I could literally be thrown on stage tomorrow and talk goal setting with no preparation because I love it. It hasn't always been that way, but through learning NLP I came to love it. If you're new to NLP, NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, and it is a pseudoscientific approach to communication and personal development that was developed back by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, which I love so much. I’ve found SMART goal-setting has been extremely helpful for accomplishing my goals over the last few years , but using the NLP model has taken it to an entirely new level.

You can become a certified Neural Linguistic Programming practitioner inside of The Elevate Method. But essentially it's all about the program and the patterns of our mind is the way in which we interpret the world around us and our own experiences. When you learn about NLP, you can take your life and your success to the next level because you get to own and step into your power.

Did you know that January 17th is known as ditch new years resolution day aka National Quitters Day. This is the day where most people throw in the proverbial tile with their goals. Not because they're a failure, not because they don't want good things, but because they don't have the right systems, strategies and beliefs in place to see their goals through. They then put themselves in a position where they struggle with actually accomplishing their goals.

Next it becomes overwhelming or it feels unaligned and before you know it they have thrown in the proverbial towel with their goals. This is a cycle we have all been on, but I am excited because after today you can get off the never ending merry go round and enjoy the rest of the park aka life!

What’s desired by you is available to you. I tell my clients this all the time and below is one of my favorite quotes that aligns with that. I don't believe that God puts visions, desires and dreams, hopes and aspirations into our heart in vain. I believe that our desires are a safe form of guidance showing us what's available for us

If you’re ready to bring your vision to life, you’re in the right place because today I am going to show you how.

So we've all heard of SMART Goals

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant and

Time based

The research shows that when we're setting goals, we want to make sure that they fall in these categories. We want to make sure they're specific we want to make sure we can measure them. We want to make sure they're actually within our reach. For example, you can't set a goal to say that you want to get your license in 6 months and you're 14 years old, right?

It is also very important to put a time or deadline on it so you know at what speed you need to move.

I definitely still set SMART goals this way, but what I have done is I have added in the NLP version of smart goals in addition to that. This helps me to tweak and adjust my goals a little and my results have been mind blowing.

So what I want you to do is to consider a goal you have. Something you may have been dreaming or hoping for over the last year.

Let’s use this strategy to lay out your approach.

Now remember with your goals you want it to be a SMART goal before you can move to the NLP SMART version. Meaning you can’t identify something vague like “I want to be successful” What does success mean to you ? Is it a certain income goal, a number of clients , a specific job promotion etc.

Once you've really perfected that, then you move through the NLP part of it to really tweak and make it apply.

So let’s use the example that your goal is that you want to lose 25lbs in the next 6 months so that you can fit into your maid of honor dress for your sisters wedding .

You may write it out like It is now June 3, 2025 and I am now down 25lbs, It’s one day before the wedding and my dress fits me like a glove.

Notice I wrote it as if it’s already happened. This is the first trick to leverage the power of your subconscious mind- to write it as if now. Your subconscious doesn’t want to make you out to be a liar so it looks for ways to bring the goal to your reality NOW. I also list smart goals in the positive because your subconscious cannot register negatives.

Now I know that you know about the traditional SMART goals let’s move to NLP Smart Goals what you want to do is you want to take it to the next level. Because what we're doing is weaving the science and your subconscious mind into your goal setting process. Let’s break it down….

S-See Yourself

When you're setting a goal using this Smart Goal NLP acronym, the first thing is you want to ask yourself, can you see yourself in it? And the reason that this is really powerful is because visualization is probably one of the most underutilized resources that we have access to. You can learn more about the power of visualization in my YouTube Video.

If you can see it in your mind, you can fold it in your reality. So when my clients come to me and they express a goal that they want to accomplish, I always say, do you see yourself in it? And what I do is I bring in all of their senses with it. So if you see yourself accomplishing this goal, what does it look like when you lose that weight? What do you hear people saying?

What does it feel like when you slide on that bridesmaid's dress? Really being able to envision what that is makes it feel real. Bringing in all of your senses because your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between reality and your imagination, and it doesn't want to make you out to be a liar. So when you tell your subconscious mind that you've accomplished something, it automatically goes to task for you to figure out how to bring it to fruition. Using visualization makes it feel real and gives you the momentum to make it happen.

So when you visualize, you're training your mind to magnetize to exactly what it is you want.

M-Meaningful to You

Is this goal meaningful to you? Again, that goes back to like when we talk about the smart goals relevant.

It is so important for your goal to be meaningful to you, because if it's not meaningful to you, you're not going to have a strong why, and you're not going to have that motivation to see through to the house. Let me give you an example. When I first started writing my book, it was meaningful to me because I wanted to leave a legacy for my children.

I had no idea how I was going to afford an editor or a cover designer. I had no idea how I was going to find time to write. But the goal was so meaningful for me that I made room to figure out “the how”.

I woke up early.

I watched my spending.

I delegated tasks around the house to free up time.

I practiced writing.

I practiced reading, which informed my writing.

I was very intentional because the goal was meaningful to me. I'm a firm believer that when you have a strong why behind your goal and it's meaningful to you, you have the momentum to see the goal through.

Because if you wait for motivation, you're going to have a lot of it in the beginning, and then it will start to wane. But what's really cool about having a powerful why a.k.a making the goal meaningful to you is going to continue to renew that so that you can continue to see the goal through. So when you think about this goal that I ask you to keep in the forefront of your mind, I want you to think about why it's meaningful to you. Why is it important to you? What is your why? Anchor that feeling to keep you going on your journey.

A-All Areas Of Your Life

This is what I call domino goals- goals that carry over and impact all areas of your life? So for example, we can use that weight loss goal.

Maybe it impacts your relationship because you feel like you're safe to be intimate with your husband. Losing the weight will contribute to your confidence so you show up in your business more confident when you lose that weight. It will help to improve your relationship with your kids because you're able to run through the park and go down the slides with them without feeling exhausted or depressed. You may begin to travel, as listed on your vision board because you're no longer embarrassed wearing a swimsuit. This is an example.

So consider when identifying your goal how does this impact all areas of your life?

When I set a goal that doesn't really kind of spill over into other areas of my life, I start to consider, what should I set instead or how I could tweak it. I often hear of people who set a goal for each after of their life. This is the quickest way to get overwhelmed with an already overwhelming process. This is why I am such a big advocate for goal setting in a way that carries over into all areas of your life. This also gives you buy in with your goals.

But if you set one really strong goal that carries over, you're going to notice your life improve overall and it's so beautiful to be able to witness. I love when I help my clients create these beautiful breakthroughs through the goal setting sessions.

So start to think about how that goal applies to all areas of your life. And if it doesn't, consider how you can tweak it accordingly.

Responsible/Ecological

The next letter is R for responsible. Is this a responsible goal? What I mean by this is your goal ecological meaning safe for you and for all.

So this isn't like an extreme example, but if you say something like, I have a goal to tell my boss off by the end of the year, is that really ecological? Is that really responsible? Is that really the right thing to do?

Your purpose and calling is bigger than you- so when setting goals it’s important to consider that.

When we're setting goals, we want to make sure that our goals not only serve us, but also serve the collective. When you consider the responsibility or the ecological aspect of your goal, you're going to set goals that make it a no brainer to achieve because you will see the importance.

I remember writing my very first book. I originally only wanted to write an eBook for the women who were in my small group at Church. But then the further I dug into it the more I realized that more people, then just my immediate circle, could benefit from it. This realization also gave me a draw to show up in a bigger way.

T-Toward Motivated

Being toward motivated is like having a magnet for your goal. When we set goals we are either away motivated, meaning we're trying to run away from something to accomplish our goal, or we're toward motivated meaning we are moving towards something to accomplish our goal. So if you say, for example, I want to get out of my soul sucking 9-5 you're away motivated.

You're running away from this nine to five that you hate so bad. When you do that what ends up happening is what you focus on is what you find. So the more you focus on how this job is sucking the life out of you, the more you're going to stay in a position where you're having things happen that are sucking the life out of you.

If on the flip side, you identify your goal as : I really want to create a soul aligned business that changes people's lives, where I can coach and create amazing transformations with my clients.

Now, you're toward motivated. You're moving toward what you want.

The way our subconscious mind works is what we focus on is what we find. So we want to focus on the things that we want. We want to think about the things that we want.

So for example, if I tell you right now, don't think of a purple elephant, what's going to be the first thing that pops up? What's the first thing that comes to your mind? A purple elephant.

Try this: Don't think of a green tree.

What came up? The green tree.

Because when we're saying don't do it, we're thinking of it, we still are going to think about it. Okay, so this is the reason why you have to not only write what your goals are, but consider what your goals are in a toward motivated fashion. What is it that you want to move toward?

Write your goal in that way.

So as you think about your goals moving forward I want you to think about how you can make it smart using the NLP format and watch how things begin to shift and change for you.

If you want to learn how you can weave NLP into other area’s of your life check out The ELEVATE Method an unparralleled coaching certification program that will support you with elevating your life, mind and success.