My Goal Setting Framework, Ripped Apart

Last night I taught the youth of our church how to set goals. I want to show you the insights of what I taught them.

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---Transcript---

What's up everybody, this is Russell Brunson. Welcome back to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Today I want to talk to you guys about a really cool experience I had yesterday, that hopefully will help you with setting your goals, creating some routines, and ultimately getting the thing that you desire most in this life. All right. I hope you guys are doing awesome today. Thanks again for listening. I always appreciate the fact that you guys are here and you're paying attention, because you know what? I could be talking to myself right now, and I'm grateful for my audience at all times. But I want to tell you guys a really cool story. So in my church, I’m assuming most churches are like this, but we have a youth program, right? For the young men and the young women, and we're always trying to figure out, what are cool ways to help them and to serve them?

And I was lucky, I got asked a couple months ago from one of the leaders of our church who asked if I'd be willing to come and speak to the youth about goal setting. And they're like, "You do seminars and stuff, right? Can you come teach on goal setting?" I was like, "I do, do seminars, I've never really taught on goal setting, but I definitely am a big believer in that and I would love to come and speak." And so, last night I had a chance to actually do it and it was such a cool experience. There about 100 kids there, including my three teenagers, which was awesome. And then I got to do this thing. And obviously it ended being about a two hour session. We helped them to pick goals in four different areas of their life. We helped them pick goals. A physical goal, an intellectual goal, a social goal, and a spiritual goal.

And so, that was the thing. So I talked initially about goals and I tried to get them excited. I had one person who goes to church with us who basically said, "Goal setting's boring. Kids aren't going to want to hear about this." And I was like, "Are you kidding me? Goal setting is the greatest thing in the world. You can pick anything, and then you can go set a goal and then if you have the right process and the right path, you can achieve it." And I was thinking when I was in high school, I wanted to be State champ and I actually was a really bad wrestler, but I was like, "I want this goal." And so, I had the goal and I created a process. And by my junior year I became the State champ. My senior year, I took second place in the nation. I went into wrestling in college, all these things, right? When I started my business, I was like, "I want to make a million dollars."

And I didn't know anything about business but I was like, "All right, I have a goal. Now that I have a goal let we reverse engineer. How do I actually have success with this goal?" And then I went and I executed on it and I had success with it, right? Same thing when I decided I'm going to be an author. Like, "But Russell, you suck at writing." Like, "Oh crap, that's true." "And you've never written a book." "Oh yeah, that's true too." But I wanted to write a book, so I set a goal, I'm going to write a book. And then I went and I figured it out and I created a process and I wrote a book. And then I was like, "I want to be a New York Times best-selling author." They're like, "But you don't know how to do that." I'm like, "I know, but I have a goal. So let me figure it out." And now this last year I hit that. So when we started the event business I was like, "I want to be the biggest event in our industry."

"But you don't know how to run an event." "I know, but this is the goal I have." So anything you want, if you know the right way to set a goal and how to do it, you can achieve it. And so, that's what we talked about last night with them and it was really, really fun. And obviously, it's tough because they're youth and I got an hour and a half, I could literally do a three day event on this and it would be fascinating and fun, well it'd be fascinating for me. So I was trying to figure out how do I do this in a way that would get them excited and motivated? I'm not going to make these kids fall asleep and not embarrass my kids in front of their friends, so that was the criteria. And it's funny because, man, I prepared a lot for it. I was even more nervous for this event than I am normally a marketing event.

And I think it's because of first off, kids and second off, my kids were there and I didn't want to embarrass them, so I was nervous, but I think it turned out really good. So I obviously don't have two hours to go through everything with you, but I wanted to share a couple of things that we did because I think it'll be helpful for you guys as you're setting your goals. Because I strongly believe that if you have a goal and you are excited by it enough, you can figure it out, okay? So like I said, what we did initially is we broke things into four different categories. A physical goal, intellectual, social, and a spiritual goal. And so, the first thing I asked them was "What is the goal you actually want?" So let's say we started with the physical goal. So I was like: "Okay, what's the goal you want?" And so, I was talking about my physical goal. I want to look like the dude who plays Captain America. That guy looks awesome, right? There's my goal, so that's the first thing.

Then I was like it has to be something that is trackable, right? So saying, "I want to look awesome," is hard, but saying, "I want to gain 20 pounds. I want to lose 20 pounds." Something that you can actually say, there's the finish line where you can see it and you can check it off. When I was in high school I was like, "I want to be a State champ." There's the finish line. I need to see the finish line or else a goal is just like, "Oh, I want to be healthier." What does that even mean? Eat celery once a month? Technically you're healthier. That's not a goal, right? A goal is something very, very trackable where it's like, "There's an end date that if I do this thing, I cross the finish line and I get my hand raised. I did the thing, I got the goal," so that's the first thing is making a tangible goal of what you want.

Number two is looking at well why do you want to actually achieve that goal? Okay. You've heard a lot of people, there's books and courses talking about your why, you got to have a why, why you're doing it, right? And while I think most of those courses are cheesy, personally, that's just me. But it is true though. If I was like, "I want to be State champ." "Why?" "I don't know." Then I'm not probably going to get it. If I was like, "I want to be State champ because I saw another person win State title. I saw their hand get raised. I saw that feeling. I saw the look in their eyes and I desire that, I want that. I want to experience that. I want to feel what it feels like to get my hand raised. I don't know what it is, but I can see it. I can visualize it, I can taste it and I want that." So the second question is, why do you want that goal? Okay.

So what's the goal that's trackable and then why do you want it? And the more intense your why is the more likely you are to get it. In fact, right now, at the time of recording this, we're in the middle of Two Comma Club live and one of my friends, who’s one of the wrestling coaches with me, has been going through it, and he messaged me during the lunch break and he said, "Man, I just watched the commercial you guys had with Two Comma Club board and people opening their boxes." And he's like, "I started crying." And he starts talking to me, he gets emotional again. And then he messaged me two hours later, he's like, "I'm so sorry, I got emotional, I didn't mean to do that." I'm like, "No, dude, that's the key." He's been around me for three years now, four years now and he's been going through the stuff and he wanted it. He had a goal like, "Oh yeah, I want to hit Two Comma Club, it sounds good." But his why wasn't big enough, right?

After he felt that and he saw that, right? To the point where he was emotional. Now his why just got amplified. The desire increased. You've got to have that desire or else it's just like, "Oh yeah, I want to get six pack abs." But unless you have the why that increases the desire, then what's the point of it? You're not going to go after it, you're not going to do what you need to do to actually accomplish the goal. So the second question is why do you need to achieve that? And then because we're in a church setting I also had this followup question there that said, "How would that help you become more like Jesus Christ?" Which for, I think anyone, whether you're Christian or not, that's a good question. He's the great example, he's the best example that's ever lived on this planet. It's like, "How would accomplishing the goal help me grow closer to him?" So that's a sub question.

All right, so number one, what is your goal? Number two is why you want to achieve the goal. The number three is who's going to be your guide? Who's already achieved that goal, right? If I want to get six pack abs, I want to look like Chris Evans from Captain America, that dude's already done it before. So I'm not going to just be like, "Okay, well I'm going to go try to figure it out." I'm going to be like, "Who's the dude or the lady who's already achieved this goal, that already has a roadmap, that already has a blueprint, that already has a framework, that already has the thing that I can do? And I'm going to find that person and I'm going to model them," right? If they've written a book, I'm going to read the book. If they made a YouTube video I'm going to watch the YouTube video, if I can talk to them on the phone, I'm going to talk to them on the phone. Who is the person that can be my guide?

I don't want to go and just wander aimlessly into the night, right? That happens all the time. People set goals like, "I'm going to go and make a million bucks." And they jump online and they start goofing around, they'll do anything. It's like, "Man, if you honestly have a goal to hit Two Comma Club, you should join our Two Comma Coaching Program, because literally we have a framework. This works for over 1,000 people." You'd be insane not too but people are like, "Oh, I'm just going to figure out my own." Why would you do that? Do you hate success so bad you're going to just wander around and hope to figure out the way. It's like, you're out in the forest and there's a dude who's like, "I got a map that could to take you guys out." You're like, "I'll figure it out, I'm good." Why don't you just take the map? Are you insane? Just grab the map. It's right here.

Okay, so the third step is who's got the map? Get the map, figure out whose got the process, who's your guide, who's already done this in the past and follow a framework. Don't just make the thing up on your own. Don't just guess, okay? So who's your guide? And then the third step is how are you going to do it? I want to win the State title, I want to get six pack abs, I want to hit Two Comma Club, I want to, whatever your thing is, right? This measurable goal, okay? Then there's always sub goals that lead underneath it. And these sub goals are more routine based. So for example, let's say it was wrestling, I want to be State champion in wrestling, okay? What were my sub things I had to do to accomplish that? Well, it means I have to lift weights. I got to get started on this, so I got to lift weights every single day. What's another thing?

Okay, my cardio has got to be in shape, I got to run, so I'm going to do cardio. Number three, I got to wrestle a lot. Number four, I get my nutrition right, so I have my health. I list out here's all the sub things I need to do to accomplish that major goal, okay? So here's the sub things. If it was Two Comma Club, if I wanted to do Two Comma Club, what would I do? Okay, well, every single day I got to be publishing something. So I got to publish something. Russel's says publish daily, I got to publish something. Number two, I got to be creating offers. What's the offer I'm going to create? What are the offers… I’ve  got to be creating offers. Number three, I need to be driving traffic, I need to be getting on people's podcasts, I need to be getting interviewed, I need to be doing stuff, right? So I figure out what are the steps? What are the sub things you need to actually be successful? So list those out.

Okay. Then I had everybody go down and say, "Okay, what's the date that you're going to accomplish this by?" You need to have a tangible date?" Like, "Oh yeah, I'm going to win the State title." "When?" "I don't know, someday." "I'm going to get Two Comma Club." "When?" "I don't know, someday." You need to make a date, so you got something you're marching towards. I need to hit Two Comma Club before Funnel Hacking Live, right? Funnel Hacking Live 2022, whatever that is. You pick a tangible date. This is the date that I will hit that thing. Set the date, and then after that I was like, "How are you to celebrate after you achieve it?" Okay? Because there's always like the stick in the carrot, right? The stick is the thing that's going to kick your butt and move you forward. That's the goals, that's the routines, that's all the stuff that’s going to be pushing you forward.

But then the carrot at the end is the thing that's driving and saying, "Oh, I want that." For me, I wanted to win a State title because I wanted to get my hand raised, that feeling, I wanted that, right? A lot of you guys want the Two Comma Club, you want to get the award on stage, right? Six pack abs, I want to take my shirt off and have my wife be like, "Dang, I want to wash my clothes on your abs," right? Whatever that thing is for you. But how are you going to celebrate? Okay, so I attach the date to the goal and how I'm going to celebrate. All right, and after that was done, then I handed out everybody this weekly schedule and I printed them out on a paper. Basically it was Monday through Sunday and it has all the columns. We build stuff in Excel sheets, so there's a Monday column, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And then down the side or the times.

So 5:30 AM, 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30. So there's all of these sales down the side, Excel style, right? All the way down until 11:30 PM. So we hand this thing out. So it was a big, huge grid of every hour of the week. I said, "Okay, for you to actually be successful, how can people set New Year's resolutions, New Year's goals and they come in on January 2nd and there's 8,000 people in the gym and you come in February 2nd and there's no one in the gym," right? Because no one sticks to their goals. And the reason why is because they had these lofty goals like, "Oh, I'm going to get in shape," but they're not tangible. They're not tracked, they have no why, they're not following any guide and they don't have those sub steps to do it. So you guys have these things now, you have these sub steps, you take the sub steps and you plug them into a routine." Okay?

When I was wrestling, I knew that if I was going to be in successful wrestling, I couldn't just hopefully hit and miss things and hopefully have success. I said, "Okay, if I'm to be successful, I have to run every morning. So I took my my little routine calendar out and I said, 'Every morning at whatever, from 6 to 7:00 AM, this is my running time.' And I block out those hours and they became sacred time to me." From 6 to 7:00 AM I am running and nothing else, right? And then I said, "Okay, I have practice every day from two to five. So two to five's blocked out. This is wrestling practice, I'm going to work on my skillset." And then I said, "Okay, from five to six, my dad's coming and we're drilling, actual drilling and then over here, this is what I'm going to be doing."

And I blocked out those times on my calendar that became sacred time where every single day I'd wake up and I didn't to think, I said, "Okay, boom, 6 o'clock. This what I do to achieve. If I want to get that goal, this is the daily tasks I have to do to achieve that goal." Right? And I mapped it out, it was blocked out of my calendar, it was sacred. And so, with these kids, I did the same thing, I said, "Okay, you got your physical, your intellectual or social and spiritual goals. What are the things you need to block out on your calendar, right? If you have spiritual goals, you got to read scriptures every day. So plug it in. If you got to do whatever every day, you're plugging it in. If you're publishing content every day, right? Okay, every day I'm recording a podcast. You block out time. Every day at 6:30 I know I'm recording a podcast. That's sacred time and I'm not messing with it."

So I had them do this on this piece of paper so they could see it visually and I said, "Okay, now go back into your phone, on your calendar and plug those times into your calendar on your phone, now you've got them. Now that they're plugged in and you've got them, the phone will pop up every day and be like, 'Hey, time to go do this thing.' And you can actually do the things." And I said, "Building out the routines are the things that make it so that all the stuff starts flowing up, so you can actually reach and achieve your goal eventually." And so, that's the framework that we gave people. And then the last thing I did is I said, "Okay, the other thing you got to do is once a week, you got to have a return and report with yourself, like a reflection time where you're coming back and saying, 'How'd I do?'" Okay?

The reality that's going to probably happen is after the first seven days you're done, you sit down and you're like, "Okay. I told myself I was going to publish every single day. I literally didn't. I did it two days this week or I did it once, that sucks, but next week I'm going to recommit. I'm going to do better." You look back at your calendar and you say, "Okay, I'm going to recommit, I'm going to do better this time." You rebuild it out, okay, now we're going to do it. And that becomes the next thing. And then next week you come back and you look at your calendar, "How'd I do? Well, I did three days this week, but I didn't do the seven like I promised myself, okay, that's all right. I'm going to recommit and start over again." And you keep looking at it. Every week you make the adjustments like, how did I do on my times? How am I feeling? Did I do enough stuff? Did I not do enough stuff? What do I need to tweak?

Every seven days you have the chance to rebuild, come back and refix that the thing and just keep going and keep doing that consistently, what's going to happen is the first week, you're not going to see many changes. Within a month you may start feeling some things, within 6 months, within in a year, within 5 years, within 10 years, your destiny will be different. That's the key. So anyway, I wish I could do this with the work sheets and handouts with you guys because it'd be more impactful, but I wanted to show you guys that because that's how I set my goals. It's not just a lofty goal, right? "Russell, what are your goals?" "These are my goals." They're like, "Cool, how are you going to achieve them?" Okay. Well, it's more than that. It's like, hey, what's my goal. Why do I want that? And I want to amplify that desire as much as I can, I want to make it emotional so that I feel it, I desire it, I want it.

And then I figure out a guide, I'm not going to go make this stuff on my own. Who's already got this stuff figured out? Who am I going to model? Who's got the framework?/ I'm going to buy it from that person. I'm going to read the book. I'm going to do the thing, whatever I need to do. Build out the sub steps, plug the sub steps into a routine and that routine becomes sacred time, and now I just go do my daily business and I don't miss my sacred time. And if I do that, all of the other things rise back up, right? I do the daily routines that helps me and I'm plugging in everything I've learned from the guide and the daily routines. So I do the daily routines, I'm following the guide, my why gets amplified more and more as I go and eventually I hit my goal. That is the secret. So anyway, I hope it helps you guys.

I don't really about talk a lot about goal setting, things like that in most of my things, but since I had a chance to teach that class, it was just a fun time for me to reflect and think on it and hopefully there's some value for you guys in that as well. So with that said, let me know if you guys want to hear more stuff like this. Normally I just talk marketing, but there's fun stuff that I do as well. Maybe I should share some more of those things with you guys. Anyway, I appreciate you all. Thanks so much for everything.

If you haven't come to Funnel Hacking Live yet, you need to come. We're preparing for it. This year is going to be insane. Tickets are on sale right now. They're selling faster than ever before, which is crazy, probably because it's a hybrid event this year, it's probably the only year we'll do Funnel Hacking Live hybrid where it's virtual and in-person, but make sure you get your tickets because it's going to be insane. But that's it. Thanks you guys. I appreciate you all and we'll talk to you guys all again soon. Bye everybody.