Set The Best Goals Using Practical Mental Models

Backward chaining is a model that was ad litteram devised for achieving your goals. It ensures clarity by working backwards. Define the desired outcome, the objective, first. Then imagine like you already made it. What did you do to get there? Outline the steps. Create a roadmap to concentrate on what truly matters. A chain to follow. Backwards.

In goal-setting, Hanlon’s razor reminds you to not overthink external factors. Simplicity is key. Assume challenges to arise from inexperience, randomness, or stupidity. Not malice. Frame your goals around solutions. Not frustrations. How you see things matters.

You’ve been told to set meaningful goals before. Maslow’s hierarchy helps you put that into reality. Meaningful means aligned with internal, deeper needs and aspirations. Those are part of Maslow’s pyramid. From basic security to self-actualization, goals that address these needs are more likely to resonate deeply. Thus they motivate sustained effort with no extrinsic rewards. Fuel from within.

Inertia highlights the importance of momentum. Getting started is one thing. Maintaining progression is another villain. Start small to overcome the initial resistance. Pave the way for longer, larger, lasting achievements. Play for the long haul, not the short-term burst. Effective goal-setting balances strategy—long-term objective, the big picture—with tactics—short-term efforts, the specific actions to get there. Define both to make your goals meaningful and actionable. Make your tactics small enough to align with the principle of inertia. This way you shouldn’t struggle to start nor to keep going.

Do what matters. 20 percent of your actions drive 80 percent of your results. The 80/20 rule or Pareto principle concentrates you on the vital few. The top 20 percent. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Every goal comes with an opportunity cost. Dedicate yourself to what matters most to you. To what generates value which you value. Pursuing one goal means sacrificing every other. That’s the definition of opportunity cost. So figure out the 20 percent, and invest yourself there.

Diminishing returns should remind you that over-committing to one pursuit when progress slows is irrational. Recognize when additional effort does not add meaningful value. Pivot. Refine your tactics. You can do something better. Perhaps the task is too complex. Divide and conquer. Dissect it into smaller, manageable steps. This prevents paralysis and makes large objectives feel achievable. Nothing changed in reality. Only, you found where progress slowed, took a different viewpoint, and kept going.

Hopefully your goal grows exponentially over time. That is, it has compounding benefits: learning, building habits, saving money, exercise. Prioritizing these efforts means the effort you put in now yields increasing returns over time. Interest on interest. That’s how outsized, long-term impact is created.

Additionally, make sure you aren’t just moving quickly, but moving in the right direction. Speed without direction is wasted effort. Velocity means combining speed and direction. Go fast, and go toward the right outcomes. Climb the right ladder. Achieve the direction with a meaningful goal using Maslow’s hierarchy and opportunity cost. Get your speed up with algorithms: systems that consistently propel you forward. The way to achieve goals is to build recipes around them which you can follow day in and day out. Work with algorithms. Morning and evening routines. Work schedules. Time blocks.

To have the highest chances of success, lean into your natural strengths. Focus on things that align with your innate capabilities. These are areas where you have an edge. Leverage what you are already good at. Not only can you be confident that you’ll be efficient and effective in those fields, but you’ll enjoy the process more and your chances of sticking to it skyrocket. I’m not suggesting you stay within your comfort zone. Challenge yourself. Be ambitious. Stretch yourself a bit. Just not so much that you rip and tear. Push your limits, but don’t fall into the abyss.

Lastly, pick when to maximize and when to satisfice. Understand when pursuing the best possible outcome versus choosing what’s “good enough” is sound for you. Goals should be realistic and fulfilling. Perfectionists tend to get, well, nowhere. Strike this balance to stymie over-optimization. Don’t settle too soon either. Stay somewhere in the gray area: between sheer courage and cowardice. In other words, good goals balance ambition and practicality. Find the vital tasks. Dedicate yourself to those. Choose goals curated to your strong suits and needs. Combined, this point of view should maximize achievement rates and satisfaction simultaneously. Reap those benefits.