Are You Setting Goals The WRONG Way? 8 Tips For Setting Effective Goals.
We all know that we should set goals in our life for fitness, family, career, and everything else that is important to us. But did you know that HOW you set goals could be the biggest thing that determines whether you actually reach them?
For example, a study by Hayes et all, 1985 showed that people that set goals and announced them PUBLICLY actually performed 17% better on a test than the other two groups which consisted of people that didn’t set goals and people that privately set goals. Yes, if you set a goal but you do not tell anybody, you are just as likely to fail as somebody that DOESN’T even set a goal at all!
That’s a big reason why we created BodySpace. It’s the perfect place to publicly set your goals and commit to them. Your online and offline friends and family can also see your progress and cheer you on.
Here are other tips for effective goal setting from my the book I am reading titled Behavior Modification: What It Is And How To Do It:
1. Specific goals are more effective than vague goals.
2. Goals with respect to learning of specific skills (4-foot putts in golf) should include mastery criteria (making six putts in a row).
3. Goals should identify the circumstances under which desirable behavior should occur.
4. Realistic, challenging goals are more effective than "Do Your Best" goals
5. Public goals are more effective than private goals.
6. Goal setting is more effective if deadlines are included.
7. Goal setting plus feedback (charting your progress) is more effective than goal setting alone.
8. Goal setting is most effective when individuals are committed to the goals (don’t set goals for somebody else without their participation).
Create smart goals, write them down, create an action plan for reaching your goal, announce your goals to the world on BodySpace, track your progress, and just watch the magic that happens!
September 24, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Great article.
If you’d like a tool for setting your goals, you can use this web application:
http://www.Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version and iCal are available too.