Pursue This One Goal for Success!
Jen Drago 
A keystone goal is a goal that is so important that all other goals will depend upon it. Read on to learn why pursuing a keystone goal is so important
When you think about what you want to achieve in the next one to three years, what comes to mind? Make more money, have a different source of income, lose weight, decrease body fat, have better nutrition, move to a different city, find a significant other, start a family, improve your relationships with family or friends. There are probably 5 to 10 goals that you would rattle off right now. And, to many people, my guess is that those goals may feel overwhelming.
Conventional wisdom tells us that we should plan to advance in some small way toward each of our goals simultaneously. But what if I told you that you could get further faster by placing your focus and effort on just one of these goals? I bet you would be skeptical. I bet some of you over-achievers want to stop reading right now.
What is a Keystone Goal?
The concept to which I am referring is called developing and pursuing a keystone goal. First, you may be asking, what is a keystone? A keystone is the most important stone in a stone arch from which the arch gains its stability. Figuratively, the word “keystone” is often used to designate the most important component of whatever it is you are referring to. A keystone goal, then, is a goal that is so important that all other goals will depend upon it. Or said a different way, if I achieve my keystone goal, I am much more likely to make significant progress in other areas of my life.
For example, a keystone goal could be to lose 25 pounds. To achieve this most important goal, you would focus all of your efforts toward reaching this goal. First, you would reverse engineer the process to determine what would be necessary if you put all of your effort into achieving this goal. You might:
- wake up an hour earlier each day to run or go to the gym
- buy healthy food and meal prep on Sundays to have healthy food ready to go
- put your workout clothes out the night before
- go to bed at a reasonable time to assure enough sleep
- put your alarm across the room so you would have to get up
You can see that focusing on this one goal involves several efforts to assure success! Already you might be thinking to yourself, “yes, one goal can be enough!”
Now imagine when you achieve this goal, you will have increased self-confidence. Because you would likely be fueling your body better and engaging in physical activity, you will have increased energy and improved clarity of thought. Improved confidence, clarity and vigor would transcend into other areas of your life such as more meaningful relationships due to increased energy and higher efficiency and productivity in your work due to your boost in self-esteem and your improved brain function.
So, by bringing intentional focus on this one goal, you are unintentionally creating improvement in other areas of your life. This is one reason why it is called a keystone goal – it becomes foundational and helps you create powerful changes in other areas of your life.
Let’s see how we can engineer these positive changes in to our life. Say we start with a goal to lose weight and we plan how we are going to eat, when and how we are going to move our bodies, and how we will get enough sleep to make this happen. We do this for 30 days consistently before we add in other areas of focus or goals. Why 30 days? We need to build consistency in our efforts, first and foremost.
Are you 98% or 100% committed?
I want to share with you another powerful concept that helps with achieving goals and, particularly, your keystone goal. That is the principle of 100% vs. 98% commitment. Is there really a difference between 100% committed and being 98% committed? Yes! The person who has a 98% commitment leaves open a window, however small, for error or a lack of commitment. Over time, the person with a 100% commitment will be tremendously more successful in achieving the goal because they have taken the daily decisions out of meeting the goal. There is no question to consider.
98%: It is my co-worker’s birthday and the office is having cake. Should I have a piece of cake? I really shouldn’t because I am working on losing weight. But it would be rude not to celebrate Sally’s birthday with her! Well, half a piece would be okay, right?
100%: Cake? No thank you!
Motivational author Jack Canfield says, “99% is a bitch but 100% is a breeze”. If you want to guarantee success, allow no exceptions. This will demonstrate your level of commitment to everyone, most importantly, YOURSELF. Once you are 100% committed to something, your level of confidence will soar because you will be achieving the outcomes that you wanted.
James Clear and other experts who focus on strategic behavioral change have pointed out that once you commit to action at a 100% level, you remove “willpower.”
Just commit 100% to whatever you choose and remove the questions to yourself and the resulting decisions of “cheating” on this commitment.
Here are some specifics that will help you assure success:
- Choose a goal that is of a size and scope that you can feel progress and a sense of achievement within 30 days. If your goal is to write a book, your conscious action of writing 1,000 words a day will bring you 30,000 words by day 30. While the book may not be done, you have set the engines in motion and you have the routines in place to make that a reality. Same thing with weight loss. Perhaps your goal is to lose 80 pounds. That is not achievable in a month, but you will likely lose several pounds in your first month and will feel much better by eating differently. That is progress.
- The first few days will be hard, especially because you are committing to a goal at a 100% level of commitment. Just take one day at a time.
- Imagine yourself being successful in meeting this goal 100% of the time over the next 30 days. Allow yourself to feel the soaring confidence that you will have because of this commitment. Feel the commitment building and strengthening within you every single day. Keep these positive emotions in the front of your mind, consciously, every day for the next 30 days to maintain your momentum. Never allow yourself to feel that you are missing out on something! Turn off any “woe is me” thoughts you may have and, instead, celebrate the wins you are making and how you are feeling each day.
So, let’s get started. Think about what keystone goal can move you toward your future self. While I know you probably have more than one thing you want to work on, I urge you to pick just ONE goal. Determine what actions are needed to achieve that keystone goal. Reverse engineer the steps to get to the goal as shown in the example above. Then, commit 100% to the goal – take the decision right out of your own hands and know that you will show up for that goal 100% of the time, without exception.
You’ve got this!