The Filbert Principle – A handful of intermediate goals.
“I am getting so frustrated!” said Alice “I am progressing so slowly in this pose.”
Alice has set herself a goal of learning six new poses in two months and it is not going very well. Alice’s yoga teacher tells her to use the Filbert Principle to reach her big goal. He then tells Alice the Aesop fable about the Boy and the Filberts
The Boy and the Filberts
A boy put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher. Unwilling to lose his filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his disappointment. A bystander said to him, “Be satisfied with half the quantity, and you will readily draw out your hand.”
Do not attempt too much at once.
Her yoga teacher went on to explain how this story relates to her situation.
What is the Filbert principle
The Boy’s goal is to get as many of the filberts out of the pitcher as he can all at once. He is unwilling to accept a different goal and as a result he is stuck and unable to reach that big goal.
If the Boy had a couple of intermediate goals he would start to make progress. If his intermediate goal is to take one filbert out of the pitcher at a time, then he will start to progress quickly towards his bigger goal of getting all of the filberts out of the pitcher.
If both the Boy and Alice set some intermediate goals they will eventually reach their goal. It may take a little longer but they will make progress towards their goal and they will be able to measure that progress.
What is the problem with a big goal
When Alice set that big goal without any intermediate goals, she is setting herself up for frustration and failure.
When challenges happen along the way to the big goal, Alice has no way to look at the progress she has already achieved and determine if she is on track, ahead or behind in her goal of learning six poses in two months.
Why have smaller intermediate goals
Having a big goal is fine. You need to set that big goal to inspire you. It gives you something to work towards.
But you also need to set a bunch of intermediate goals along the way. These intermediate goals will help you to measure your progress towards your final Big Goal.
Each time you reach one of your intermediate goals, you can celebrate your success.
You can assess your progress towards the Big Goal and see if it is still achievable. Can it be moved closer in time or should it be moved a little further away.
The intermediate goals are a lot closer than that Big Goal and there are lot more of them. Every time you reach one of your intermediate goals you feel a sense of achievement and you are ready to move on to the next intermediate goal with enthusiasm.
Breaking the Big Goal down into a set of smaller intermediate goals will make the entire task seem a lot more achievable. First all you have to do is achieve this much smaller intermediate goal. Then all you have to do is complete the next goal and take another step closer to your final Big Goal. And before you know it you will have reached that Big Goal.
Sometimes you may get stuck trying to accomplish one of those intermediate goals.
What if you get stuck on one of your intermediate goals
If one of your intermediate goals proves more challenging then you thought then apply the Filbert Principle again.
Break the goal that you are stuck on into a couple of smaller goals. Measure your progress against these new smaller goals. Eventually you will get through your problem and complete that goal.
Summary
Applying the Filbert Principle, setting many smaller intermediate goals on the way to a bigger goal, will let the Boy get all of the Filberts out of the pitcher.
When Alice applies the Filbert Principle to her yoga practice she will improve her yoga practice without getting frustrated along the way. She will be able to measure her progress as she reaches each of her intermediate goals.
Next Step
Talk to your yoga teacher about the big goal that you want to achieve with your yoga practice. The two of you can apply the Filbert Principle to that goal and develop a list of intermediate goals and a time line to reach that big goal.
Additional Reading
Another aspect of goal setting is your mind and how you view challenges. Read A Growth Mindset moves your practice forward to learn more.
Having a practice buddy will help you to reach your goal. Read How to pick a practice buddy and reach your yoga goal to learn more about them.
Sometimes you will reach a roadblock on your way to your Big Goal. Why embracing the crow will improve your yoga practice tells you how to carry on when these roadblocks happen.
