The psychology of goals

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The genuine beginnings of goal setting started a lengthy lengthy time ago. The movement was inspired by antique Greek philosophy. Aristotle, a learner of Plato speculated that an objective can bring on the action; That having an objective can guide us, can spur us into action.

What do we know from social psychology?

According to social psychology and Self-Determination Theory, all human beings seek #relatedness, #competence, and #autonomy.

Relatedness is the desire to feel connected.

Competence - is about being able to have an effect on your environment and being able to get the things you want out of it.

Autonomy - is about freedom. Specifically, it's about choosing, it's about being able to do things because you find them interesting or appealing because they speak to something about your own nature.

What do we need?

Goals are about making, supporting, or strengthening relationships. Goals that focus on personal growth, physical health, or self-acceptance-addressing your shortcomings.

What do we really not need?

Goals that don't help you achieve lasting well-being: becoming famous, seeking power over others, or polishing your public image.

When we are under too much pressure or denied choices, when we feel we can't do anything right, when we are lonely, then we turn to goals that aren't very good for us as a kind of defensive strategy.

The importance of choice.?

Research has shown that when people feel they have choices and they are an integral part of creating their own path, they are more motivated and successful. Since rewards, deadlines and other consequences of our actions are a fact of life, it's essential that we learn how to create autonomy-supportive environments and protect intrinsic (most important type) motivation.

How to create a feeling of choice?

It isn't so much actual freedom of choice that matters but the feeling of choice. Choice provides a sense of self-determination (Diana Cordova & Mark Lepper's research). Creating a feeling of choice isn't simply a way to increase motivation. In fact, evidence suggests that satisfying our need for autonomy is vital to our psychological well-being. The other great thing about giving people a sense of choice and autonomy when you assign them a goal is it is by far the best way to get them eventually freely adopt the goal as their own.

Finally.

Goals that are freely chosen create intrinsic motivation, a special kind of motivation that leads to greater enjoyment, longer persistence, enhanced creativity, and better performance. This motivation is destroyed by anything we experience as controlling. According to psychologist Martin Seligman (Authentic happiness), we find the greatest motivation and most personal satisfaction in the goals that we choose for ourselves. In fact, self-chosen goals create a special kind of motivation called intrinsic motivation - the desire to do something for its own sake.

Stay awesome!

References:

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Phd: Succeed; Martin Seligman: Authentic Happiness;