Goal Setting Theory Basics

If you’re serious about achieving your goals, then goal setting theory and the actual science behind what works should be a priority for you to learn!

While there seems to be no one body of research dedicated specifically to goal achievement as it relates to personal development in general, most research is found within specific contexts.

Goal setting theory and research, as it relates to achievement in general, can be found within the following bodies of research:

• Sports Psychology
• Health Psychology (e.g., weight-loss)
• Organizational/Industrial Psychology (e.g., employee performance)
• Business
• Advertising (for it’s power to influence and motivate people into the action of ‘buying’)

These are just a few of the main areas that you can further develop your own personal research in. I’m doing my best to find more goal setting theory research, and it will all be posted on my site!

Let’s start with some of the basic research.

HARVARD STUDY ON GOAL-SETTING

For years I was under the impression that the following was a true study, however my understanding is that no one can find the actual study.

Everyone seems to agree however, that the story is worth telling, and that it should be true!

In 1953 a longitudinal study was done on a graduating class at Harvard. The students were asked: Do you have a clear set of goals? Are they written down? Do you have plans to accomplish them?

Only 3% of students answered yes to all these questions. Then, 20 years later, it was found that the 3% of individuals were worth more than the other 97% of individuals combined!

Even if this study were not true, there are other studies that demonstrate the power of knowing what it is you want; having the goals written down; and of course, having an action plan in place. I say, the proof is in the pudding, so be sure to bookmark my free online goal setting program for later, so you too can get started!

GOAL SETTING THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

This is one of my favourite theories, because we can all relate to it in every-day life. Have you ever wanted something so bad and not had it? Were you frustrated?

What you were experiencing was cognitive dissonance – a gap between your current reality, and where you’d like to be.

This gap causes us a lot of pain! So, once you set a goal, and you constantly remind yourself of your goal (most people fail to do this), then you begin to experience this cognitive dissonance, or this gap in your reality.

Your brain will then do everything possible to close this gap and help create your desired reality.

This goal setting theory itself has been around for a long time. It is also recently popularized by Anthony Robbins, as he talks about the twin forces of pain and pleasure. We want to move away from pain and move toward pleasure.

When you set a goal, and read it frequently, you are motivated by the pain and frustration you experience as a result of not having that goal yet; and you are also motivated by the future pleasure of actually achieving that goal.

Basically, if you don’t have goals, you don’t create a sense of ‘antsiness’ or frustration. You instead remain comfortable, complacent and fine where you are.

Unless you want to live of the status quo, I highly suggest you work through my FREE online goal setting and motivation program. Bookmark it now if you haven’t, and come back to it!

PARKINSON’S LAW AND GOAL SETTING THEORY

Have you ever wondered why you often hear the advice to put a deadline on your goal? Well, part of it comes down to Parkinson’s law. This law states that your efforts and time invested into a goal will increase in proportion to the amount of time you give yourself.

Whether a person gives themselves a month or a year, it will take that ’set’ amount of time to fulfill their goal. This is why in the workplace you probably experience tight deadlines from your supervisors. The deadlines also create a certain degree of pressure and motivation in your head as well.

So, even if you are uncomfortable with deadlines, try writing a few of these down beside your goals, and see what happens. What have you got to lose except for the fact that you might achieve your goals by the deadline, – by finding strategies or resources that allow you to work even quicker than you thought!

GOAL SETTING THEORY ON DIFFICULTY

Ok, you’ve also heard about the idea that you should think big, right? Dream big! Here’s why. Research shows that in general, the more difficult your goal is, the better your chances of reaching that goal! This idea has been demonstrated over and over again in sports achievement (Weinburg, Harmison, Rosenkranz, & Hookom, 2005).

The only time this concept is not true, is when a person has reached the limit of their goals. In sports which is quite physical, I can see how a personal can physically reach what seems to be a limit. However, in achieving many other goals, there are few limits except your own mind.

So, since it takes the same amount of time to set a ‘big’ or ‘difficult’ goal versus a ’small’ or ‘easy’ goal, why not go big?!

GOAL SETTING THEORY AND SPECIFIC GOALS

There really is value in having specific goals it turns out. In organizational settings, did you know that having specific goals versus “do your best” goals resulted in much more productivity and better performance? So, even if you have ‘performance anxiety’ about exactly what your goal should be, just make a specific choice, and then evaluate it as time goes on, that it is still a worthy goal.

This way, in the mean time, you will increase your performance and chances of achieving that goal! This is simply a no brainer to me.

To summarize my last few theories here is a great quote: “In sum, specific, difficult goals consistently lead to higher levels of performance than do-your-best goals, easy goals, or no goals (Locke and Latham, 1990).”

So, take advice from the experts, and also have faith in the fact that people experience the above to be true as they walk through life achieving their goals. You can now model what has worked in real life for other people, along side knowing that research also backs it up. If you haven’t yet gone through my comprehensive, FREE online goal setting and motivation program, then try it out now!