Anti-Goals
“All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.” – Charlie Munger.
He speaks of inversion, the idea that problems are often best solved when viewed in reverse. It’s easier to think about what you don’t want than what you do. In his own words:
“Problems frequently get easier if you turn them around. If you want to help India, don’t ask, ‘How can I help India?’ Instead, ask, ‘What is doing the worst damage in India, and how do I avoid it?’”
“A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, a bad marriage, and so on.”
Anti-goals are the things we don’t want to happen on our journey to achieve our big goals.
If the big goals are your summit, anti-goals are what you refuse to sacrifice on the climb—your life, your health, your sanity.
You want to reach the top, but not at the cost of these essentials.
For instance, if your big goal is to become CEO, your anti-goals might include spending more than 300 nights away from your family and sacrificing your health due to constant travel and stress.
You want to achieve that big goal, but not if it means turning those anti-goals into reality.
Anti-goals flip traditional goal-setting on its head. They focus on what to avoid rather than what to achieve. This inversion compels you to identify and eliminate the obstacles that plague your daily life.
The Anti-Goal Framework
So, how do you leverage anti-goals in your goal-setting process? Here’s a simple framework:
- Choose Your Arena: Identify the area of your life you want to focus on.
- Establish Traditional Goals: Set your big goals—what you want to achieve.
- Invert the Problem: Think about what could go wrong or what you want to avoid.
- Establish Anti-Goals: Define the things you refuse to sacrifice in your pursuit of those big goals.
By using this framework, you can navigate your path with clarity, ensuring that you aim high while protecting what truly matters.
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