Pacts instead of Goals

I am still reading through the book "Tiny Experiments" by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. As a reminder, the book addresses how our traditional goal setting approaches can be unhelpful. Instead of goals, the author recommends "pacts".

Simply put, pacts are defined as "an actionable commitment you will fulfill for a set period of time".

I will (action) for (duration).

Pacts are:

• Purposeful

  • The pact should feel exciting and provide meaning for the learning journey.

• Actionable

  • A pact should be based on actions you can reliably perform; doable with your current resources.

• Continuous

  • This is for the purpose of collecting consistent data. The pact could be something you do daily, weekly, or monthly.

• Trackable

  • It should be easy to answer in a binary way. Have you completed the pact? Yes or no.

The author discusses the differences between a pact and SMART goals. While there are similarities, the biggest difference is a SMART goal focuses on a predetermined outcome of success. An example she uses in the book is "I will publish a cookbook by the end of the year". Whereas a pact leans more into the person's curiosity and process of experimentation along the way. A pact could look like "I will try 2 new recipes each week for 1 month". Do you see how this focuses on the experimentation within the journey rather than the predetermined outcome of success?

A trap we can easily fall into is focusing so much on the end goal that we miss out on learning from the process itself. Who knows, maybe through experimentation the person realizes they do not want to publish a cookbook! If so, I'd imagine they are less likely to feel like a failure if they don't publish a cookbook. I don't take it as we can't have bigger, loftier goals such as publishing a book. I see it as assigning more value into the process instead of the results.

Other tips from the author:

• Shorter pact times are often more effective. For example, "I will read for 15 minutes every day for 1 week" instead of "I will read for 30 minutes every day for 1 month".

• The value of a pact lies not in its length but in the insights and growth it brings.

• There is no bad result or wrong choice. You just need to show up.

• To create confidence, you need to get started. Every time you act, you bet on yourself and gather evidence that you can do what you set out to do.

The author warns readers to be mindful of "maximalist brain" which stems from two cognitive biases called the overconfidence effect and planning fallacy. She explains these two biases cause us to underestimate our time, resources and energy therefore we set goals we are not consistently capable of keeping. (Guilty!) If you're struggling with this, she recommends choosing the smallest version of your pact you can think of to start. She also recommends not to set too many pacts at the same time.

I particularly resonated with this quote:

"We have very little control over how we feel, which is why it's hard to force ourselves to feel motivated. A pact solves this challenge by emphasize doing over planning".

I can very, very easily get stuck in the planning phase. I can be a very thorough researcher and planner (sometimes to a fault). What this book has helped me realize is that I am draining my energy and motivation all on the planning part. I then have nothing left for the action stage!

Now, there are other reasons we can get stuck before acting that the book also goes in to (such as imposter syndrome). But this simple reframe of emphasizing doing over planning was really helpful for me!

Here is my first pact:

I will post a blog entry each weekday for one week (August 17-21).

Day 1: check ✅

I hope you found this reframe helpful like I did! Is there anything you are curious and a little excited about? Maybe you could try creating a pact for yourself?! Feel free to share if you'd like!

Ultimately, choose your pact based on your curiosity. Remember to let go of previous choices, societal expectations, and top-down assumptions. What excites you?

Beyond choosing a pact in genuine accord with your curiosity, you don't have to have anything else figured out. Each cycle of experimentation will be a chance to discover more about yourself and the world, to expand your skills and knowledge, and to iterate on your approach based on what you learn.

From "Tiny Experiments" book