Goal Setting

Plonki

New member
Hey guys,

I wrote up some cliff notes on goal setting at the start of the year and I figured I'd share the information with you all incase you're experiencing some resolution fatigue. It's all empirically supported, and I can find references for anyone interested.


Goal Setting



· Set difficult goals (Difficult goals are more motivating. The more difficult, the more drive.)

o The more difficult, the more motivation

· Set specific goals (What, where, when, who, how)

o The more specific, the greater your chances of goal attainment

· Incorporate method of goal feedback (Goal re-evaluation at regular intervals)

o It is important to quantify your goals so you have some means of gauging progress if applicable. This concerns your goal specificity

· Accept your Goal – Why is this goal important to you?

· Have incentives as short-term goals for long-term goals

o Goal proximity affects motivation

o This is more effective for extrinsic goals (boring goals you’re uninterested in e.g. grunt work)

o Long-term goals often have “Lattice” like structures

§ Multiple short term goals contribute to attaining the long-term goal.

§ E.g. working out, getting your black belt, being a vegetarian all contribute to weight loss but are also individual goals.

· Goal setting Caveats (Plan for these e.g. when I encounter x I will do y.)

o Stress

o Prospect of failure

o Fixed goals limit flexibility

· Goal Performance

o Improves if the goal supports Autonomy, Competence, and/or Relatedness

§ This means your sense of self-efficacy, your skills, or your social life

o Goal setting should focus on the “Process” of attaining a goal, not the goal itself

§ Think about going out to meet women as opposed to having a girlfriend

§ Visualization also works like this, and so the secret is misleading.

· Visualizing the “process”, or problem solving, increases goal attainment

· Visualizing the end-goals increases hope (ineffective)

· 3 Demons of Goal Attainment (Plan for these e.g. when I encounter x I will do y.)

o Delay (From starting)

o Difficulty (Humps, plateaus)

o Disruption (Getting back on the horse after being interrupted)

· Misc. Tips

o Larger goals require more planning. Direct correlation for success.

o “Start with your master, finish with yourself”. – Chinese proverb

§ E.g. Guru’s can only start the fire, not take you all the way.



Some food for thought. If you want elaboration don't hesitate to ask



Plonki:svengo:
 
Cliffs Notes on Goals

They should be SMART
Specific (which is why most new years resolutions fail, a goal is never specific - exercise more is not specific)
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely.
 
Yes, I agree with you, but on two of those

"Attainable"
"Realistic"

Everyones perceptions of these two points differ greatly and so aren't easily quantifiable. To one person, losing 2 pounds a week is not possible or unrealistic, where as to another losing nothing less than 5 seems reasonable.

Make sure to quantify things and keep them measurable. Difficult goals provide more motivation, but make sure to keep them specific. It's better to shoot for the stars and land in the mud, then to shoot for the mud and make it.

Plonki:svengo:
 
anyone who's ever sat thru any type of management course knows about SMART.. Goal setting for employees is a big topic...
 
Yes, I agree with you, but on two of those

"Attainable"
"Realistic"

Everyones perceptions of these two points differ greatly and so aren't easily quantifiable. To one person, losing 2 pounds a week is not possible or unrealistic, where as to another losing nothing less than 5 seems reasonable.

Make sure to quantify things and keep them measurable.

Ummm...

Did you not read what the "M" stands for in SMART?


Difficult goals provide more motivation, but make sure to keep them specific. It's better to shoot for the stars and land in the mud, then to shoot for the mud and make it.

No offense intended but I've found that simple goal setting, even when backed by most of the factors you listed above, falls short of truly changing someone's mind. I mean they're great factors and should be listened to, but in my opinion it takes more, more often or not.
 
Yes, I agree with you, but on two of those

"Attainable"
"Realistic"

Everyones perceptions of these two points differ greatly and so aren't easily quantifiable. To one person, losing 2 pounds a week is not possible or unrealistic, where as to another losing nothing less than 5 seems reasonable.

Make sure to quantify things and keep them measurable. Difficult goals provide more motivation, but make sure to keep them specific. It's better to shoot for the stars and land in the mud, then to shoot for the mud and make it.

Plonki:svengo:

but if a person who weighs 150 lbs and sets a goal at 5lbs a week - totally unrealistic... they will never meet their goal - spend some t ime reading around this forum - people don't see that losing 1.5lbs would be a good thing... they see that they are a failure because they didn't lose the 5lbs they set and give up on trying to improve themselves.

Realistic or most people do set themselves up for failure..

and goals should be changing and evolving...
 
Yeah, I agree with you. I hadn't realized you created the acronym SMART :)

As for setting difficult goals, I think it's really counter intuitive but here's where the truth lies. I do think creating difficult goals is more motivating, but I think it's likely to increase stress and overwhelm. Stress and overwhelm, if managed correctly, can be curbed and hence allow the more difficult goal to generate motivation. along with extensive planning I think it's a good bet.

The thing is though, with this research, is it's not true for everyone. Generally, finding a statistically significant difference between groups in a study doesn't mean very much, but i'd say that in general, say, out of 100 people, 20 of those people who do set more difficult goals will do better than 20 that don't, and everyone else will fall inbetween. Individual differences matter.

I can sort of see the rationale though. If you check out guys like Tony Robbins and other big names in motivation, they always make people shoot for goals sky high. It definitely juices you, I think, but I think context is important, particularly where you're at.

Plonki:svengo:
 
On difficult goal setting improving performance:

Locke, E. A., & Lanthum, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of
goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57, 705-
717

Locke, E. A., & Lanthum, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task
performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Princeton Hall

Mento, A. J., Steel, R. P., & Karren, R. J., (1987) A meta-analytic study of
the effects of goal setting on task performance: 1966 - 1984.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 39,
52-83

Tubbs, M. E. (1986). Goal-setting: A meta-analytic examination of the
empirical evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 474-483.

I agree with the giggle on Tony Robbins, but as far as "emotional persuasion" goes, Tony is one of the best. Unfortunately, his pump only lasts a few days, but he does make a good impression.

Plonki:svengo:
 
Tony has some good stuff. He didn't turn out to be such a mystical guru shit-slinging scumbag, he'd have my respect. I've read most of his stuff and have taken bits and pieces that have proven useful on the application side of things regarding poor dietary and health habits.

So I can't write him off completely.

But yea, he has his moments, which unfortunately outweigh the good stuff.

Are you in the psychology field or just have a passion for learning about this stuff?

What are your thoughts on CBT?

Are you familiar with David Burns' work, and if so, what are your thoughts?
 
What are your thoughts on CBT?
I really hate acronyms...

depending on where i am

Chicago board of trade
Cock and Ball Torture (you really don't want to know :D
Computer Based training..

oh and the one you're talking about..
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy... :)
 
Hopefully I don't get banned for this but I believe it also stands for cock and ball torture among the fetishists.
 
Dammit, I hate when others do that. Now I'm doing it.

My sincere apologies. I promise, I'm not afraid of words.
 
you're so sweet and innocent looking (note I said looking, still waters do run deep and very very dirty :D ) I consider it a win if i could get you to say cock and ball in the proper context :D
 
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