This is How to Reverse Engineer Your Elephant-Sized Goals

Today’s post has to do with a little secret I am going to share with you on how to figure out how to do or accomplish almost anything.

Not only that but how to do it faster, better and with less time on your part. All you need to do is understand 2 simple concepts and use them together, the concepts are:

  How to eat an elephant and

  How to reverse engineer things

Since I’m a bit hungry, let’s start with how to eat one of these!

“But elephant meat gives me gas! Can you use a different example?”, you ask.

No.  This is my blog post and I will use the examples as I see fit. Your digestive issues are your problem, not mine.

Besides, “How do you eat an elephant?” is simply a metaphor for tackling something big and daunting, and the answer is “one bite at a time”.  Meaning you need to break up your big goal or whatever you want to accomplish into smaller pieces to make it more manageable.  Breaking things into smaller pieces also reduces the amount of frustration and impatience you will encounter from trying to tackle something overwhelmingly huge.

See, you got all bent out of shape about eating an elephant for nothing. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Now that you know that you need to divide and conquer by breaking up things up into smaller, more manageable pieces, the next question is “How do you know which steps to take to accomplish the goal?”.

Aha!  That is where the second concept comes in! And actually, the first concept will be embedded into the second one as you will see shortly.  Eating an elephant is just such an important concept in life that I wanted to emphasize it separately.

The answer to how do you know which steps to take is – you need to reverse engineer things.

“But wait, I am not an engineer!” you say

That’s ok! Neither am I and I reverse engineer things all the time – and I don’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express either!

You don’t have to be an engineer to use this concept!  And if you are an engineer, please humor me here.  Reverse engineering is basically a way of figuring out how someone else accomplished something, then doing those steps yourself, with perhaps some modifications along the way.

The fact of the matter is this, almost anything you want to do, someone else has already done it.

All you need to do is reverse engineer it to figure out how the hell they did it.

You do this by starting at the end, then working your way back and figuring out how they did it by pulling it apart, piece by piece, then replicating those steps yourself and making it happen.

It May Seem a Bit Unnatural at First

And that’s ok! In life, when we are pursuing our goals, usually we begin from where we are and start taking steps towards our goal.  Reverse engineering does the opposite, you start at the end (or goal), then work your way back to where you need to start.

Why Do We Do it in Reverse?

There are a few reasons you need to reverse engineer things by starting at the end:

(1)  By reverse engineering your goal, you figure out which steps you need to take and in which order, that way you don’t miss anything.

(2)  Reverse engineering keeps you motivated. You know in advance that with each step you take, you are that much closer to your goal.

(3)  You are less likely to skip steps. If you know a step is necessary to get to your goal, you are less likely to skip it because you know it is necessary.  If you do it the other way around it is easier to skip it because you haven’t established each step to be necessary for you to reach your goal.

Where Does Reverse Engineering Come From?

The concept of reverse engineering comes from the world of business.  The concept is that engineers take something (a piece of software, a component, a sex toy, or some other type of device – whatever) apart so that they can understand how it works so that they can make it even better.  It allows them to study the current design, take the best parts and keep them, take the worst parts and eliminate them and then create a better product.

 How About a Practical Example That I Can Relate To?

Sure. Let’s take Steve, Steve is an ambitious high school student who is a big fan of the Austin Powers movies and has wanted to become a doctor ever since watching them as he idolizes Dr. Evil.  He is such a big fan that he has even named his cat Mr. Bigglesworth.  Anyway, let’s look at how Steve can use reverse engineering to become an evil doctor and take over the world.

The steps are as follows:

First, state your goal

While the details of his life are inconsequential, Steve’s goal is to become a doctor. He doesn’t know what kind of doctor yet, but he just wants to become a doctor. He’s a good kid, so unless he gets corrupted along the way, he probably won’t end up being an evil one like his hero.

Second, Steve Needs to Do Some Research

Next, Steve needs to figure out exactly what he needs to do to become a doctor. So, he turns to his good friend Google to do some research on what he needs to do.

Third, Start at the End

Steve then works his way back from there by listing out all the necessary steps, this is where he avoids digestive issues by eating the elephant one bite at a time. (note – these may not be all the exact steps in becoming a doctor, but it’s close):

Get licensed in a particular state or province
Do a frickin’ fellowship (optional)
Do a residency
You are an MD!
Take up lap dancing to become a quadruple threat – a doctor, a dancer…
4 years of medical school
Interview at medical schools
Apply to medical schools
Research medical schools
Write MCAT exam
Complete Bachelor’s degree (pre-med)
Take all correct courses in college
Go to college
Submit college applications
Get good grades in high school
Do well on the SAT/ACT
Perform volunteer work
Focus on Science and Math
Go to high school

Fourth, reverse the steps

And start executing on them:

Go to high school
Focus on Science and Math
Perform volunteer work
Do well on the SAT/ACT
Get good grades in high school
Submit college applications
Go to college
Take all correct courses in college
Complete Bachelor’s degree (pre-med)
Write MCAT exam
Research medical schools
Apply to medical schools
Interview at medical schools
4 years of medical school
Take up lap dancing to become a quadruple threat – a doctor, a dancer…
You are an MD!
Do a residency
Do a frickin’ fellowship (optional)
Get licensed in a particular state or province

Fifth, Course Correct and

Adjust if necessary as you go along.

Sixth, Keep Going Until You Achieve…

Your Goal!

So, while he may not become an evil doctor like his hero, Steve now knows what he needs to do and is well on his way to becoming a doctor.  He just needs to stop putting his little finger near his mouth when he excitedly tries to make a point or he will creep out his future patients.

That’s it, that is how to reverse engineer something in your life.

So, the next time you are ‘hungry’ to achieve something, remember to reverse engineer it and make sure to eat that elephant one bite at a time!

And if you find yourself getting gas, be sure to eat slowly so you swallow less air.  You may want to consider taking some digestive enzymes before eating as well!

Until next time, eat that elephant one bite at a time, chew with your frickin’ mouth closed and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

Use It or Lose It – How to Reverse Engineer Your Goal

In summary, to reverse engineer something in your life, do the following:

(1)  Figure out the goal.
(2)  Do some research to figure out what you need to do.
(3)  Start at the end and start listing the steps in reverse order until you get to the first step. (eat the elephant).
(4)  Then start executing from the first step on.
(5)  Course correct and adjust if necessary.
(6)  Achieve your goal

When to Use It:

 When you want to achieve any goal in your life.  Some examples are:

  Getting to your ideal weight – Look at someone who has either lost weight or got in shape successfully, study what they have done, then figure out the steps and do it yourself.

  Finding a significant other – Figure out all the steps you need to find that soulmate.

  Your career – Figure out where you want to be in your career, do some research on what it takes, list out the steps from the goal, then do the steps.

  Writing a book – Instead of just writing, come up with a strategy, see how others have done it, break down the process, then follow the steps yourself.

  Parenting – Want to be a better parent? Come up with a goal, figure out what you need to do, then make it happen.

  Fixing stuff around the house – I recently ran into the problem of a running toilet. How did I fix it? I went online, did some research, watched some YouTube videos and reverse engineered it. Then, I figured out how it worked and that the issue was a faulty fill valve.  Finally, I made a quick trip to Home Depot to get a new fill valve, installed that bad boy…problem solved.

  Your happiness – Do you remember the last time you were in a really happy state? How did you get there? Perhaps you can reverse engineer how you did it so you can get there again!

What Do You Think?

  Where have you used reverse engineering successfully in your life?  Are there any areas you could use it? Please share in the comments below!

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