said she dropped her ambitious goal, and set a simple, “half-assed goal”, to run for 1-minute a day. She said it was so ridiculously easy, she was able to do it without thinking, and that enabled her to establish the habit.

Does this mean we shouldn’t set BIGG goals anymore?

BIGG goals are still important, but they don’t stand alone. You need to think BIGG, but act small. That means having both an overarching goal (i.e. your vision) and a half-assed goal (i.e. an activity goal. Put your focus almost exclusively on the half-assed goal.

Why isn’t knowing your purpose enough to overcome lack of motivation?

Because we look at purpose wrong. Your personal purpose is both practical and emotional. For most people, their purpose flows from people. For example, you may want to lose weight so that you can play with your kid (or grandkid or great-grandkid).

The Motivation Equation

In her TED Talk, Christine says being good at something requires that our effort and our motivation be equal to each other. But change requires a lot of effort, and research shows we tend to lose motivation when things are hard. That means the effort to motivation equation is off balance.

Therefore, Christine concludes that our ability to follow-through on our intentions depends on our willingness to be bad at our desired behavior.

How can we motivate ourselves to be willing to be bad at something?

Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to yourself. We tend to our beginning to another person’s middle. Or we look at SUPER successful people. We see their success, but we overlook all the effort they put in to get there. Practice makes perfect – in sports and in life. And life is the biggest game of all.

We always reach BIGG goals one small step at a time. With each step you take comes knowledge, confidence and the motivation you need to reach BIGG success!

Here’s to your BIGG success!

George “The Professor” & Mary-Lynn
Co-Founders, BIGG Success