Art of Goal Setting
Hey Imad, love the idea of group blogging. So as my first post, I thought it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on what tactics help you to achieve a long term goal (1 year/New Years Resolution). I’m sure many of you made some resolutions for 2011 and probably are struggling to achieve them (except of course for the Psych grad students among us who have some inhuman qualities). This book I’ve been reading, ‘Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals’ by Heidi grant Halvorson Ph.D sheds some light on where people go wrong when setting and accomplishing a goal. Early in the book she states that a goal should be:
- Specific
- Challenging
“Goals that spell out exactly what needs to be accomplished, and that set the bar for achievement high, result in far superior performance than goals that are vague or that set the bar too low.”
Her premise is that setting a goal that is both specific and challenging allows you decide exactly what you want to achieve and therefore will not settle for anything less. If the goal is vague, you’ll increase the probability of giving up early and be content with what little progress you’ve made. The more difficult the goal, the more likely you’ll be committed to the goal, persist longer, and increase your effort.
So I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, anything you’d like to add or discredit? Thanks!
-Frank
