1504 07 goals

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Goal Setting

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Goal setting theory and practice Managing time From material to happiness perception Overview

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Goals and Performance Focus “Being focused on a task produces organization for efficiency both within the organism and in the environment” Abraham Maslow Resilience Beliefs as self-fulfilling prophecies (knapsack) Words create worlds Concepts conceive

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Concerning all acts of creation there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not have otherwise occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have dreamed would come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. W.H. Murray

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Goals and Wellbeing Liberating Future goals as means; present experiences as ends The case of unhappy achievers

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Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain, nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak. “Contemporary researchers emphasize that it is the process of striving after goals—rather than goal attainment per se—that is crucial for happiness and positive affectivity.” David Watson “Happiness grows less from the passive experience of desirable circumstances than from involvement in valued activities and progress toward one’s goals.” Myers & Diener

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Live not for battles won. Live not for the-end-of-the-song. Live for the along. Gwendolyn Brooks

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Self-Concordant Goals Aligned with personal interests and values Freely chosen goals ‘Want to’ vs. ‘Have to’ “What do you really, really want to do?” Life is too short to do what I have to do; it’s barely long enough to do what I want to do. “[Becoming self concordant] is a difficult skill, requiring both accurate self-perceptual abilities and the ability to resist social pressures that may sometimes push one in inappropriate directions.” Sheldon & Houser-Marco (2001)

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The Benefits of Self-Concordance Increase in wellbeing “Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of well-being than any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.” Angus Campbell

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The Benefits of Self-Concordance Increase in wellbeing Increased likelihood of success Entering a positive upward spiral Trickle effect “Individuals pursuing self-concordant goals were ultimately able to exceed the level of academic achievement predicted by their ACT scores, even though most goals were not directly class- or grade-related. This finding suggests that those people who can identify sets of goals that well represent their implicit interests and values are indeed able to function more efficiently, flexibly, and integratively across all areas of their lives.” Sheldon & Eliot (1999)

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The Benefits of Self-Concordance Increase in wellbeing Increased likelihood of success Entering a positive upward spiral Trickle effect Health (Langer, 1989) Freedom vs. oppression

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Work Orientation

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Work Orientation

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Work Orientation

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Work Orientation

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“The most beautiful fate, the most wonderful good fortune that can happen to any human being, is to be paid for doing that which he passionately loves to do.” Abraham Maslow

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The Three Question Process (TQP) What is meaningful to me? What is important to me? What is pleasurable to me? What do I enjoy doing? What are my strengths? What am I good at?

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Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) High performance and high satisfaction Motivation Creativity Self-esteem Happiness “A dynamic state that characterizes consciousness when experience is attended to for its own sake.”

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Task Difficulty Skill Level Anxiety Frustration Boredom Optimal Levels of Challenge

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Too Easy? The need for challenge (Bexton et al., 1954) Stretch goals (Locke, 2002) “The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Big, hairy, audacious goals (Collins & Porras, 1994)

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The Underprivilege of Privilege “It is doubtful whether any heavier curse could be imposed on man than the complete gratification of all his wishes without effort on his part, leaving nothing for his hopes, desires or struggles.” Samuel Smiles

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The Underprivilege of Privilege Pressure to be happy “What right do I have to be unhappy?” Feeling of inadequacy and guilt on top of pain Emotions as the great equalizer Permission to be human

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Too Difficult? Divide and Conquer (short term goals) Breaking down achievement (Langer, 1989) “People can imagine themselves taking steps, while great heights seem entirely forbidden.” Ellen Langer

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Clear Sense of Direction Immediate feedback Written plan (Claypool & Cangemi, 1983) Specific goals (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1982) Setting lifelines (Tami, 1999) goals in-spire goals are life-enhancing “Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name.” Sir Walter Scott

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Overcoming Procrastination

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The 5-minute take off Reward yourself Go public The team approach Goals, plans, lists Permission to re-create Overcoming Procrastination

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Time Out! “In a recent national survey of 13,500 college students, nearly 45 percent reported being so depressed that they had difficulty functioning, and 94 percent reported feeling overwhelmed by everything they had to do.” Richard Kadison Too much to do Stress (feeling Overwhelmed) Depression

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“In a recent national survey of 13,500 college students, nearly 45 percent reported being so depressed that they had difficulty functioning, and 94 percent reported feeling overwhelmed by everything they had to do.” Richard Kadison Too much to do Stress (feeling Overwhelmed) Depression TBD: Too Busy Disorder (DeGenerous, 2003) Time Out!

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Do less, not more Simplify! “Love and sex are affected negatively by stress… If we can help people to simplify their lives, thus reducing their stress levels, it is very likely that people’s relationships would be enriched greatly. Moreover, the positive aspects of their lives would be enriched accordingly.” Susan & Clyde Hendrick (2002)

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Do less, not more Quantity affects quality Say “yes” by saying “no” Optimum levels of simplicity Simplify! “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” Cyril Northcote Parkinson “I can do a year’s work in nine months, but not in twelve.” JP Morgan

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“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen... In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and the thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify. Simplify .” Henry David Thoreau

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Material as the highest end Material Perception “Society tells us the only thing that matters is matter—the only things that count are the things that can be counted.” Laurence G. Boldt Counting activities Counting publications Counting money

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Obsession With Material Wealth “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” Winston Churchill Making the most of our blessings? 1968: 41% to make a lot of money 83% to develop a meaningful philosophy of life 1997: 75% to make a lot of money 41% to develop a meaningful philosophy of life

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The Consequences Money can’t buy you happiness (Diener, 1999) “The Dark Side of the American Dream” (Kasser & Ryan, 1993) lower likelihood of self-actualization higher levels of distress, depression, anxiety lower levels of happiness poorer physical health Replicated in Singaporean business-school (Kasser & Ahuvia, 2002) A caveat

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Happiness Perception “Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” Aristotle “Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, the very purpose of our life is happiness, the very motion of our life is towards happiness.” Dalai Lama Happiness as the highest end The ultimate currency

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Happiness Perception in Our Lives “People seeking greater well-being would be well advised to focus on the pursuit of (a) goals involving growth, connection, and contribution rather than goals involving money, beauty, and popularity and (b) goals that are interesting and personally important to them rather than goals they feel forced or pressured to pursue.” Sheldon et al. (2004) Asking the right questions Framing makes all the difference

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The Happiness Revolution “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” The Buddha Inside out (Vs. outside in) Non-zero-sum game Peaceful revolution

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Implications for Politics Wars mostly over material possessions Government’s role Creating conditions for pursuing happiness Ensuring freedom Educating

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“Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy

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“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi

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“From the Son of Heaven down to the common people, all must regard cultivation of the personal life as the root. A disordered root cannot grow into ordered branches. If what is near is neglected, how can one take care of what is far away?” Confucius

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Csikszentmihaly, M. (1991). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 71-93. Harper Collins Publishers. Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410-422. Locke, E. A. (1998). “Study Methods and Motivation.” New Milford, CT: Second Renaissance Books. Mumford, M. D., Schultz, R. A. & Van Doorn, J. R. (2001). Performance in Planning: Processes, Requirements, and Errors. Review of General Psychology, 5, 213-240. Sheldon, K. M. & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need-satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The Self-Concordance Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482-497. Self-test based on Stephen Covey’s distinction between urgent and important: http://www.franklincovey.com/ez/urgencyanalysis/ua-prof.html Bibliography and Recommendations