How to accomplish goals as a Ti user?

[philostam]

It seems to me that for Te users, accomplishing a goal is an end in itself. They get off on it. For Ti (or maybe just for me as an INTP), however, it's more complicated than that. A goal is only worth accomplishing in so far it satisfies certain rigorous internal conditions. There must be a theoretical framework that approves the goal and elevates it as something worth sticking to.

It's easy to accomplish something that you're really motivated to do (like getting a degree to get a good job&life), but motivation alone is fickle and won't be enough in the long run.

As I got tired of constantly haggling with myself and rebutting the countless disqualifications and excuses my mind came up with, I decided to elevate discipline as a meta goal.

I managed to convince my brain that if I ever want to accomplish my long term (big) goals, I need to develop a habit of accomplishing small day to day goals, such as quitting sugar, eating healthy, exercising, quitting twitter etc. Those were just some randomly selected; in the end it doesn't really matter what the goal is, as long it satisfies the meta-goal of building discipline.

This has been a revelation for me. It's literally the first time in my life that I enjoyed setting and accomplishing small daily goals. Now there is a connection between 'small' and 'big' goals, which didn't exist before.

Now I want more of it. What are some other strategies I could use to become more effective?

 

[Wyote]

Yes exactly, one step is a matter of breaking down long term goals/ideas into small daily achievable tasks and tracking your progress.
Another part which may sound obvious is to learn how to treat yourself kindly and to give yourself positive feedback.
Your brain doesn't want to do a lot of shit that is good for you, and until you teach that fucker how to behave it's gonna keep sabotaging you.

 

[philostam]

One of the goals I set myself is reading Phenomenology of Spirit with the help of this guy.

I deliberately chose the most dense book I heard of. But it's been pretty fun so far, so it's not really testing my discipline.

 

[slant]

@Daustus has great ideas on this topic his insights have helped me a lot. Hope you don't mind the tag.

 

[philostam]

Yes exactly, one step is a matter of breaking down long term goals/ideas into small daily achievable tasks and tracking your progress.
Another part which may sound obvious is to learn how to treat yourself kindly and to give yourself positive feedback.
Your brain doesn't want to do a lot of shit that is good for you, and until you teach that fucker how to behave it's gonna keep sabotaging you.

Agree, but the revelation for me was that the small achievable task doesn't necessarily need to be part of the big goal.

I mean if it is, that's even better. At the moment I have one goal that I work on day by day. But the nature of goal is such that it involves a lot of waiting. Basically I need to wait a few months to see the results, and there's not much I can do beyond that.

So in the meantime I focus on other (unrelated) goals just to train my discipline in itself.

 

[Wyote]

Agree, but the revelation for me was that the small achievable task doesn't necessarily need to be part of the big goal.

I mean if it is, that's even better. At the moment I have one goal that I work on day by day. But the nature of goal is such that it involves a lot of waiting. Basically I need to wait a few months to see the results, and there's not much I can do beyond that.

So in the meantime I focus on other (unrelated) goals just to train my discipline in itself.

yup

 

[Daustus]

*Gulp* Okay not feeling put on the spot at all lol.

I attack "projects" in small chunks. I usually start with the desired end state and work backwards on what needs to be accomplished with how current state exists. I find long term work is usually a string of multiple small run projects. These form the "chunks" and It helps me to a have a list "chunks" for the overall project but only focus on 1-2 of the chunks of the larger project at a time.

Example I have is I want to lose weight. I need to exercise, change diet, learn new recipes, detox from sugar. I'll work on exercising on a weekly schedule. Next interval I'll start detoxing and eliminating sugar. Then afterward work in new recipes that changes the diet. But this will all occur like over a month.

Not rocket science. Just build in daily routine and manageable change.

 

[Asa]

I declutter. I cut away anything that detracts from the big goals. I work on big goals daily, even if I only have half an hour.

Adding small, daily goals doesn't work for me because I'll get distracted by those, but I'm pretty good about changing my life when I want to.

Do what works for you, and keep doing it that way.

 

[philostam]

*Gulp* Okay not feeling put on the spot at all lol.

I attack "projects" in small chunks. I usually start with the desired end state and work backwards on what needs to be accomplished with how current state exists. I find long term work is usually a string of multiple small run projects. These form the "chunks" and It helps me to a have a list "chunks" for the overall project but only focus on 1-2 of the chunks of the larger project at a time.

Example I have is I want to lose weight. I need to exercise, change diet, learn new recipes, detox from sugar. I'll work on exercising on a weekly schedule. Next interval I'll start detoxing and eliminating sugar. Then afterward work in new recipes that changes the diet. But this will all occur like over a month.

Not rocket science. Just build in daily routine and manageable change.

Thanks! Well actually, I am pretty effective when I have a certain goal. For example, I was quite disciplined in school and university. But that's easy. First of all, it's easy to be motivated (once you reach certain stage of maturity) because you understand it's for your own good to be committed. Also, if you study a subject that you're interested in, that's almost like a cheat code because curiosity itself is enough to sustain you. On top of that everything is structured and broken into pieces for you.

I actually think you don't need to be extremely disciplined to be successful in Academia. Intelligence and curiosity can do majority of the heavy lifting. But I never did a PhD so I know fuck all.

But to accomplish your own goals, outside the structure that school provides, discipline, consistency and emotional stability become really paramount. That's what I realized in the last year.

 

[Daustus]

I had to learn that time is not on my side. I had to have a plan and attack it in effective daily manners that was sustainable. Wyote brought up a good point of being kind to yourself and celebrating small wins.

Chip away at the mountain, or eat the elephant one bite at a time. Sorry metaphoring again.

It also helps me to find an accountability partner. Someone that will keep me on track. Hold me to my goal.