This Tactic Is 2x More Effective Than Having A Goal

I lost 100lbs.

At the age of 17, I weighed 244lbs.

After I finished college, all 100lbs were gone.

(Would’ve taken much less time if I knew what I was doing, but what’s done is done.)

While the weight is long gone, the impact of that experience has never left me.

I center much of my life around the idea of never becoming fat again.

This idea informs the food I eat, my exercise frequency, and my overall lifestyle.

In a way, not wanting to be fat is a great fire for my discipline than wanting to be thin.

This is called an Anti-Vision.

As far as I know, it was the content creator Dan Koe who coined the term Anti-Vision.

Your anti-vision is something that you don’t want to happen, whether it’s being poor, fat, alone, etc.

Sometimes, wanting to avoid the worst-case scenario for yourself can light a fire under your ass more effectively than having a goal can.

I mean, think about the concept of Hell (or any other negative afterlife).

Millions of people act in certain ways, not because they seek the benefits of a positive afterlife, but because they want to avoid the consequences of a negative one.

As a threat, you’ll only ever hear “You’re going to Hell,” but you never hear “You’re gonna miss out on Heaven!”

Really makes ya think.

It’s like the common question: “Would you rather be feared or loved?” Both can work, but it depends on the person.

If getting rich is a goal that doesn’t seem to motivate you enough, try creating an anti-vision of being poor instead. That’ll get you moving.

For myself, I have certain goals for body improvements, and I take them at my own pace.

(If you have body improvement goals, the Balanced Body Blueprint can help make your workouts much simpler.)

But you know what trumps them all in terms of priority?

My Anti-Vision of being fat.

If had to choose one, would I rather reach my goal of doing a front lever? Or prioritize avoiding my anti-vision of being fat again?

Well, not doing a front lever doesn’t give me nightmares, so my decision is clear.

Fortunately, your goal and anti-vision usually result in the same thing: making your life better.

If you feel like you’ve been dragging your feet with certain goals or lifestyle changes, create an anti-vision.

If you don’t, it could be bad.

• You could be stuck in a constant state of inaction because your goal hasn’t been framed in a desirable enough way for you.

• You could fall victim to your anti-vision because you never clarified to yourself what you don’t want out of life.

😈 DEVIL’S ADVOCACY 😈

But what about the super cool and super valid reasons for not trying to avoid what you don’t want?

• “My goals are a good enough motivation.” (Maybe, but have you reached them yet?)

• “Anti-Visions seem like negative thinking.” (I’m surprised that someone with reading comprehension this bad got this far into the newsletter.)

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

• More than anything else, you’ll gain clarity from what you don’t want, which will make it easier to discover what you do want your future to be like.

• “Know thy enemy.” If you understand what’s unappealing to you, it’ll be far easier to avoid.

• You can pair your related goals and anti-visions together, giving you some damn good reasons to strive for what you want and avoid pitfalls along the way.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Become observant of reality. Just pay more attention, whether it’s on the news, in real life, or in a work of fiction, just observe.

2. Do you see anything you don’t want to experience? Is it, in fact, the opposite of what you want to experience?

3. Write down that “opposite” as if it were a goal.

4. This is now your anti-vision, so do what you need to do in order to avoid it.

Okay, bye!