Anna David‘s life is a testament to the extraordinary power of setting EPIC goals. Having conquered addiction and maintained over two decades of sobriety, authored a New York Times bestselling book, ventured into filmmaking with her book-to-movie project and embraced motherhood at 53, she is a living embodiment of her goal-setting philosophy.
Corporations and organizations across the globe seek her out as a leading speaker on goal setting, drawn to her unique EPIC method—an acronym representing Extraordinary, Powerful, Impactful, and Courageous.
Anna David’s speaking engagements have left an indelible mark on prestigious institutions such as Omni Resorts, NYU, Genius Network, Entrepreneurs Organization, and three TEDx events. Genius Network founder Joe Polish exclaims, “Anna David is one of the most entertaining and powerful speakers I’ve ever heard.”
What makes Anna’s approach truly distinctive is her rejection of the conventional SMART goal framework. She boldly states, “EPIC goals are not Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, or Time-sensitive. They are Broad, Never-ending, Unattainable, often Irrelevant, and Enduring.”
“SMART Goals are great if you want to achieve ordinary things,” Anna asserts. “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 methodology commences with imagining a “wildly unrealistic” goal and describing it in the present tense, as if it’s already an achieved reality. “How does life feel, sound, and smell?” she inquires. “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.”
During corporate speaking engagements, Anna provides participants with their personalized EPIC Goal Setting Workbook and encourages them to embark on the exercise in real-time. Some even share their goals aloud, fostering a sense of camaraderie and support. Anna then guides them in detailing the actions required to achieve their audacious goals.
The subsequent phase involves taking the workbooks home and collecting images that resonate with their aspirations, creating vision boards within the pages. “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 reminisces. “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.”
However, Anna underscores that the most arduous part of the process is patience. “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 transformation doesn’t occur overnight; it can take years. Anna’s own life journey serves as a testament, with the movie adaptation of her book in development 15 years after its release and her venture into motherhood occurring decades later than most of her peers.
For Anna David, EPIC Goals are worth the wait. They encompass the extraordinary, the powerful, the impactful, and the courageous—the very essence of her transformative method.
To explore Anna David’s philosophy and book her as a speaker on goal setting visit Anna David Goal Setting Speaker.
