THE PRINCIPLE

Being interviewed about having reached your goal gives you clues as to how to get there

The following exercise will take 10–15 minutes of undisturbed time, so turn off your phone or go to a quiet place where no one will interrupt the process. Also have a pen and paper ready or, even better, a tape or digital recorder.

When you’re ready, I’d like you to imagine a time in the future when you have achieved your most cherished goal. Take a moment to daydream about what that will feel like.

Now imagine that someone, perhaps a reporter or a friend you haven’t seen for a while, wants to ask you some questions about how you achieved this terrific accomplishment. Choose someone you would feel comfortable with.

Imagine this person asking you the following seven questions. For each one, make sure you get into that state where you are imagining you have already reached the goal, then imagine yourself answering the question, and then jot down the essence of your answer or speak it into the recorder. You may need to take a moment to get back into the right imagined state each time you deal with a new question. Ready? Here are your questions:

1. What’s the best thing about having achieved your goal?
2. What motivated you to go for it – why was it important to you?
3. What was the very first step you took to move towards it?
4. What was one early obstacle and how did you overcome it?
5. Who helped you along the way?
6. What was the most important factor in helping you reach your goal?
7. What advice would you give to someone else with the same goal, who is just starting out?

When you are done, bring yourself fully back to the present moment and review what you’ve written or dictated. Often you will find that this process has brought up interesting and useful information that you didn’t even know you knew.