Anna David, a woman who has accomplished remarkable feats in her life, stands as a testament to the power of setting EPIC goals. With over two decades of sobriety, a New York Times bestselling book, a budding career in filmmaking and the recent addition of motherhood at age 53, she’s the embodiment of what she preaches.
Corporations around the world seek her out as a leading speaker on goal setting. Her unique approach, the EPIC method—short for Extraordinary, Powerful, Impactful, and Courageous—has captured the attention of entrepreneurs, business leaders and event organizers alike.
Anna’s transformative methodology is much more than mere motivation. She guides her audiences through the EPIC Goal process, ensuring that each participant leaves with an EPIC Goal Workbook containing their initial EPIC goal. It’s a tangible commitment to their aspirations.
Her impact has reverberated through prestigious institutions like Omni Resorts, NYU, Genius Network, and Entrepreneurs Organization, not to mention her inspiring talks at three TEDx events. “Anna David is one of the most entertaining and powerful speakers I’ve ever heard,” raves Genius Network founder Joe Polish.
However, Anna David’s approach diverges from conventional goal-setting wisdom. She deliberately challenges the notion of SMART goals, emphasizing that EPIC goals are neither Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, nor Time-sensitive. Instead, they’re Broad, Never-ending, Unattainable, often Irrelevant, and Enduring.
“SMART Goals are great if you want to achieve ordinary things,” Anna remarks. “But I’m not interested in helping people with ordinary achievements. I’m interested in helping them achieve extraordinary things. EPIC Goals are those things we should not be able to achieve. And yet we do.”
Anna’s method begins with envisioning a “wildly unrealistic” goal and articulating it in the present tense, as if it’s already a reality. “How does life feel, sound, and smell?” she prompts. “Are you feeling the wind as you sail during your retirement, saltwater hitting your lips? Digging into a sizzling sirloin as you and your boss celebrate the fact that your sales have quadrupled in a year? Whatever it is, describe it so that you truly feel it.”
When she speaks at corporations, Anna provides participants with their EPIC Goal Setting Workbook and encourages them to perform the exercise in the auditorium. Occasionally, individuals share their goals aloud, fostering a supportive environment. Anna then has them document the actions they’ll take to achieve these grand aspirations.
The next step involves taking these journals home and sourcing images that correspond to their goals, creating a vision board within the workbook. “One woman I worked with told me that she tore a seemingly random image out of a magazine to represent the house she wanted to live in because she liked the columns in it,” Anna recalls. “The house was way beyond her dreams at the time; she lived in a tiny apartment. Years later, she looked up and realized she lived in pretty much the house she’d grabbed the photo of.”
Yet, Anna acknowledges that the most challenging part of the process is waiting. “The universe has a much bigger plan for us than we have for ourselves. So the next part is about allowing the universe to take over. You suit up, show up, and let go of the results.”
She emphasizes that this isn’t an overnight transformation; it can take years. Anna shares her own journey as evidence, with the movie adaptation of her book in development 15 years after its release and her entry into motherhood occurring decades later than most of her friends.
In Anna David’s view, EPIC Goals are worth the wait. They embody the extraordinary, the powerful, the impactful, and the courageous—the very essence of her transformative method.
For those seeking Anna David’s wisdom on EPIC Goals, more information is available at Anna David Goal Setting Speaker.
