Coaching practices for Anti Goal Checklist
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Anti Goal Checklist, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- Every goal I write ends up small and safe
- I’ve tried other people’s checklists and they always track things I don’t actually care about right now
- When I’m fired up about something my enthusiasm drowns out all my caution, and I only realize I drifted into a known failure pattern long after the damage is done
- I’ve got this whole list of goals and I honestly can’t tell anymore which ones are mine versus which I took on to look right or quiet the guilt
- This used to be something I wanted, but ever since my boss started tracking it and someone’s always checking in, it’s curdled into a chore I do for them
Practices that may help
- Sidestep the SMART pitfalls
Use SMART to clarify execution — not to shrink your ambition or freeze your goal.
SMART Goals That Actually Move - Anti-Goals: Defining Success by What You Refuse to Accept
Anti-goals, popularised by entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson, are explicit statements of the outcomes, conditions, and trade-offs you refuse to accept — defined before deciding what to pursue. They complement positive goal-setting by creating a decision filter that eliminates technically "successful" outcomes that would make you miserable. The framework is a practitioner heuristic with no direct experimental study, but it applies well-supported principles from decision science and values-clarification. - Design a personal question list that matches your current growth goals
Build a short list of active questions that track the behaviors most relevant to your life right now — not a fixed template.
The Morning Questions - Build an anti-goal checklist
Keep a running list of "what failure looks like" and review against it.
Inversion: Solve Problems Backward - Audit why you are pursuing each goal
Check whether each goal is driven by interest and values or by guilt and external pressure.
Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical - Protect your sense of autonomy while pursuing the goal
Keep the goal yours even when a coach, boss, or partner is involved in it.
Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical - Run a regular review cadence
Check in weekly and score at cycle-end so the OKRs stay alive instead of forgotten.
OKRs for People, Not Just Companies - Design process goals that are specific, observable, and within your control
Process goals must be both actionable (you can do them) and observable (you can confirm you did them).
Process vs. Outcome Goals in Sport and Performance - Review and revise the bucket list quarterly
A list reviewed only at writing is nostalgia; one reviewed quarterly is a live planning document.
The Bucket List Method - Name trade-off anti-goals: conditions that come bundled with attractive outcomes
Many desirable outcomes come packaged with specific costs — name the hidden costs as anti-goals before you commit.
Anti-Goals: Defining Success by What You Refuse to Accept
Related concerns
- Andrew Wilkinson Anti Goals
Anti-goals, popularised by entrepreneur Andrew Wilkinson, are explicit statements of the outcomes, conditions, and trade-offs you refuse to accept — defined before deciding what to pursue. They complement positive goal-setting by creating a decision filter that eliminates technically "successful" outcomes that would make you miserable. The framework is a practitioner heuristic with no direct experimental study, but it applies well-supported principles from decision science and values-clarification.
- Controllable Goals
Only set goals for actions you can directly control — not for outcomes that depend on others or luck.
Filter goals through the controllability test
- Kennon Sheldon Goals
Self-concordant goals, from Kennon Sheldon, are goals you pursue because they express who you genuinely are or what truly interests you — not because of guilt, social pressure, or external reward. Research finds that self-concordant goals are pursued with more sustained effort and produce greater well-being when achieved, even when the objective difficulty is held constant.
- Session Goals
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound — a checklist for turning a vague intention into a goal you can act on and track. The underlying principle that specific, clearly-defined goals beat “do your best” is well supported in goal-setting research; the SMART acronym itself is a practical packaging of that idea.
- What To Avoid In Goals
Translate "stop failing" into "get to X" so your system aims at a target instead of a threat.
Reframe avoidance goals as approach goals
- Accuracy Vs Directional Goals
A compass bearing keeps you moving without closing off the exact route or destination.
Replace specific goals with a guiding direction
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