Defining Goals: The Benefit of Well Formed Outcomes

In NLP we talk about "well formed outcomes" in the context of goals.

A goal is something you want to achieve. A well formed outcome is something more than this, it is a goal that satisfies certain tests including:

• Being stated in the positive, what do you want, rather than what do you not want, "I want to weigh 130 pounds"  rather than "I don't want to be fat"
• Being under your control, so "I want to treat others with respect" rather than "I want other people to treat me with respect" (which is not directly under our control)
• To be specific, measurable and sensory based (i.e. what you will see, hear and feel)
• To be ecological (i.e. good overall) and worthwhile

One problem with many goals is that they are not actually what the client wants. Very often the client could get the same result in a much simpler way. This can often be uncovered using the well formed goal questions "How will you know when you have achieved this goal?" and "What will this do for you?"

Therefore one benefit of ensuring the client has a well formed outcome is that the client may find they can satisfy their want in a manner which is much simpler than that in which they had planned. By asking "How will you know when you have achieved this goal?" and "What will this do for you?" it may be possible to find a better, simpler and more efficient goal to pursue.

To take an example suppose someone's goal is:

• To be famous
• How will you know when you have achieved this goal?
• I will have lots of fans
• What will this do for you?
• I will feel loved
• How will you know you are loved?
• People will look at me with love in their eyes
• How many people are required for you to feel loved?
• One would be enough [note that this is not well formed as it is not under their direct control]
• Knowing that you cannot make another person love you, how could you satisfy this goal?
• I guess I could love myself
• What would you need to see, hear or feel to know that you love yourself?
• I guess I would need to feel that I was fulfilling my potential
• If you were to pursue your acting career and know that you have given your all to your performance, how would you feel about yourself?
• I would feel I was fulfilling my potential
• So you could love yourself then, and feel loved?
• Yes  

By ensuring your client has a well formed outcome you may find a much simpler goal for the client to pursue and still meet their wants and needs.

Shawn Carson

NLP Training New York

NLP Practitioner New York