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NLP Course Lesson 2: Well-Formed Outcomes, Goals Your Brain Can Hit
Free NLP Course for Business Owners · Lesson 2 of 11
📍 Where this lesson comes from
In my 2021 coaching plan this was the session called “Keys to Achievable Outcomes” (NLP, 1 of the 18 hours). This free lesson is a self-guided introduction to the same topic, not the original coaching session.
"More sales" isn't a goal. It's a wish. NLP's well-formed outcome turns a wish into a target your brain can recognize and your calendar can schedule. This lesson gives you the seven checks, a worked example and a worksheet.
Why most business goals stall
Think of the goals you hear at every networking event: "Get more customers." "Stop losing money on shipping." "Be less stressed." They stall for three reasons:
- They're vague. There is no way to know when you've arrived, so you never get the satisfaction of arriving.
- They point away from something instead of toward something. "Stop losing money" tells you what you don't want, not what to build.
- They depend on other people. "Get a big client to call me" isn't something you can do on Monday morning.
The 7 checks of a well-formed outcome
Run your goal through each check and write your answers in your notebook.
1. Stated in the positive
What do you want instead?
"Stop losing money on shipping" becomes "Shipping costs stay under 8% of sales."
2. In your control
Can you start it and keep it going yourself?
"Get a big wholesale client to call me" becomes "Pitch 10 wholesale buyers every month."
3. Specific context
When, where and with whom?
"By June 30, in my online shop and at weekend markets."
4. Sensory evidence
How will you know you've got it? What will you see, hear and feel?
"I'll see $6,000 on my monthly sales report, hear repeat customers ask for the next design, and feel calm when I open my banking app."
5. Resources
What do you already have, and what do you need?
Skills, people, money, time, tools, and examples of others who have done it.
6. Ecology
What will it cost, and is it worth it?
Who else is affected: family, health, team? What might you lose? Adjust the goal until the answer is a clean yes.
7. First step
What is the very next physical action, and when?
"Tuesday at 9 am: list my 30 past wholesale contacts in a spreadsheet."
Bonus question for motivation: ask "What will having this get me?" two or three times in a row. "$6,000 a month" might become "a real salary," then "my kids see me relaxed at dinner." That deeper reason is what gets you through the boring weeks.
💡 Worked example (fictional): from wish to outcome
Marco runs a food truck. His wish: "More catering gigs." After the seven checks it reads:
"By March 31, I have booked 6 private catering events (weddings, office lunches and parties) at $1,200 or more each, mostly through past customers and two local event planners. I'll know because six signed deposits are in my booking calendar. I already have a good reputation, an active Instagram account and a menu. I need a one-page catering menu and a referral offer. Catering happens on weekends when the truck earns less anyway, and my partner is on board as long as I keep Sundays free. First step: Monday at 10 am, write the one-page catering menu."
📓 Your outcome worksheet
- Pick one business goal for the next 3 to 6 months. Write it the way you'd normally say it.
- Answer the seven checks above, one by one, in writing.
- Rewrite the goal in one or two sentences, in the present tense, as if it has already happened: "It's [date], and I..."
- Do the ecology check one more time, out loud. If any part of you hesitates, find out why and adjust.
- Put the first step in your calendar with a time and a place.
Common mistakes
- Too many outcomes at once. Start with one. Two at most.
- Evidence you can't check. "Customers love us" is a feeling. "15 new five-star reviews" is evidence.
- Skipping ecology. A goal that quietly costs you your health or your family will get sabotaged, usually by you.
🔬 What the research says
The well-formed outcome itself hasn't been tested much in controlled studies, but two of its main ingredients have strong support. Decades of goal-setting research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham found that specific, challenging goals usually lead to better performance than vague "do your best" goals, especially when people get feedback on their progress. And psychologist Peter Gollwitzer's work on implementation intentions, if-then plans such as "If it's Monday at 10 am, then I write the catering menu," found that deciding when and where you'll act makes follow-through more likely. A large review of these studies found a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals. Checks 4 and 7 build exactly those two things into your outcome.
🎧 Go deeper for free
- YouTubeNLP Goal-setting: Well-formed Outcomes · Dr Mike Clayton, Management CoursesA short walk through the well-formed outcome conditions. 5 minutes.
- YouTubeThe NLP Well Formed Outcome · NLP with Dr. HeidiAnother clear explanation of the outcome questions, with examples. 7 minutes.
- PodcastWhat's Missing From S.M.A.R.T. Goals: Practical NLP Podcast 73 · Practical NLP PodcastHow NLP outcome questions add to the SMART goals you may already use.
- ReadWell-Formedness Conditions for Outcomes · Encyclopedia of Systemic NLP (Robert Dilts & Judith DeLozier)The classic outcome conditions with questions and a worksheet. The pages are scans of the printed book.
These free resources were made by other people, and some of them also sell paid trainings. Listing a resource is not an endorsement of anything it sells, and these are plain links with no affiliate codes.
Quick check
What is a well-formed outcome in NLP?
A goal that passes a set of checks: stated in the positive, within your control, specific in context, with clear sensory evidence, resources identified, an ecology check and a first step.
What is an ecology check?
Checking what a goal will cost you and the people around you, and whether it is still worth it, before you commit to it.
How is a well-formed outcome different from a SMART goal?
Both make goals specific and measurable. The well-formed outcome adds checks SMART goals don't have: stating the goal positively, keeping it in your control, imagining what success will look, sound and feel like, and an ecology check of side effects.
📚 All 11 lessons in this course
- Start HereWhat NLP is and isn't, how the course works, your first homework
- Lesson 1: Your Starting PointYour money and business history, plus your baseline numbers
- Lesson 2: Well-Formed Outcomes (you are here)Goals your brain can actually hit
- Lesson 3: The Goal-Blocker DetectorMeta Model questions for your excuses and for customers
- Lesson 4: Triggers, States & AnchoringSpot what knocks you off balance and get your best state back
- Lesson 5: Clearing Negative EmotionsTimeline reflection and reframing
- Lesson 6: Limiting Beliefs About Money & SellingFind them, question them, test them
- Lesson 7: Fear of Rejection & SetbacksThe movie-theater technique, the swish and perceptual positions
- Lesson 8: Rapport That SellsNoticing, matching, backtracking, pacing and leading
- Lesson 9: Create Your FutureVision, future pacing and WOOP
- Lesson 10: New Rules to Live ByValues, rules and daily rituals
- Lesson 11: Your One-Page Breakthrough PlanOne printable page and a 30-day practice plan
About this course. Evolve & Earn is a free learning section of the QualityPerfection blog. This course is published by QualityPerfection and is based on our owner Ben's 2021 coaching plan and on free public resources. It is for education only and is not therapy or medical, legal or financial advice. People in the examples are made up.
Time Line Therapy® is a registered trademark of its owner. NLP, Meta-Coaching and other method names are used here only to describe the techniques. Mentioning them does not imply any endorsement by, or connection with, their owners.
QualityPerfection makes custom can coolers for small businesses, events and weddings. Try our free online design tool →
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