There’s a few reasons why cybernetic transposition is better than goal setting. Firstly, goal setting is often something nobody wants to do. It’s got a bit of a bad reputation and the mere mention of it puts a lot of people off. Also, goals are a little like New Years Resolutions. Everyone who has ever set a New Year’s Resolution knows that they will usually quit within a few months, if not weeks! So what’s the point!?
Well the main reason goals don’t work for the majority of people is that they didn’t learn how to set goals properly. Or, they set a goal which was for something they either didn’t care that much about, or didn’t think they could achieve anyway. So they gave up on the road for either one of those two reasons.
So what is cybernetic transposition anyway and why is it so much better that goal setting?
Cybernetic transposition is the “transposing” of a past success into a future goal you want to achieve. It was developed by Stuart Lichtman. Stuart’s formal education includes undergraduate and graduate work at MIT in engineering, psychology, and artificial intelligence. He created a strategy for successful goal setting and successfully tested it on 50,000 people who went on to achieve a seemingly impossible goal on their first attempt.
Why Cybernetic Transposition Is Better Than Goal Setting
In short terms, cybernetic transposition (CT for short), is a writing method that aims to align the brain and unconscious mind. Most goals are set without much thought behind them. So CT helps you define a goal first which aligns with all parts of your subconscious mind. If there’s a conflict with something you set as a goal, such as doubt, scepticism or lack of desire, you’re unlikely to pursue it for very long.
If that goal is a difficult one, each time you meet adversity, you lose some of your motivation and belief. So your goal typically weakens over time and eventually you quit. With a CT goal, you redefine your connection with your intention as you write it out. If something is off, you listen to the feedback you’re getting from your subconscious mind.
For each CT goal you write out, it must score a 10 out of 10 for desirability, otherwise you aren’t very motivated to achieve it. Plus, you must also score 10 out of 10 for believability, otherwise you will doubt the end result and so not fully commit to the journey.
Cybernetic Transposition – How To Write Out A CT Goal
With a normal goal you might simply write it out without much thought. So for example, you might say, “I want to lose weight“. But that’s a terrible goal because it doesn’t have an end date or any specifics. It’s very vague. So you won’t know when you’ll have achieved it. So instead of this vaugue intention a goal should have a specific date and some measurable characteristics. These are so called SMART goals – S = Specific, M = Measurable, A = Achievable, R = Relevant, T = Time bound.
A goal with a date and some specific targets becomes more tangible.
In cybernetic transposition, you write out a metastory. Metastories are suggestions which have been well crafted to speak to your subconscious mind. But rather than saying “I want this outcome, by this date” and so on, (as with SMART goals), a metastory aims to speak directly to the subconscious mind and all parts of the brain using the language of your subconscious mind.
What’s A Metastory & Why Is It So Powerful?
We tell ourselves stories all the time both in our heads and when chatting with others. These stories play out in our lives because we repeat them over and over. They essentially become our identity. What’s more powerful than a goal? Your identity will always trump a goal. If you’ve ever set a goal and failed at it, you might have said something like “well, that’s not really ‘me’ anyway”, or, “I wasn’t really that bothered about that goal” and reinforced your identity around NOT achieving the thing you set out to do.
You remind yourself that you’re not the kind of person to achieve such a thing, and go on with your life!
But it’s the very thing you’re telling yourself which is your identity or self image. That’s what metastories do, they allow you to get inside your subconscious and literally change your identity to someone who can achieve the thing you really want.
You’re already very powerful because of what you tell yourself. The trouble is most people tell themselves things like “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t do that” or some other similar restrictive/limiting belief gets reinforced.
A meta story is a well-crafted and intentional story which communicates the idea of your desires to your subconscious mind in a holistic way. It uses all parts of the brain to do so – sight, sound, smell and touch too. This is the language of your dreams and the language of your subconscious mind. So if you speak in a language it doesn’t understand, it’s no wonder you don’t get anywhere with goals.
How To Write A Metastory
A meta story is a story you can write down a number of times which you repeat to yourself over and over. It should be based on something which has actually happened in your life which you can remember. That way, you can draw on a success or event which has actual memories. This is important because when you remember an event from your life, you remember it in a number of ways, not just as writing, but in forms of pictures, feelings and maybe even sounds and smells! This communicates the message to all parts of your brain.
Write out your old event, or success as you remember it. Then, re-write it out to include your new goal.
Example
An example might be:
Old memory: “I remember driving up from Oxford, proud of my first job as a stuntman. I realised how the money I earned could clear my credit card bill completely. I feel proud of myself for all the hard work I had put in, and believing in myself, and believing that I could get paid to be a stuntman!”
This was an event from my past, but there’s some negativity there, in that, I’m only clearing my debt! So my new goal/story might look something like this:
“I’m driving home from a holiday feeling proud of having made my first high ticket sale online. I realise this means I can quit my job, if I choose. I feel proud for staying the course and for the hard work I’ve put in to achieve this, I did it”
You can also sign off your metastory with an “insurance policy”. This might be something such as “please let this, or something better happen, in ways that are good for me and everyone else concerned. “ This allows for something better to come along and helps avoid any conflict with your goal. Often we can be so busy chasing a goal that we allow other areas of our life to be impacted negatively. This insurance policy helps you keep that balanced.
Re-Writing A Metastory
Start by choosing a goal you would like to achieve and write it out as if it has already happened, like the example above. Then, re-write it out 10 times. Too lazy to write it out that many times? Then you need a more desirable goal!
With goal which is a 10 out of 10 for desirability, you’ll write it out multiple times, even 100 times. You also need your goal/metastory to be believable for you. If it’s not believable or desirable, it’s the wrong goal. As you write it out many times, you’ll naturally tweak it so that it motivates you more and more.
You should notice when your goal is aligned with your subconscious mind because you’ll feel motivated to do the work.
Ideally, you’ll find a metastory which you can remember and replay over and over in your head throughout the day. This becomes a habit and engrains this intention into your subconscious mind.
This is the pattern of thinking you need for an incredibly difficult goal of some kind. Most people will quit on a long term project, such as building an online business, because they don’t follow through. This process helps you to create the necessary energy and motivation and keep it going over the longer term. Without belief, you can’t achieve much. Without desire, you won’t chase it! So you need 10/10 score for belief in yourself and your goal and a 10/10 score for your desire in your goal.
Grab Stuart Lichtman’s book on Cybernetic Transposition below:
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