Jay Shetty ON The 4-Tier Framework To Effective Goal Setting

In this ON Purpose episode, Jay Shetty shared his 4-tier framework for effectively setting goals. He emphasized the importance of being consistent in your actions to achieve your goals.

The beginning of a year is a time to reflect on the past. Nostalgia, memories, mistakes, and lessons learned keep running through your mind. It is like writing the book of your life, Jay Shetty explained. Now it is time to start a new chapter. And you can make the shifts that you have wanted to make. Progress happens when you commit to your goals.

Some Statistics

Jay Shetty shared with the audience the top ten New Year's resolutions, according to a survey of two thousand people.1 Here are the numbers mentioned in the study:

 
• 71% wanted to diet or eat healthier.
 
• 65% wanted to exercise more.
 
• 54% wanted to lose weight.
 
• 32% wanted to save more and spend less.
 
• 26% wanted to learn a new skill or hobby.
 
• 21% wanted to quit smoking.
 
• 17% wanted to read more.
 
• 16% wanted to find another job.
 
• 15% wanted to drink less alcohol.
 
• 13% wanted to spend more time with family and friends.

Jay Shetty also encouraged the audience to write down which resolutions were on their list. So many of us make these resolutions only to end up breaking them.

Unmet Goals

According to Jay Shetty, people need to follow a framework to keep up with their New Year's goals. As a result, only a tiny percentage of people will achieve what they set their minds to do.It is essential to understand that discipline plays an important role. Yet knowing how to approach the goal is just as crucial so that it can be manageable. Jay Shetty came up with a framework consisting of four parts, which can help you arrive where you want yourself to be one year from now.

1—Growth

Having a goal is something more like a vision for many of us. Therefore, it is essential to understand exactly what it entails. What is it that you need to grow to get there?Jay Shetty encouraged the audience to consider what they needed to grow. Do you need to learn something new? Or maybe it is something you need to develop before reaching your goal?

Asking yourself these questions is paramount. For example, if you want to grow your social media following, you must take several steps. You may have a deeper purpose there, such as creating impactful content that would benefit many people. Hence, increasing your audience will be vital to ensure greater visibility for your message.In this scenario, the growth needed to the goal is to upgrade the quality of your content. Then, it would help if you worked on your storytelling skills.

In Jay Shetty's view, growth is key when setting a goal. From his experience, he shared how his plans when writing his first book, Think Like A Monk, were to impact as many lives as possible. The same applies to his On Purpose podcast.Don’t just focus on arbitrary numbers. Instead, understand your goal, what it will take to reach it, and how you can grow in the process.

Therefore, Jay Shetty encouraged the audience to take a moment to reflect upon their own goals. "What skills do you need to learn? What abilities do you need to gather to grow? What qualities do you need to grow and develop?" he asked. These are all great questions to ask yourself before jumping to action.

Jay Shetty mentioned resilience, habit formation skills, mental strength, and discipline as growth areas. "It's actually the learning of a new skill, the growing a new ability or quality that gets you to the goal, not just thinking about and having a goal in and of itself," he added.

2—Prioritize Opportunities

Each day, we face opportunities that we can accept or turn away from. However, if our decisions are arbitrary, we may miss our goals because of a lack of organization. Therefore, setting clear priorities is an indispensable tool for achieving your dreams.

The opportunities can be split into three categories: the ones you say "yes," "no," or "maybe" to. To recognize which one is which, it is vital to set clear boundaries and a well-defined list of exceptions.

Jay Shetty shared the example of his goal to exercise in the mornings. With the exception of personal issues, family emergencies, and press interviews, he does not schedule anything during the time reserved for his morning workout. "When you don't clarify your criteria, it leads to confusion about your choices. And when you get confused by your choices, you end up lost, and then you generally don't achieve anything," Jay Shetty explained.

He warned that unless you are intentional about your decisions, "your default mind" wins. We often say "yes" or "no" to opportunities simply out of decision inertia. This means we repeat previous decisions without rationally considering our reasons behind this new choice.

Jay Shetty believes that being intentional with your choices will make you more aware of your actions. Moreover, once you have clear criteria in place, you will focus more on the areas that are your priority and will avoid wasting time on unimportant events.

To achieve your goal, knowing which areas to invest in, what to spend time on, and what to avoid is crucial. Because only by having a straight path will you make real progress.

3—Action Plan

You may have a goal you want to achieve but need a clear action plan for getting there. Jay Shetty's advice is to think of all the steps you need to take, starting with this moment. What do you need to do right now to help you move toward your goal?He compared having an objective to a ladder. If you only look at the outcome, it is as if you have a ladder with only the top step. However, the other stages still need to be included and will make it nearly impossible for you to reach the top. Therefore, breaking down bigger goals into smaller, more attainable ones is crucial.

There are a few questions that will guide you toward your immediate actions that Jay Shetty shared:

 
• When am I going to do it?
 
• What am I going to do?
 
• How am I going to do it?
 
• Who am I going to do it with?
 
• Why am I doing it?

If you find the answer to these questions, you are one step closer to hitting your target. Jay Shetty advised the audience to take a moment and do this exercise with him: with your ultimate goal in mind, find actions that will help you get there, one by one, like the steps on a ladder.For example, if you want to change jobs, just going online and searching for a new career will give you a broad range of results. However, being more intentional and focused will help you get there in a more organized fashion. You can start by talking to career counselors. If you don't have a direct contact, you might have someone in your network who does. Then your action plan would be to contact these acquaintances or friends and ask for the details of the career counselor.Having a detailed overview of all the steps you need to take is the actual action plan. Consider the questions mentioned above when coming up with your project. Make sure to include even the most minor action, including a well-defined schedule. Randomly doing things that may or may not lead to your goal will only get you to the same place you are right now.

4—The Year Of the 3 Ls

The fourth and last step of the framework is having a clear focus for the entire year. Similar to the Chinese calendar that has the year of the Rabbit, Dragon, etc., you can make this year about something that you are passionate about. It can be the year of the family, creating a business, and focusing on your passion. Whatever it is, could you give it a name?As part of this plan, it is vital to remember what Jay Shetty calls "the 3 Ls": learning, launching, and loving. These three objectives will make your year as enjoyable as possible. It is great to focus on one goal, but remember that it also needs to fulfill you on these levels. You need to gain more insights and knowledge in certain areas. Moreover, by launching something, you will feel that things are moving forward and will keep you motivated. And last but not least, loving something will make everything more exciting and worth pursuing.

G.O.A.L.

The four steps of Jay Shetty's framework spell out the word "goal": growth, opportunities, action plan, and the 3Ls. It is, therefore, essential to consider them when building your resolutions for the upcoming months and years.

More From Jay Shetty

Listen to the entire On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast episode on “The 4-Tier Framework To Effective Goal Setting & Why You’ve Failed In The Past” now in the iTunes store or on Spotify. For more inspirational stories and messages like this, check out Jay’s website at jayshetty.me.

1Economy, P. (2019, January 1). NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBE PRODUCTIVITY 10 Top New Year's Resolutions for Success and Happiness in 2019. Inc. Magazine.