It may be a cliche activity post, but what a perfect time to find a goal for yourself than right now when you are learning about them in class! I am sure if you are like most people you would have come up with some New Year's resolution, well how is it going? Mine is not....at all!! Which is discouraging, but I know why.
It wasn't specific, I didn't have something I was reaching for. I just said, I want to shed a few pounds and eat healthier foods. What I didn't do is write it out and figure out HOW I was going to get there. In our book on page 216 it shows the summary of the goal process. I started out fine: goal - to eat healthy and shed a few pounds. It was a difficult goal (for me) but was NOT specific. From there it has dwindled down to excuse after excuse. Has this ever happened to you??
If it has, or even if it hasn't lets use some knowledge we are learning and set a goal.
Post this back as a comment, or you are more comfortable just jot it down in a notebook for yourself.
What is your goal?
Now think, is it difficult AND specific?
Is this a long term goal or a short term goal?
How will you get to that goal?
My goal: stop twirling my hair
Difficult: check...very much so
Specific: check...see the how portion
This is a long term goal.
How: I have tried to do this in the past and for a while it worked mostly because I was reinforcing myself. It is 4:43 right now, I want to make it through this blog without twirling my hair. From there I can watch the clock like crazy and test myself in 30 min. increments..."have a twirled my hair?" If I haven't it is gratifying and reward enough to keep going. I set mini goals like: I want to make it through the rest of this class period without twirling my hair. Or I want to read this page in my book without twirling my hair. I write it down and will post it in a spot I see every day, multiple times a day. I will keep increasing the increments until I make it to days...and then weeks...and then a month..and two months...until six months...until a year...then I'll kick the habit!
So within my "how" there are mini goals. And if each are positively reinforced I might just stop twirling.
Sounds obtainable (so far I haven't even touched my hair). I have heard that with bad habits there is a three day hump for quitting. That could be the case but from previous attempts I found that when I lost social support and stress levels increased I gave in to the urge. Also my reward system wasn't as effective. Its a real bummer, but I am ready to try again. From reading this it might not sound specific enough (but some details are just left out because I could probably write a whole book on how I could just stop this habit).
Reeve (2009) states "Planning how to carry out a goal allows the performer to overcome the inevitable volitional problems associated with goal-directed behavior." Goals are an important part of life. Maybe not enough to qualify as a need, but I think goals can really direct you through life. And it will create challenges and obstacles while trying to attain whatever your goal may be.
5:00 PM = 17 minutes twirl free!
It wasn't specific, I didn't have something I was reaching for. I just said, I want to shed a few pounds and eat healthier foods. What I didn't do is write it out and figure out HOW I was going to get there. In our book on page 216 it shows the summary of the goal process. I started out fine: goal - to eat healthy and shed a few pounds. It was a difficult goal (for me) but was NOT specific. From there it has dwindled down to excuse after excuse. Has this ever happened to you??
If it has, or even if it hasn't lets use some knowledge we are learning and set a goal.
Post this back as a comment, or you are more comfortable just jot it down in a notebook for yourself.
What is your goal?
Now think, is it difficult AND specific?
Is this a long term goal or a short term goal?
How will you get to that goal?
My goal: stop twirling my hair
Difficult: check...very much so
Specific: check...see the how portion
This is a long term goal.
How: I have tried to do this in the past and for a while it worked mostly because I was reinforcing myself. It is 4:43 right now, I want to make it through this blog without twirling my hair. From there I can watch the clock like crazy and test myself in 30 min. increments..."have a twirled my hair?" If I haven't it is gratifying and reward enough to keep going. I set mini goals like: I want to make it through the rest of this class period without twirling my hair. Or I want to read this page in my book without twirling my hair. I write it down and will post it in a spot I see every day, multiple times a day. I will keep increasing the increments until I make it to days...and then weeks...and then a month..and two months...until six months...until a year...then I'll kick the habit!
So within my "how" there are mini goals. And if each are positively reinforced I might just stop twirling.
Sounds obtainable (so far I haven't even touched my hair). I have heard that with bad habits there is a three day hump for quitting. That could be the case but from previous attempts I found that when I lost social support and stress levels increased I gave in to the urge. Also my reward system wasn't as effective. Its a real bummer, but I am ready to try again. From reading this it might not sound specific enough (but some details are just left out because I could probably write a whole book on how I could just stop this habit).
Reeve (2009) states "Planning how to carry out a goal allows the performer to overcome the inevitable volitional problems associated with goal-directed behavior." Goals are an important part of life. Maybe not enough to qualify as a need, but I think goals can really direct you through life. And it will create challenges and obstacles while trying to attain whatever your goal may be.
5:00 PM = 17 minutes twirl free!
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