Holding on to motivation can feel like trying to tame a wild horse with an icy rope. Each grip slips away as the horse tugs and pulls.
Even those who seem to radiate motivation feel the same way. But how is it that some people can tame the wild beast? It comes down to F.A.B. let me open your eyes.
You see, in the world of persuasion; or better yet, in the world of helping people do what they should do, want to do, and need to do; we need to understand the core of their desires.
But we don’t need to wait until someone can figure out what is going on in our heads before we can use the same tools, because, heck, I don’t even know what’s going on in my own head.
That’s where F.A.B. comes in.
You see, F.A.B. is all about the levels of our goals and desires.
“F” = Features. This is the surface level of our goals. These are the generic goals of…
1. I want to lose 40, 50, 80, 100+ (or whatever number of) pounds.
2. I want to feel more confident.
3. I want to have more energy.
If you can only describe your goals at this level you WILL NOT succeed.
There’s no passion or drive at this level, just blah! We must keep diving!
The next level deeper is “A” or advantage. This way of describing our goals is a little more powerful. Like moving from a squirt gun to garden hose. But still not powerful enough to keep our motivation up. Looking at our goals this way is still too generic and broad. Things like…
1. I want to lose 50 pounds so I will have less back pain.
2. I want confidence so I don’t worry about what people think.
3. I want to have more energy so I can do more with my family.
Thinking and talking about our goals this way will still cause surges and drops in our motivation, and those drops… They. Are. Long.
That’s why we need to go deeper still, our “Why”, if you will.
“B” stands for Benefits or what we personally get out of our goal.
At the benefits level, we describe our goals like this…
1. Without back pain, I’ll be able to see life in a more beautiful way. I’ll be able to travel to exotic places I’ve always dreamed of. To get there, I need to lose 50 pounds.
2. I want to live my life with as few regrets as possible. To do this, I need to have more confidence so I don’t hold myself back.
3. I want to lead my family as an example of living my best life. I want my relationships to be strong. To do this, I need more energy.
Do you see the difference in how the goals are described and seen?
Do you see the difference in specificity?
The ladies I coach that are motivated and hitting their goals every week have gone through exercises with me and have dialed in what they really want.
They can see it.
They can feel it.
Reaching their goals is a part of who they are.
How deep is your goal? How badly do you want to reach it?
Hit reply and let me know.
Thanks,
John Gibson