
Goal Setting
Most people have a good idea of what they want to achieve for themselves to better their experiences in life. But the matter of how to go about it is much more difficult. Hopefully the information we've gathered can help!
There are many proven methods to enable your goal achievement:
1. Make resolutions! Challenges that require effort will motivate achievement at higher levels than easy tasks. See the arousal theory.
2. Announce your goal to your friends, family, coworkers, and more. Whether we like it or not, social interactions are a big part of our lives, and we care about how others perceive us. We are more likely to follow through with public commitment, and those close to us can help keep us accountable.
3. Develop an implementation plan. Detailed goals are more focused in comparison to vague descriptions, so that you have clear steps to take. You are more likely to achieve goals when you know exactly what you're working towards.
4. Create short-term rewards that support long-term goals. Patience isn't a quality that comes naturally to many people, and it's hard for us to stay motivated when we're looking for something very difficult or far in the future. Giving ourselves small goals to start with so that we can obtain immediate rewards better predict persistence in our efforts.
5. Monitor and record your progress. Consider making an activity tracker that's displayed publicly and somewhere you will see it. This ties back to announcing your goal to others, but it also reminds you of how much progress you've made, and how much left you have to go.
6. Create a supportive environment. Having others to cheer you on is always a plus, and situational self-controlling strategies prevent tempting impulses.
7. Transform hard-to-do behavior to must-do habit. Behavior becomes linked with context, the next experience of context evokes our habitual response --> form beneficial habits
8. Utilize social facilitation. This is a psychological phenomenon where we have improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others. This may not apply for every goal, but if there's a specific skill you're trying to achieve, try practicing with others around!
- As others observe us, we become mentally aroused, and the arousal amplifies our reactions
- The energizing effect of enthusiastic audience explains home-team advantage
- Comedy routines that are mildly funny in an uncrowded room seem funnier in a densely packed room