The Ultimate Results Formula
Here is the ultimate formula for creating and measuring results in your life. It's quite simple but here is the good news: it's a lifelong game and you control both the challenge level and whether you win or lose.
(Goals + Structure) x Environment x What For = Results =? Ambition (MVV)
Goals
Goals are the thing we're shooting for. They're broken down into two things: tangible results and experience.
Tangible results = SMART goals. They're specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. We know when we have reached them and when we have not.
Generally speaking, the size and ambition of the original goal influence the rest of the equation. The larger the goal, the larger the available results. There is no moral or inherent value judgment in that statement. Having a smaller goal does not make someone less worthy and having a larger goal does not make someone less. It's simply a marker by which to evaluate 1. realized results and 2. the structure and environment required to meet such a goal. Generally, a bigger goal requires improved structures and environment in order to achieve desired results.
Experience = how we want life to go for us as we're working toward the goal and as it's realized in our everyday life. It's one thing to make $1 million dollars while working 18 hours a day and isolating one's self from friends and family. It's another to make $1 million while also having a rich social life and enjoying feelings of freedom and delight.
In order to most accurately and effectively evaluate our results, both the goal and experience of it need to be accounted for in equal measure.
Structure
Structures are the specific systems, habits, practices, tools, and operations that move us toward our goals. Again, larger goals generally require stronger structures alongside them. I won't say more systems or larger structures because those aren't necessarily the answer. Sometimes simplicity is the optimal system for realizing certain goals.
Common structures include:
Journaling
Coaching
Meditation
Exercise
Team members (as this equation relates just as much to business results as it does personal results)
Daily schedules and to-do lists
Sleep
SOPs
Software tools and systems
Metrics dashboards
And more...
Environment
Our environment has a multiplier effect on our results. It can either be a tremendous boost or a hindrance. I find that our environment is often either the most overlooked factor in our results or the most blamed factor in not achieving the results we set. Environment is broken down into two aspects: internal and external.
Internal environment = the state of our mind, body, and spirit. It includes the way we talk to ourselves, the beliefs we have about the world around us, the level of inspiration we find in our day-to-day life or our mission. It also includes our physical health, including our strength, stamina, and energy level. Lastly, it includes our connection to something bigger than ourselves, our ability to feel awe, wonder, grace, and gratitude.
External environment = the world we're in every day. It includes our physical space, the people we surround ourselves with, the quality of the Earth and nature around us, noise and light, the messages we're receiving, and the tools we have at our disposal.
Sometimes our environment can feel out of our control. We might believe that we can't leave behind the people in our lives or leave the town we live in. We might also believe that our internal environment is unchanging, especially feelings of anxiety or fear. Whether you agree with those disempowered beliefs or not, it's important to understand that they are also a part of our environment. We cannot escape our environment and it's always influencing us. Part of realizing the results we want is becoming aware of it and then choosing to explore something different as a commitment to our goals.
The structures in our lives and our environment are intricately linked. One influences the other and vice versa. Our environment (internal and external) affects our sleep, which affects our adherence to supportive structures like exercise, which affects our mental capacity, and on and on. Choosing a support structure that upgrades our environment can have an outsized effect on our results because of the multiplier effect.
What For
Our What For is also a multiplying factor on our results. It’s our driving force, our rocket fuel, the North Star that keeps us moving forward. We derive our What For from our purpose and commitment in the world. As with the size of our goal, the power behind our What For necessarily determines the size of our results. Bigger doesn’t mean better but it does allow for more sizeable results.
Without a compelling What For, we are likely to give up when life gets hard or fall victim to a negative environment. We might end up achieving results we don’t inherently seek because we’re uncertain about why we’re pursuing things in the first place.
Creating a compelling and energizing What For comes from being solid in our mission, vision, and values (see below). Therefore, both sides of the results equation are inextricably linked.
Results
Results are simply what happens. They're the other side of the equation. Measuring and observing our results is a practice of evaluating the variables on the other side.
If we surpass our goals, we can look at the factors that created that result. And if we fail to reach the goals we had set out for, our results can help us to see which variables can be changed in the future in order to produce different results. Sometimes it's as simple as changing the initial goal because we're actually happy with the results. Sometimes structures and environment need to be shifted if we want to remain committed to the larger goal.
Ambition: Mission, vision, values
Ideally, the size and shape of our goals originate from our personal mission, vision, and values (we'll call that ambition for brevity). Self-awareness is key here. The more we continue to know and understand ourselves, the better we're able to set goals that align with our ambition.
It's important to repeat here that there is absolutely no inherent value judgment to be placed on ambition or goals. They're simply an expression of what each of us, as individuals, wants for ourselves and the world. Given that, comparing our ambition or goals against someone else's is a useless endeavor that produces unnecessary suffering. What my neighbor or old classmate does with their life has nothing to do with mine. The more each of us can separate others' goals or results from our own, the more accurately we're able to set ours in accordance to our unique truth. (Remember: thought habits of comparison are part of our environment and when they're a negative force, they actually impair our ability to realize the results we want.)
Once we separate any moral judgment from our results, we can then effectively measure them against our mission, vision, and values. More helpful questions emerge in helping us to discern whether our goals are actually in alignment with where we want to go and what we're here to do. Furthermore, the more we're in touch with our larger purpose, the more we're motivated to shift our structures and environment in order to bring it to life. It's like rocket fuel for our results engine.
Rinse and repeat
This equation isn't a one-and-done endeavor. In practice, it's a continuous process of evaluation, tweaking, measuring, and assessing. We're always balancing ourselves while asking if we're on the path we want to be on. That's the joy and beauty of purpose. It's a sustaining fuel source that never runs out.
We're always playing some game, even if we're not aware of it. We're always producing some result. Why not pick the results we want and design a game we can win?