“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Pursue Noble Goals Definition: Connecting your daily choices with your overarching sense of purpose.
Importance: Noble goals activate all the other competencies in the Six Seconds Model of EQ. When you are connected with your personal vision and mission, emotional intelligence has a powerful meaning and relevance. Having a clear noble goal helps you focus on what is most important and access your full power and potential. When you realize that even your smallest actions help bring the future you want into the present, even the most mundane actions take on a sense of purpose and vibrancy. You make your legacy with every moment of every day.
Example
A Noble Goal typically contains a verb (expressing how to pursue it) and a goal of what you want to add to the world. Examples might be:
Honoring our interconnectedness.
Supporting myself and others to live in truth.
Sparking awareness of the power of choice.
What's an example of finding and pursuing a Noble Goal?
Mission: Imagine your purpose is sustaining a vibrant earth for future generations. That’s a beautiful and important goal, but it doesn’t fit our criteria because it’s not something you can do in ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. So, what’s your Noble Goal?
Ask Why: If that’s your mission… what is it that makes this so important to you? Perhaps, when you come down to it, you know that all life is connected, and equally valuable, and you feel responsible that future generations will not be betrayed by the present ones. You perceive that to honor that connection is at the core of your purpose.
Noble Goal: If that’s the case, then perhaps your Noble Goal is something like, “Honoring all our interconnections.”
Pursuit: If that were your Noble Goal you could pursue it in terms of environmental action like being careful which products you buy… and you could do it in all the areas of your life… for example, by helping a new person at work connect with the group… or listening to a child in a way that helps her feel connected… or even by respecting your own needs to build relationships that are truly reciprocal. Once you have the Noble Goal clear, you can work toward all your daily choices being infused with a sense of purpose. Every action brings the future we want into the present.
Pursuing noble goals helps you connect your what, your how, and your why. It ensures that your are living your life in a way that is consistent with the change you wish to see in the world.
The Components of a Noble Goal
There are 5 criteria that need to be met for a goal to qualify as a noble goal.
1. Not complete in your lifetime – It is enduring and inspiring, something beyond the daily struggle. This helps you maintain a long-term focus so you can avoid the confusion of short-term thinking.
2. Pointed outward – While you will benefit, the focus is on others. This helps you maintain an expansive vision.
3. Integrates different domains – It encompasses all dimensions of your life; serving your noble goal in one domain (such as work) supports you in all others (such as family).
4. Gets you out of bed – It motivates and inspires you at a deep level; this helps you to have the energy when the going gets tough.
5. No one made less – No one has to be “less than” or “wrong” for you to pursue your Noble Goal; this helps you stay out of ego and power struggle.
Does your current noble goal meet these 5 criteria?
Videos
Emotional Intelligence Articles about Pursue Noble Goals
The Neuroscience of Change: How to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick (12/28/2023) - Why do New Year’s resolutions nearly always fail? And what can we do to make them stick? Explore the neuroscience of change and motivation. ...
Goalsetting That Works: Three Coaching Tools to Leverage the Neuroscience of Emotion (12/6/2023) - Drawing on neuroscience of change, how can we use emotional intelligence coaching for setting goals in a way that will help make change happen better? Please a fantastic goalsetting tool (that's free for now!) ...
Glimmers of Purpose: 3 Emotional Intelligence Tips for Coaching on Purpose in a Short-Term World (10/4/2023) - Bad news: Globally, sense of purpose is declining. Good news: Using emotional intelligence in coaching, we can magnify and brighten the glimmers of purpose ...
Pursue Noble Goals in the Six Seconds Model of EQ (7/29/2023) - To pursue noble goals is to bring purpose into every day actions. It’s not something to work toward in the future, it’s a future to bring into the present. ...
Coaching Optimism & Purpose: 3 Profound Questions to Fuel Energy for a Better Future (1/31/2023) - When clients are 'in the swirl' and depleted, how do coaches reconnect optimism and purpose to reignite the spark of bigger vision? ...
Goals, Purpose and Meaning: What’s the Difference? (3/29/2021) - Goals, purpose and meaning are often used interchangeably, but there are key differences between these concepts. Understanding how they differ can help us create alignment between what we do, why, and the impact we want to have. ...
Why Telling Your Coaching Clients to “Find Your Purpose” Is Bad Advice (1/13/2021) - Purpose is essential for thriving, but many people go about it the wrong way. Here are 3 tips to help clients to stop looking for purpose, and start making it. ...
Feeling Overwhelmed? Harness Your True North (12/24/2019) - We only have so much energy and attention to give. This article will help you align your focus and attention with your "True North"-- your purpose. ...
The Secret to a Long Life? (10/8/2019) - A recent study found that having a life purpose significantly decreased a person’s risk of dying, even more so than typical health risks like drinking, smoking or not exercising regularly. So what's your purpose? ...
The Journey of EQ Six Seconds’ Theory of Change (8/24/2019) - Research: How do people start learning emotional intelligence… and what happens? A powerful story emerges about transformation to fuel authentic, purposeful connection. ...
Click here for more Pursue Noble Goals articles on our site
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Michael, a nice refresher.
Last month i joined Six Seconds Community by completing EQ Assessor Certification together with BPC.
Your articles keep me connected to my learnings ay Six Seconds.
Huge Thanks!
Thank you, Nitin, and welcome to the Six Seconds Community. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
content gives me leverage to frame my life in context of me pursuing noble goals. helps directing and focusing my every behaviour in this direction thus adding a new design to my existence.