5th May 2025
I came across the intriguing concept of “Anti-goals” from a book I was recently reading and it entirely changed my framework of setting goals.
Anti-goals are things you deliberately choose not to do or be, serving as a framework for defining what you want to avoid in order to achieve your desired outcomes. While goals direct you towards what you want to accomplish, anti-goals help you identify and prevent undesirable situations or habits.
While both involve avoiding certain things, anti-goals are more about deliberately preventing undesirable outcomes, while non-goals are more about simply not working on something.
The concept is grounded in inversion—a foundational mental model that says that complex problems are often easier solved backwards vs. forwards.
Inversion was made famous by one quote from Charlie Munger:
“All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.”
Anti-goals are the things we DON’T want to happen—either as final outcomes or along the way.
Just to illustrate, if your goal is to become a CEO, And guess what – you did it!
But while you’re at the top professionally, you gain weight, become a chain smoker, your marriage is in shambles, and your kids don’t recognize you….you won the battle but lost the war.
I think of anti-goals as being about avoiding the Pyrrhic victory—a term coined after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who suffered devastating losses while defeating the Roman army in battle in 279 B.C.E.
The term ‘Anti Goal’ is now commonly used to refer to a victory that takes such a terrible toll on the victor that it might as well have been a defeat.
Not all goals are worth achieving if they are going to cost you your health, happiness, family & leave you in shambles in the end.
As you take on your next project, or set another goal, give this framework a shot.
Establish anti-goals to sit alongside your traditional goals, decide in advance, what you dont want when you are at the pinnacle.
Win the battle AND the war & stay blessed forever!