Accomplishing Goals

In my last post, I shared all the goal setting tips and tricks I’d found in my research and journey (if you haven’t already I would thoroughly recommend reading that post prior to reading this one) but then I was left wondering where to go from there to actually accomplish these goals I had set out.

I had been seeing my lockscreen every time I opened my phone and feeling really determined to start achieving my goals but I wasn’t sure where to start which is when I realised I needed to break these goals down into more manageable chunks which I could start completing.

The problem I found was the amount of time I needed to spend researching into each of my goals in order to break them down and accomplish them felt rather overwhelming and in honesty quite pointless (after all I’d much rather be spending the copious amounts of time and energy on starting the goals than I would researching the goals). So, I left it there and I pondered for a while before inspiration struck. I don’t remember when or why but I wondered whether AI was capable of doing all the research and breaking down of my goal for me.

So, at this point, I had a go and I asked Chatgpt, and while my first prompt was rather unsuccessful, with a bit of trial and error I perfected my prompt:

“My goal is to [insert goal here]. I need you to become an expert on achieving goals. Then I need you to research the advice of leading experts in [insert topic of goal here] to see what they have to say and become as knowledgeable as you can on this topic. I then need you to break down [insert goal here] into actionable steps. Be highly specific, include any information you find that will help me complete theses steps but in an easy to read and understand note form.”

Now, I realised AI can’t actually achieve my goals for me, but I wanted to see how much more I could get out of Chatgpt and how helpful it could be to me. Through this journey of discovery (consisting of quite a bit of trial and error) I realised I could get Chatgpt to create me a table schedule of everything I need to do to build a small but daily habit which would result in achieving my goals.

Throughout this Chatgpt taught me a lot about goals (mainly from its own research of James Clear and other prominent figures in the field) which I could then include in my prompt. For example, you’ve got to make lots of little changes and improvements slowly over time (asking what is something I could do that would get me 1% closer to my goal), or that it’s not just about the desired outcome but thinking how the goal will change the way we perceive ourselves.

Without further ado, I present to you the prompt I would recommend you ask Chatgpt for each and every one of the goals you set (especially the ones set after reading my goal setting post):

My goal is to [insert goal here]. I need you to become an expert on achieving goals. Then I need you to research the advice of leading experts in [insert topic of goal here] to see what they have to say and become as knowledgeable as you can on this topic. I then need you to provide me with actionable steps that help me to build a daily habit which will allow me to [insert goal here]. However it is important that I fall in love with the process of [insert goal here (-ing form)] through these actionable steps. These steps should be a series of small 1% improvements to be made which achieve my desired outcome of [insert desired outcome here]. You then also need to provide me with a time frame of when I should be introducing each next improvement. These steps should also lead to a change in identity so that I view myself as more of a [insert goal here (adverb/adjective form)] person. You should be doing all the work, be decisive, make any decisions for me (there should be absolutely nothing left for me to do other than the new habit) but adjust the time frame so it allows me to try out as many of the results of your research. Be highly specific, include all the information I’ll need to complete steps but in an easy to read and understand note form. Then I want you to make the most detailed table as physically possible by putting all of the steps into a tabled schedule (so I know exactly what I’m doing and when I’m supposed to be doing it and also so I’m able to track my progress), making it even more specific than it already is.

For example if your goal was “I want to learn Spanish” the prompt would become:

“My goal is to learn Spanish. I need you to become an expert on achieving goals. Then I need you to research the advice of leading experts in learning Spanish to see what they have to say and become as knowledgeable as you can on this topic. I then need you to provide me with actionable steps that help me to build a daily habit which will allow me to learn Spanish. However it is important that I fall in love with the process of learning Spanish through these actionable steps. These steps should be a series of small 1% improvements to be made which achieve my desired outcome of understanding and speaking Spanish. You then also need to provide me with a time frame of when I should be introducing each next improvement. These steps should also lead to a change in identity so that I view myself as more of a bilingual person. You should be doing all the work, be decisive, make any decisions for me (there should be absolutely nothing left for me to do other than the new habit) but adjust the time frame so it allows me to try out as many of the results of your research. Be highly specific, include all the information I’ll need to complete steps but in an easy to read and understand note form. Then I want you to make the most detailed table as physically possible by putting all of the steps into a tabled schedule (so I know exactly what I’m doing and when I’m supposed to be doing it and also so I’m able to track my progress), making it even more specific than it already is.”

Now, by no means am I saying this prompt is perfect and will work for absolutely every goal, rather this is a tool which you can use and expand upon. For the majority of goals this prompt will work absolutely fine and you’ll be happy with the given results so you can get started on accomplishing your goals right away. If you were however unhappy by the response AI gives you, you can always respond by asking it to refine the response in ways that will suit you better until you are happy with the response you get.

Of course, this one step doesn’t ensure the goal you have set gets achieved, as achieving the goal relies on the hard work and effort you need to put in, but it’s a step in the right direction for you.

The other advice I have in regards to accomplishing your goals would be to track your progress - keep yourself motivated and give yourself the momentum to keep going by knowing how much you’ve already done and how far you’ve already come. You can also reward yourself when you hit certain milestones so you find the journey just as worthwhile and rewarding as the point at which the goal is complete.

Each goal you’ve set will be rather unique to other goals you’ve set maybe in the past or alongside this goal so be prepared that they might have different time-lines and that some might feel harder and more like a slog than others at different points of the journey - don’t let that stop you or get you down, instead embrace the challenge and find the joy in the process.

To conclude, I hope that you take this post as an opportunity to try my prompt (by copying, pasting and editing it) in ChatGPT. I'd love to know how you get on (and whether it worked for your goals) over on my Instagram - just give me a tag! Thank you for reading, I hope you have enjoyed my little guide to starting to achieve goals and found some use (and maybe even motivation) in it. Let this be your sign to bite the bullet and just get started…

Hope you have the best week,

M xx