# Reverse Goal setting When you define your goals, some of those might be really ambitious and require a long time and tons of effort to achieve. Those goals might be the most valuable as they are the most inspiring and also the ones that will help you grow the most. But ambitious goals can leave you puzzled. Even if they’re defined in a SMART way (cfr [[SMART Goals]], the path from where you are to where you want to be might be really unclear). That’s where Reverse Goal Setting comes in. ## What is Reverse Goal Setting? Although he didn’t invent it, [[Justin Sung]] is the one that I found to best explain this idea (check out the video in the references section). Reverse Goal Setting is the idea of starting from the end and **imagining what and who it takes to achieve a specific goal**. Look at the end goal, and identify **who would be the ideal person (or group) to achieve that goal**. Then, identify what they would need to achieve the goals. Identify their: - Skills - Knowledge - Characteristics - Assets ## Examples of characteristics (taken from Justin’s video) - Time management - Task prioritization skills - Focus and distractibility - Learning skills and efficiency - Specific knowledge - Specific skills - Specific degrees or qualifications - Networks and connections - Experiences - Finances - Resilience and emotional self-regulation - Growth mindset - Cultural knowledge - … ## Evaluate the level required for each characteristic and the gaps For each characteristic you feel is mandatory for that person to succeed. Identify on a scale from 1 to 10, the level at which that person should be. Next, for each characteristic, try and evaluate your current level, also on a scale from 1 to 10. Now you have a better idea about the gap between where you are currently at, and where you need to be in order to be able to achieve your goal. ## Identify drivers and barriers Now, identify the people/constraints/circumstances/resources that will stand in your way while trying to achieve your goal. It may be your motivation, your energy, your life circumstances, people who wouldn’t support you, money time, etc. List everything that comes to mind. Be as specific as possible. For each barrier/constraint, think about ways to work around the issue and resources you could use to turn things around. ## Make a plan Now that you have imagined how the goals could be achieved, whether by lifting barriers and leveraging drivers/advantages and/or by improving your skills/knowledge/mindset/…, all that is left to do is to make a plan to go from A to Z. Create your plan by starting at the end goal. Imagine what things would be like one step back. Then repeat over and over until you get back to where you are now. The closer you get to “now”, the clearer and the more actionable the steps should be. In the short term, you need clear and detailed steps (intermediary SMART goals). In the long term, you can accept just having a vague idea. You will iterate your way to success and clarify your plans as you make progress toward your goal. This is of course abstract, but it’s a great way to make achievable plans for complex long-term goals. Whatever plan you end up with will likely be better than poking around in the dark, now really knowing what to do next! 🚀 ## References -  ## Related - [[Big and hairy goals]] - [[Ambitious goals make things happen]] - [[SMART Goals]]