What if you could hit your goal every...single...time?
My thoughts on 圖解絕對達標法
One of the joys of having advanced Chinese language skills is that I can enjoy books and content that is not available in English. Over the past few years, I’ve now read several Chinese books, mostly business and personal development books. I enjoy this content in English, so it makes sense to also see what new perspectives and things I can learn in the Chinese-speaking world. Interestingly enough, I’ve also gained access to content that is translated into Chinese, especially books coming from Japan.
I initially learned about the “Harada Method” from such a translated book; the now world-famous Japanese baseball player, Shohei Ohtani, attributes much of his success to the Harada method. Over the past two years, I’ve already implemented one aspect of the Harada Method, which is called the “64 Chart” (explained later). This chart has undeniably been very useful in breaking down goals into 64 small actionable parts, but as I’ve been using the tool, I couldn’t help but feel that I was only “seeing the trees for the forest.” After reading this book, I learned that the “Harada Method” is a holistic system, and every part of the method plays a key role in your success, not just the 64 Chart. As such, I felt the need to do some additional research and learn more about the “Harada Method.”
Recently, I picked up a book called “圖解絕對達標法” (which roughly translates to “The Absolute-Goal-Hitting Method: Explained Visually”), which elegantly breaks down and explains the Harada Method using manga and some text explanations. I was looking for a quick-start resource on the Harada Method, so this book seemed like the perfect resource.
Sure enough, this book was exactly what I was hoping it would be—I finished the book in one day (it was mostly manga, so that certainly helped!) and it really focused on the key modules of the system and placed a large emphasis on practice and execution. As the inventor of the system is Japanese, there was also a strong spiritual component to the entire methodology.
An overarching thread throughout the book is the concept of “building your spirit.” If I were to translate for a Western audience, I would say that “building your spirit” is building a strong sense of self and understanding clearly what you want to do with your life.
The Harada Method is not just about achieving your goals but also becoming the best version of yourself in the process.
The system can be broken down into five sequential steps:
The Goal-Setting Quadrant
“Your Why” & Goals Sheet
64 Chart
Daily Diary
Key Habit / Action Tracker
The Goal-Setting Quadrant
The Goal-Setting Quadrant involves filling out 4 sections of a quadrant sheet:
Visible / Tangible + Me: In other words, you write your desired goals and achievements here
E.g. - Improve my management skills
E.g. - Hit my sales commission goal this year
Visible / Tangible + Other People: In this section, you write how achieving your desired goals benefits other entities or people
E.g. - Our sales team was praised by the CEO for its strong performance this year
E.g. - Company revenue increased by 10% this year
Emotions + Me: How does achieving your desired goals make you feel emotionally?
E.g. - I have a strong sense of accomplishment
E.g. - I feel extremely confident in my sales abilities
Emotions + Other People: How does achieving your desired goals make other people feel?
E.g. - My boss feels proud and happy to have a salesperson like me on the team
E.g. - My team members feel excited to have someone like me on the team
Key Principle of this exercise: You must convert your goals, vision and imagination into writing.
Harada also makes a key distinction between “Your Why” and your goals. Your “Why” is the direction; your goals are the distance between where you are now and your Why. Your goals are the steps that lead you towards your ultimate vision.
Your Goals Sheet
The Goals sheet is an extremely detailed form where you first lay out high-level long-term goals, then break them down into actionable tasks and habits. As I mentioned, this sheet is extremely detailed and beyond the scope of this article - I’ll be sure to discuss it more in a future article very soon.
The 64 Chart
The 64 Chart is undoubtedly my favorite part of the Harada Method.
As you can see from the image below, the 64 Chart is a 9 x 9 grid. Your main goal is written in the very center of the chart. Then, you take time to consider what would be the main 8 areas that would help you achieve this goal. Once you’ve determined those 8 key areas, each of those 8 areas is given its own 3x3 grid. For each of the 8 areas, you need to brainstorm 8 specific actions, tasks or habits that will help you make progress in that specific area. Ideally, each task, action or habit should have a deadline, routine or frequency to ensure completion.
This specific example is the 64 Chart that Shohei Ohtani filled out when he was in high school.
His main goal was to be the number 1 pick of 8 professional teams. The 8 major areas he decided to focus on were:
Build a strong body
Ball control
Pitching quality
Pitching speed over 160km/h
Changeup
Luck
Getting along with others
Mental health
For each of these 8 areas, Ohtani devised 8 specific actions or habits to develop and improve in these areas.
Daily Diary
Self-Confidence and self-concept are key aspects of achieving goals. Quite often, long-term goals can be a very faraway from your current reality and staying motivated and positive for a long period of time can be challenging. The Daily Diary serves the purpose of helping one adopt “Future Thinking” - regularly thinking about what you want to achieve in the future, then working backwards from that to determine what you need to do in the present.
The Daily Diary consists of five simple prompts:
Completed the evening before:
Key actions I must complete
In order to ensure that I can smoothly complete these key actions, what should I do?
Completed at the end of the day:
What good things happened today? What things did I do well today?
What things did I do today that made people say thank you?
If I could hit the rewind button and redo today, what would I do differently?
I wouldn’t say any of these journaling prompts are mind-blowing or revolutionary. I’ve definitely seen variations of these prompts in other journaling videos and articles. However, I think the sequencing and combination of these prompts is particularly potent. You’re focusing on the key actions you need to complete in order to achieve your goal. Then, you’re considering how you can increase the probability of successfully completing those goals. At the end of the day, you reflect on good things that happened to you and things that you did well. This prompt keeps you in a positive mindset and also forces you to think about things that you did well. Through this process, you can begin to accumulate positive evidence, and slowly but surely create a new self-image for yourself. I especially like the prompt where you think about things you did that made people say thank you. This prompt forces you to think beyond yourself and think about how you can help and serve others around you. Finally, the “rewind / do over” prompt is an excellent way to think about how you can improve on a regular basis.
Key Action / Habit Tracker
Again, the Key Action / Habit Tracker is by no means original or innovative, but it’s a crucial and final addition to this entire Harada method stack. Tracking actions and habits on a regular basis reinforces consistency and progress, and also provides visual evidence of the work you’re doing and progress you’re making. Harada makes a key distinction with this tracking system compared to other trackers - you should only put actions or habits on that chart that you can complete NO MATTER WHAT - whether it’s the weekend or you’re sick or you’re on vacation. Harada stresses that a key purpose of using this tool is not just to work towards your goals, but to also build self-confidence and discipline. Additionally, when it comes to deciding what to put on the list, you don’t need to limit the items to tasks that are directly related to achieving your goal. You can also list tasks that help you develop your character or self, such as house chores, reading, writing, etc. The important part is to select an array of tasks and habits that can ensure, if not guarantee long-term consistency.
Principles I gained from this book
Write your goals out in words
The path from where you are now to your dream is simply a series of small stair steps
Your Why is the direction. Your goals determine the distance and the specific steps you need to take to move towards your Why
Use the Goal-Setting Quadrant to visualize your goal from various perspectives
Use the Long-Term Goal Sheet to break your goal down into a detailed plan with actionable steps
Adopt future-based thinking
Imagine what you want in the future, then work backwards to determine what you need to do now
Place your spiritual cup upwards
Be positive and enthusiastic
Be humble
Be on time
Always be cleaning; keep your environment neat and tidya
Be polite and kind to others
Consistency is key