The WMF Archives: Guest Blogger: Janel Van Beek

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Guest Blogger: Janel Van Beek

9:52 AM

Conquer Your Inner Caveman: Making Your Goal Stick

In my contest entry, I wrote of that ah-ha moment as the reason people decide to make a change. Now that you’ve committed to begin writing again, work on that unfinished writing, or begin seriously promoting your work to agents…how are you going to make sure your goal sticks?

You see, we are inherently wired by our inner caveman to focus on the here and now, not the long term, the planner in you. It’s that simple.

Example: you have a new goal to run every weekday morning before work. The alarm goes off Monday and you don’t run because you’re too tired. On Tuesday, you hear the wind howling outside and skip the run because it’s too windy, the next day, your friend can’t go with you, bla, bla bla. The days blend together and still no running happens. Over a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, you blame yourself, saying things like, I didn’t try hard enough, I didn’t have the right shoes, I should have chose a different time of day for the goal… No. The reason you didn’t meet your goal is simple: your inner caveman wiring rules over all, even exciting, new goals. Without any support, your long term planner wiring didn’t stand a chance against the caveman.

You’d never know it’s that simple when you peer into American mainstream media. Lose weight now. Get organized now. Save money in 2010! It’s a billion dollar industry…why? Because we just can’t seem to follow through on many of our goals. We’re stuck in the here and now. Unless we conquer our inner caveman, we’ll keep buying and paying for whatever we think will be that silver bullet to make our goal stick.

So how can you conquer your caveman and get your brain unstuck from the here and now? A few simple actions work for most people.

Create an environment that shows you the long term goals but also gives you compelling reasons to work on them now. In other words, you need to make your goal squeak in ways that will satisfy your caveman but still lets the planner get its way. Let’s say you have an unfinished manuscript that’s been collecting dust for months, ever since (insert family or work event) happened. You know it’s a great project and you can complete it if you just (insert some effort-oriented word) harder. You set the goal to write three days next week. This is hard because you haven’t worked on your project in months, you have kids, and you work full time. Yet you have great passion for this goal. Here are two ideas on how to make it squeak:

Create a compelling reason that is immediate and personal: If I write three days this week, I can treat myself to a latte each of those three days. No writing, no latte. It’s a special treat just for you that is immediate. If you don’t meet the goal, imagine the pain of driving right past that coffee house…

Involve your kids, the squeakiest human beings that never, ever forget anything. Put a chart on the fridge "Dad’s Writing Goals," or "Mom’s Goals for the Week of…" However you design the chart, make sure it states that if you hit your goal at the end of the week, you are taking them out for ice cream. Or to that special park or whatever is quality time with them. That’s right; they get rewarded for your work. They will hound you to no end to meet your goal.

Can you just hear it…? Did you make it yet? When will you get in three days of writing? Can we just go for ice cream today? How many scoops can we have? Do you need to go write right now? Not only will they not forget, they’ll feel a part of the goal. Being included always encourages buy-in. Perhaps they may even become less likely to interrupt you when you’re working, knowing that pulling you away from writing means pulling away from ice cream.

Of course you can’t take your kids out for ice cream every week and few of us really need a latte every day...okay, well forget the latte example. You get the idea. Once you’ve begun to really dig into your goal, you will find you will no longer need prodding to get it done. You had passion for this goal, remember?

These are just a few of the tools you can use to make your goals stick instead of fade away. Get creative and use what your caveman wants to reach your long-term goals.

You’re a writer constantly promoting your creativity. Now try using some of that same mojo on yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

More about Janel Van Beek

Janel Van Beek is a change management and communications consultant and freelance writer. She works with high level leadership on the most sticky but interesting topics of the human resources world inside a financial services company.

From Frank Lloyd Wright mansions to interviews with famous oncologists, Van Beek’s freelance work has introduced her to interesting faces and places. She is currently seeking an agent for her fiction novel, My Big, Fat, Catholic Divorce and is working on the finishing touches of a nonfiction work about rising above mediocrity.

Van Beek studied Business-Marketing at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She has been a professional consultant, writer, and trainer in the insurance industry since 1990. Van Beek enjoys racing Ironmans as well as her work as a Master Coach, helping people do what seems impossible. She lives in suburban Milwaukee with her husband and three delightful children.

Labels: article goals, contest winner, guest blogger, Janel Van Beek, writing goals

4 comments:

Angela Atkinson said...: Great post, Janel! Even though I write every day, I still battle the inner caveman on occasion LOL. What a creative way to put it! :); January 26, 2010 1:58 PM
Tracy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; January 26, 2010 2:12 PM
Todd R. Vick said...: "Inner Caveman..." Now I finally have a name for it! :) Thank you for sharing!; January 26, 2010 2:14 PM
kimbuktu said...: Your idea of getting the "squeaky" kids involved made me laugh. So funny, and so true.; January 29, 2010 1:46 PM

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