I want you to choose a real goal that you have. Make it a medium to long term goal (so something at least 1 year away or longer). Using what you know from Chapter 8, how could you go about making it more likely that you will achieve that goal? Be specific in terms of the concepts from chapter 8 and how your application of them to your goal.
One of my long-term goals is to graduate with a master’s degree in mental health counseling. This chapter teaches that we are more likely to persist toward our long-term desired outcome if we have plenty of feedback along the way. Feedback is important because it allows us to measure the amount of progress we are making against the amount of progress that we think we should be making, which can further motivate our behavior toward our goals. In order to have that feedback, it would be most beneficial for me to think of my long-term goal in terms of a series of short-term goals, all of which can give me the feedback that I need to continue to be intrinsically motivated. Short-term goals can motivate me toward my long-term goal is because they occur frequently (thus providing frequent feedback) and because they are not far off in the future the way that long-term goals are. This is what the book means by goal proximity; “short-term goals provide repeated commitment-boosting opportunities for reinforcement following goal attainment that long-term goals cannot provide” (pg. 219). In regards to my long-term goal of graduating with a master’s degree, my series of short-term goals include obtaining letters of recommendations from my professors, completing and submitting applications to different graduate schools, being accepted into a graduate school, making my final program selection, moving to that university, registering for classes, attending classes, obtaining an internship, and finally graduating. After completing each step, I will feel some amount of satisfaction, which will motivate me to work toward the next step; by the time all of these steps are accomplished, I will have graduated with my master’s degree and met my long-term goal!
In addition to breaking my long-term goal into a series of short term goals, I can also increase the likelihood of achieving my goal by focusing on the process of achieving my goal, rather than on the goal itself. Focusing on the process is called process simulation, while focusing on the goal itself is called outcome simulation; the book tells us that focusing on the process toward a goal encourages motivation to perform the actions necessary to achieve the goal, while focusing only on the goal itself does not promote goal-striving behavior.
Even after breaking my long-term goal into short-term goals and focusing on accomplishing them one by one, it can still be difficult to see my long-term goal through to its conclusion. In order to prevent myself from giving up before realizing my goal, I can decide in advance when I plan to accomplish a short-term goal, where I plan to accomplish it, and how long I will spend working to achieve it. The book calls this type of planning implementation intentions. The book says that “the act of setting implementation intentions is the effort to close the door on volitional problems” (pg. 223). Volitional problems may include getting started on and persisting toward my goal even if I am distracted and busy, and also resuming my goal-striving behaviors if I am interrupted by distractions or events. The way I could ensure that I continue on the right track toward my goal is by setting dates for when I want to have each short-term goal accomplished. For instance, I could say that I want to talk to my professors for letters of recommendation by the first of November, I want to submit one grad school application a week for every week in November, I want to decide which school to attend by the last day of February, etc. The idea behind implementation intentions is that putting a date or time on a goal makes it more likely that we will accomplish that goal at all, let alone by the dates that we select.
Terms: long-term goal, feedback, goal proximity, process simulation, outcome simulation, implementation intentions, volitional problems
Because I’ve been engaged for a year and seven months, my long term goal is to get married! If we go by table 8.1 in the book, we can apply this goal to the 8 steps in an effective goal-setting program. The specific objective to get accomplished is to save enough money to be able to get married by February 15, 2014 (approximately 1 year and 4 months away). If I wanted to define the difficulty of this goal I would say it’s going to be pretty difficult and will definitely be a challenge! For example, my fiancée and I are saving up money to pay for our own wedding because neither of our parents will be able to help out (much). Even though my fiancée has a full-time job working for Coke, I am a full time student and only have a part time job which pays a little over minimum wage.
The third step is to clarify goal specificity. Instead of just saying that I want to save enough money, we can come up with a specific budget to save to. So far, from my research, our specific goal (including the honeymoon) is probably going to be $8,000-$10,000. If we break it down even more, my fiancée and I have calculated what we will need to save each month and even each week to get to our goal. This is a very difficult thing to do, however, because random things pop up that need to be paid for. For example, I just spent almost $1,000 fixing the transmission in my car but I had absolutely no choice because I need a vehicle! This set me back some and definitely frustrated me. We have also heard from others that it's easier to pay for things a little at a time instead of everything all at once.
The fourth step is to specify the time span and this is a rather difficult thing to do. Although our goal wedding date is February 15, 2014, most wedding things will need to be paid for at least 6 months prior. This makes the time span less than a year!
The fifth step is to “check on goal acceptance.” No one is providing my fiancée and I with this goal, we have decided to make this our own goal. However, we do feel a little pressured to get married because multiple people have asked us if we’ve set a date yet. In addition, whenever we tell people that we’ve decided on February 15, 2014, we feel more motivation to keep that date. The more people we tell, the more we feel obligated not to change it.
The sixth step is to discuss goal-attainment strategies which we have already done extensively and the seventh step is to create implementation intentions. We have already done this by deciding how much money we will need to put back per week and per month to reach our goal. It is difficult, however, to persist in spite of the difficulties we are enduring and most likely to endure in the future. Some problems, such as car troubles, are unavoidable. However, we do keep “resuming” our intentions despite these difficulties.
The eighth, and last, step is to provide performance feedback. This is a difficult one when saving money but I think the way we are going to receive our feedback is through our bank accounts! Once we see the money starting to accumulate, this positive feedback will let us know how we are performing. However, if we constantly see withdrawals from the account, we will be able to see our performance level dropping.
Besides the 8 steps discussed in this chapter, we can also apply my long term goal to process simulation. According the chapter 8, if an individual focuses on implementation intentions instead of on the goal itself, action will be better facilitated and the chances of the goal being accomplished increase. So, I need to focus on the process of saving money each week/month instead of focusing on the actual wedding/reception/honeymoon. This is a very difficult thing to do! But according to research, if I just keep my mind on the prize, I may be less motivated to save.
Terms: implementation intentions, goal acceptance, goal difficulty, goal specificity, goal-attainment strategies, performance feedback, process simulation
Because I have worked for so hard and so long during my time in school, my long-term goal that I have is to be accepted into graduate school so that I can move forward and start working towards either my master’s degree or my doctorate. Chapter 8 is centered on the concept of goal setting and goal striving, and can therefore help me lay out a plan so that I can better achieve my goal.
The first part of the chapter that really caught my attention was when it discussed goal-performance discrepancy. This is what generates motivation by focusing people’s attention on the discrepancy between their present level of accomplishment and their ideal level of accomplishment (p.211). This can be applied to my situation because of the fact that I am currently an undergraduate student and my ideal goal is to get a higher-level degree than the one I am working towards right now. This creates an incongruity and motivates me to work toward reaching my ideal goal instead of being stuck where I am at the moment.
I believe that my goal of getting accepted into graduate school is a difficult goal, and is therefore very energizing for me. This will make me exert more effort because of how hard of a goal it is. My goal is also very specific in that it is clear and precise instead of being vague. It is good that my goal meets both of these criterions because the textbook states that only those goals that are difficult and specific enhance performance (p.213).
Another key component that is necessary for me to make progress with my goal is something called feedback. According to the textbook, feedback, or knowledge of results, can allow people to keep track of any progress toward their goal. A performer needs both a goal and feedback to maximize performance (p.215). I am constantly receiving feedback, both from my professors and my peers, so I know that I am on the right track. Feedback has shown me that I am usually performing at or above my goal level, which in turn makes me feel both satisfied and competent. Feedback is something that definitely goes hand-in-hand with your goal.
On top of feedback, intrinsic motivation is something else that is very important when it comes to setting goals and achieving them. Intrinsic motivation, along with positive reinforcement and a series of short-term goals that will eventually lead me to my long-term goal up all play a role in the process. Long-term goals facilitate intrinsic motivation due to the fact that they create a sense of autonomy for the individual. Also, goal proximity, or a series of short-term goals linked together into one long-term goal also affects intrinsic motivation. My short-term goals that lead up to my final long-term goal include being a TA, being an RA, taking the GRE and getting a high score on it, volunteering at places that relate to the field of psychology, joining Psychology Club, researching graduate programs and finding a handful that I really like, applying for graduate school, and then waiting to get my responses back that let me know whether I was accepted in or not. Hopefully I will get positive reinforcement for completing all of these short-term goals because that will make it more likely that my intrinsic motivation will remain and I will accomplish my goal.
Another way I can be sure that I will be accepted into graduate school is to focus my attention on the process of achieving my goal along the way instead of on the goal itself. This is known as process simulation, and it encourages motivation because of the fact that we are focusing our attention on what needs to be done during the process to actually reach our final, long-term goal.
I have set implementation intentions in the effort to close the door on volitional problems with my goal. I have created an action plan that will make sure that I get started on my goal, persist with my goal even though there may be difficulties, and resume my goal in case an interruption does occur. I have made a timeline from now until the end of my undergraduate career of specific tasks that need to be completed, so I know what I need to do and when I need to do things to keep myself on the path to graduate school. I know that getting into graduate school is very important to me, so I will not allow myself to get distracted or lose track of what I want.
There are so many techniques that can be used to ensure that I will stay focused on the process of getting accepted into graduate school. I am hoping that I will be able to stick to what I have planned because of the fact that graduate school will lead me to the future that I want to have. It is crucial to me, so I will do all that I can to keep myself heading in the right direction. Reading this chapter really helped me put things into perspective and figure out different ways that I can stay intrinsically motivated while working through short-term goals to finally reach my long-term one of getting accepted into graduate school.
Terms: long-term goal, goal setting, goal striving, goal-performance discrepancy, motivation, difficulty, specificity, feedback, competence, intrinsic motivation, positive reinforcement, short-term goal, autonomy, goal proximity, process simulation, implementation intentions, volitional problems, action plan
Ever since I started college at Niacc I knew I would major in psychology. The part that I did not know was what I was going to do with that major once I graduate from college. I just recently found the answer to that question while speaking with professors and taking courses here at UNI. My goal is to become a counseling psychologist. To be more specific I would love to be a mental health counselor or a marriage and family counselor. This goal was set only a little while ago, even though I knew I wanted to continue on to graduate school since my first year here at UNI. So I first started off my goal as just getting into graduate school and now I have heightened that goal to a specific career in mind for after I get my Master’s or Doctorate.
My goal can apply to chapter eight of our textbook in many ways. First I took the step of planning out all my different options of graduate schools and career choices that go along with each program I was looking into. According to Miller, Galanter and Pribram plans can motivate behavior. (p. 207) I have imagined living in a big city out West with my boyfriend (hopefully fiancé soon) going to class at the college I was accepted to for graduate school and then finding a job or internship as a counselor after my last year of school. All of these things I have had mental pictures of in my head and they are definitely motivating me to try harder to get into a good school that will make these images come true. This feeling that my ideal state is not what my present state is right now would be called a feeling of incongruity or discrepancy. That feeling is what is underneath my motivation to accomplish this goal.
After this first step of planning was done I took the next step of actually setting a specific and difficult goal. This goal of becoming a counseling psychologist as either a mental health counselor or marriage and family therapist is more likely to be accomplished because for one I have actually set a goal. Research has shown that people without goals tend to not perform as well as those who set goals for themselves (p. 212). I have always been the kind of person who sets goals for myself. I agree with the research because I have accomplished many of my goals, but only if I put in the hard work to get to the success I want. It is not as easy as just saying you have a goal. People need to know that they have to actually work towards a goal because it will not accomplish itself. One way that I have tried to make my goal more motivating is by making it a difficult one to accomplish. Becoming a psychologist is not an easy task. It takes years of hard work to get a Master’s or Doctorate degree. Chapter eight states that the more difficult a goal is the better the person performs at trying to succeed. My goal is probably the hardest goal I will ever set for myself in many years to come. I am already performing tasks to achieve this goal by getting ready to apply to different graduate schools. I have taken on a teaching and research assistant positions in the past year to get experience for graduate school. I have also upheld high grades and honors every single semester in college. I believe I am already succeeding to accomplish this goal, especially because I know it is a difficult one to achieve. Another way that I am working towards this goal is by trying to be more and more specific on what my goal is. I know that I am not very specific on which career path of counseling I want to take yet, but I know that in the near future I will have made my goal even more specific once I am accepted into a certain program at a school. This will help me focus on the task that I am trying to accomplish instead of trying to just figure out what my task really is. Overall, these steps of making a goal difficult to energize my behavior and specific to direct my behavior will lead to enhanced performance of accomplishing my long-term goal.
Now that I have set a specific and difficult goal, I am still missing a crucial part to the process. I need feedback to make it all more effective. Without getting any feedback my goal is pretty unimportant because I won’t know if I am truly accomplishing anything unless I see some form of results. I like to keep in touch with my academic advisor and talk with my professors to show me some form of feedback right now in my process of getting into graduate school. Since taking your careers in psychology course I have also got some much needed feedback on what my resume, vita, and personal statement need to look like for better chances of getting into a good school. I know that not all of my feedback has been wonderful, but overall I am satisfied with how it is all playing out so far. Another step in this process is goal acceptance. With my goal being one that I came up with myself, I have automatically accepted it. No one else is trying to make me become a counselor. On the other hand, there is a downfall to my long term goal. It is a very stressful process that is leaving me feeling overwhelmed at times. This is a main reason to why I may not be looking forward to working towards my goal.
My overall plan had led me to finally figure out what I want to do with my life. Thanks to chapter eight in our textbook, I now understand why goals are so motivating and why I always feel the need to accomplish any goal I set myself up for. I hope that in the future I will be able to achieve my goal of getting to be a counselor with the help of my new found knowledge of knowing that goals are motivating.
Terms: Goal, plan, incongruity, discrepancy, goal difficulty, goal specifics, enhanced performance, feedback, goal acceptance
One of my life goals is to become a school counselor working with middle to upper level students. In order to obtain this goal, I must first succeed at my goal to be accepted into graduate school. This chapter had a lot of vital information to making my goal of graduate school a reality.
The book starts off by telling us that our goals start with a plan. A plan is when people have an ideal behavior, environmental object, or an ideal event in mind and they want to go after it. In my situation, my ideal vision for myself is ultimately becoming a school counselor. In order to reach this, I must set goals to get there. A goal is defined as whatever an individual is striving to accomplish. Goals generate motivation within the individual by focusing their attention to where they are currently at in accomplishing their goal, and where they need to be in order to achieve their goal. The setting of goals often will enhance performances in order to achieve the goal an individual has set for themselves.
With a long term goals such as becoming a school counselor and being accepted into graduate school, the book discusses the aspect of having many short term goals that lead up to the long term goal. Long term goals facilitate intrinsic motivation within individuals and in order to accomplish long terms goals there are often short term goals that go along with it. A few of my short term goals that I am working on to get into grad school are raising my GPA, attending conferences in the counseling field, having jobs in the helping field such as being and RA, and becoming involved in different organizations. One of my short term goals to getting into grad school that I want to focus on it my goal to raise my GPA. It is the setting of short term goals that make accomplishing long term goals possible.
This chapter also discussed how to make go about making your goals successful. Two things that make goals successful are the amount of difficulty a goal has and how specific a goal is. Both of these goals enhance performance within and individual. When the difficulty level of a goal is moderately high, there is an increase in performance to reach that goal. In my case for having a goal to be accepted into graduate school, I really want to focus on raising my GPA. For me, this is a moderately difficult goal because it means I will have to be a lot more focused on school and work harder on getting good grades in order to raise my GPA. The second concept to making a goal a successful one, goal specificity, refers to how clearly the goal informs the individual precisely on what they have to do in order to accomplish their goal. In my case, I want to raise my GPA by one point. This means that in order to meet this goal, I will have to do my best to get A’s in all of my classes for the next two years. By having the specific goal of getting A’s in all my classes for the next two years to raise my GPA by one point and having the difficulty of completing the task, I am more likely to have a successful goal outcome.
Another important aspect of goals is receiving feedback. Feedback is what allows people to keep track of and mark the progress they are making towards their goals. Without feedback, performance can be emotionally unimportant and individuals can lose motivation to achieve their goal. In my case, the feedback I will receive during my process to reach my goal is the grades I will receive in the next two years. The combination of goals and feedback provide a sort of emotional motivation that can help achieve the goals we want to accomplish.
Another aspect the book discussed focusing on action. What this means is that focusing your attention on how the goal will be reached rather than the goal itself leads to higher accomplishment rates. This means rather then focusing on getting accepted into grad school, I should be focusing on the steps to get to that goal and how I will make that goal happen.
All in all this chapter has defiantly given insight on how to make my goal achievable and I will defiantly be using this information as I continue making different goals throughout life.
Terms Used: Plan, Goal, Goal Difficulty, Goal Specificity, Feedback, Long Term Goals, Short Term Goals, Focus of Action.
A goal is whatever an individual is striving to accomplish. According to the book, goals generate motivation by focusing people's attention on the discrepancy between their present level of accomplishment and their ideal level of accomplishment. A goal I wish to accomplish long term would be getting a stable career in HR (specifically HR manager). I graduate in December and I'm currently doing an internship in HR so I really hope I can stay with the company I'm currently at or possibly find a smaller one that is non-unionized. Goal specificity refers to how clearly a goal informs the performer precisely what he/she is to do. I'm hoping to successfully graduate with my Psychology degree and Marketing minor and receive my I/O certificate as well. Then I will continue to work at my internship for 7 more months, and hopefully there will be a job opening. If there is a job opening for an HR generalist (below HR manager and senior HR) then I would gladly take it for the experience of course. I would say this is pretty difficult goal to achieve because I would be working my way up since I am not planning on going to grad school.
I'm going to follow the goal-setting process on page 216. Goal-setting aids performance on uninteresting, straightforward tasks by generating motivation that the task itself cannot generate. My goal is going to HR manager. It is specific and it is increasing my attention to do whatever I need to do to get there. I will have to have at least 1 to 2 years experience to move up the latter which will enhance my performance. After 1 to 2 years of experience I would hope to have reached HR generalist which is below senior HR. an HR generalist pretty much does generic HR duties such as reviewing resumes, filing, updating the system and conducting interviews. Almost like a receptionist but more active. This would be a short term goal for me to reach this point. I'm hoping the feedback along the way will be positive feedback and will feel satisfaction for my actions and hard work. So far, the feedback has been positive and my senior HR generalist has been teaching me so much.
After this, I would hope to have reached above the level of HR generalist and continue down the road to moving up the latter which is senior HR. The Senior HR is responsible for making more difficult decisions such as confrontation with any employees who are undergoing arbitration or any who have issues or concerns. They also partake in meetings and planning events. After a few years of this, in which will lead to discrepancy creation of new difficult goals which would be HR manager. HR manager doesn't have as many mini tasks as the others labels but they do have to make difficult decisions in employee ratio and future recruiting decisions that could ultimately effect a company. They do get paid more and they're a much stronger person.
The book also states that difficult goals stimulate high effort. This goal of becoming a manager in HR is definitely a difficult goal for me. I hope it stimulates high effort motivation when I start out. I'm going to have to learn to grow a backbone and not be scared to give people directions on what to do and also being able to make difficult decisions that could possibly effect the company. I will have to be focusing more on Goal setting theory which enhances performance, not necessarily motivation. It is developed within the fields of business, management, the world of work, sales, and bottom line profit. In my case, it would be the world of business and management. Being able to perform successfully and make successful quick decisions will get me to the top.
Terms: goal, goal specificity, discrepancy creation, feedback, long term goal, short term goal, goal difficulty, goal-setting theory
A goal I have in the next 5 years is to purchase a house. To make this goal happen I am going to have to up my performance in saving money. My motivation for this goal also needs to be high. If I want to succeed in my goal I need to put forth great effort and persistence. To do this there are some things that I need to keep in mind.
I have already answered the first question, which is what do I want to accomplish (purchase a house). It is a fairly difficult goal considering that houses are not cheap, but it can be less difficult by not buying an expensive house and by saving more money. The money I would use for a weekend on the town I can just put away for the house. I can set up another bank account and put $500 dollars from every pay check in a month. It I keep this up, within 5 years I will have enough money for a down payment on a house. With anything and especially with goals there are issues that can happen along the way. For example I could lose my job within the next 5 years, my car could break down, or I could get robbed. These are all negative things and hopefully they do not happen but they are possibilities, and each one could impact my need to succeed in my goal. I won’t have the money to put the $500 into the account and it will set me back. I have already contemplated this and that’s why I gave myself a 5 year span. It is enough time to recover if something does happen. Obviously this is not safe proof but I hope it works. I understand that I cannot become distracted by other things that I would spend a lot of money in. For example vacations, major sporting event, or a new car (unless needed). Spending money on these things will also set me back and put me in danger of losing my goal.
Something that helps me maintain and reach my goal is feedback. If I get feedback whether it be negative or positive it tells me what my next move needs to be. With this goal feedback is not as simple as someone saying good job your doing great or me witnessing I am losing weight. I need to recognize the feedback on my own. If I have a whole extra $500 dollars in my account every month that’s deemed as positive feedback and I need to continue doing that, if there is only $300 because I spent some that depicts negative feedback and I should make changes.
I have always had goals in my life and usually achieve them. This chapter showed me what goes into successful goal making and obstacles that evolve along the way. I now have a better understanding of how to deal with them.
Terms: motivation, goal, feedback, negative, positive
My goal is to participate in a graduate program for psychology in the next two years. In anticipation for this goal I plan to have the behaviors and motivation necessary to achieve this goal. My plan is to maintain a grade point average above 3.2 by participating in my classes and getting all assignments done. I also will pick classes that will let me be intrinsically motivated. Maintaining a grade point average will serve as feed back. The feed back will test me along the way to show that I am in an ideal state. My plan is overall adjustable and flexible based on what program I plan to attend. The feedback from my gpa and gre score will determine my plan as well. Persistence is going to be a large aspect in my goal making process. I know there will be times where the discrepancy throughout this process and persistence will help me achieve. Discrepancy creation is another characteristic that I see myself having through this process as well. My personality and growth continues to change, therefore, my goal will hopefully continue to progress. I see things as if I can maintain a 3.2 gpa as a junior my senior year goal should be higher. For example if I gain a high gre then I will apply for higher educational programs and my goal will be altered to fit my new circumstances. Goal specificity is the main aspect of goal making that helps make a person successful. The more specific a person is about a goal and the method of how they reach the goal the more likely they will be to achieve.
Feed back plays a large role in weather my goal is reached or not. Performance enhances when feed back is positive. The feed back that I receive will be very informational and effective. Everything from Gpa, gre, reference letters, and acceptance letters act as feed back. The standard of performance is not only judged my me, but all of my peers and national statistics. Short term goals will lead me to my long term goal.I am a firm believer in the saying from our text, “ A goal without a plan is just a dream.” The motivation behind my goal is very large and the plan that I seek out is very idealistic.
Key Terms: Goal, Plan, intrinsic motivation, feed back, test, ideal, persistence, discrepancy, discrepancy creation, Goal specificity, Enhance performance,
My goal: visit Africa again.
For the past week and a half I had the opportunity to visit a country in Africa and help teach English and learn about their culture. It was an amazing experience in many ways and to be honest I am not the most pleased to be back in the swing of things over here on this side of the Atlantic. Because my experience had such an effect on me, I have decided that I would really really love to go back. My present state (i.e. being here in the U.S. at school) does not coincide with my ideal state (i.e. being overseas). Present states and ideal states are fairly self explanatory. Our present state is what we are currently in in regards to a specific aspect of our lives while our ideal state is the state that we wish to be in in that specific area. I would like to bring my present state and my ideal state into unison. However, I know this cannot be done right this very moment….I have school to finish
This is a freshly made goal. I don’t have any specifics on how or when I could get back but I know that I need to at some point in the near future. At the moment I think this goal would be deemed “medium” on the scale of difficulty. Getting to my destination is expensive and I will need to save a lot of money in order to go. I would also need to figure out more logistical information prior to making my goal more real, but this is not an unfathomable goal by any means. According to the book, in order to direct my behavior to accomplishing my goal, I need to make my goal more specific. In the past I have not planned out how to accomplish my goals. I don’t love planning out goals. I think this requires some good planning though. I hope, though, that my goal is not too difficult to attain because I may not be energized to make it happen if it is completely unattainable.
Sequential steps in the goal setting process:
1. Specify what I’d like to accomplish: go back to Africa
2. Define difficulty: medium to hard
3. Clarify specificity: I do not have many specifics at the moment
4. Time span: within the next two years
The book notes that without a good solid action plan for how you plan on attaining your goal, actually attaining that goal is difficult. Since I dislike planning out how to attain my goals, I think that if I truly want to accomplish this goal I will need to do a bit more planning. Getting started planning can be difficult however I should really try to start my planning now while the feelings from the experience are still fresh in my mind and driving my actions. Persisting in this goal will be tough. Because it will be somewhat difficult I may be tempted to give up along the way. Especially since after awhile I may lose the pull to go back.
Terms: ideal state, present state, goal specificity, persisting, getting started,
One goal I have had my whole life is to find a career that I love and enjoy to the point that I don’t have to dread going to work every day of my life. This has been a very difficult goal for me to figure out and actually I’m graduating in December still with no idea what I am going to do. It should be a fun time! I know I will not find a job that I love right away in December, so this is my long term goal.
The first section in the chapter caught my eye right away. The cognitive perspective of this plays a very important role in staying motivated for a long period of time. This includes beliefs, expectations, goals, plans, judgments, and many other things that are part of mental events. These all obviously play a huge role in keeping a person motivated to accomplish such long term goals and this goal has to stay put for extreme amounts of time. Usually, people have ideal representations in their minds of their behavior, environments, and events. If there is a mismatch between the present state and the ideal expectations, people are either unhappy or form a plan to remove this mismatched state. The plan that I have now is to try for a job when I graduate, and if I don’t like that job my plan will be to either find a different one after giving it sometime, or go back to grad school. So either way, this plan will provide energy to make my goal available. This is corrective motivation. Also, discrepancy between the present state and the ideal state also occurs frequently with me. There is constantly a discrepancy between the two in my situation. My ideal state is finding a career I love and being motivated to want to go to that career every day. Right now I’m at the point where I’m in school and trying to figure out that career and what is going to get me to my ideal state. My present state is: undecided, anxious, unhappy with my career choices, unsure. My ideal state would be: happy, sure, content, and motivated for my new career. The discrepancy really causes chaos in one’s life.
Right now I am involved in goal-directed behavior, but need to do this more. While I spend time researching different careers, I need to put in more effort for actually experiencing those things so I know what the position entails. Goals generate motivation by focusing attention on the discrepancy at hand. This is a difficult one for me because even though I have this long term goal in the back of my mind constantly, it’s really hard to figure out what the specificity of this goal is. I know that I want to love my job. However, I do not know what that job needs to be. This is the question that drives me crazy. This is a very difficult goal for me as well. I need to work harder and research/ experience various careers so I can add that specificity to my goal.
This goal is going to need a lot of intrinsic motivation to keep me going. If I lose intrinsic motivation then I will end up settling with my career and probably with my life. I need to focus on visualizing success and what I want, and not giving up until I find that happiness. I believe that if I do all of these things, I will eventually overcome all of the obstacles standing in my way and find happiness and satisfaction in a career my path takes me to.
Terms: cognitive perspective, plan, corrective motivation, present state vs ideal state, discrepancy, goal specificity, goal-directed behavior, intrinsic motivation, visualizing success
One of my goals is to run a half marathon. I used to run a lot in high school and I would participate in 5ks. I haven’t done much running in college but this weekend I did the Color Run in Des Moines and it made me realize how much I miss running. It will be a long term goal because a half marathon is about 13 miles and I am nowhere near ready to run that many miles. In chapter 8 we learn that the more difficult the goal is the more effort is stimulated. For me this is going to be a difficult goal because I will need to make time for running, working, and homework every day and also I need to build up to running 13 miles. Building up to 13 miles is going to take time and a lot of effort. Also difficult and specific goals enhance performance. My goal is very specific. I know how many miles I need to work up to in order to complete a half marathon.
Chapter 8 also talks about discrepancy. Discrepancy creates the sense of wanting to change the present state so that it will move closer and closer toward the ideal state. Realizing the present state (no running, out of shape) helps people feel more motivated to get to the ideal state (running 13 miles). People with goals outperform people without goals. This is called goal-performance discrepancy. People who set goals are more motivated and more likely to accomplish them than people who do not set goals for themselves.
Feedback is crucial in making goal setting effective. Goal setting translates into increased performance only in the context of timely feedback that documents the performer’s progress in relation to the goal. Feedback allows people to keep track of progress toward their goal. For my goal my feedback will be keeping a chart of how many miles I run per day/week. Making a schedule of how many miles I want to accomplish each day and week will help me accomplish my goal. Keeping track of my miles will keep me motivated till I reach my goal.
Getting started is the hard part. People who set goals, write their goals down, and think about their goal in advance are more likely to accomplish it. In order for me to get started, I am going to keep a monthly calendar for my running schedule. I will write down each day how many miles I want to run and I will write down what time I will run. I will also have days off of running to give my body a rest. By having a set schedule of my running I will be more likely to accomplish my goals I have set for myself.
Terms: Discrepancy, goal-performance discrepancy, feedback, goal.
The book discusses how cognitions are mental events. Our cognitive mind is what holds our beliefs, exectations, goals, plans, values, self-concept, etc. With these cognitive thoughts, there are action plans that need to be sought out. Having a goal and forming a plan to achieve the goal is the easy part, but actually carrying out the plans for that goal, is difficult. Corrective motivation is the process that lets us consider multiple different ways for reducing the incongruity.
I have a lot of goals and am always making new goals. Most of my goals are temporary goals, but there are some that are long term and dynamic. For this assignment, I will address my desire of getting a counseling job that I enjoy. There are two different plan paths for this goal, which are based off of the discrepancy I have for this goal. The ideal path includes plans of graduating with a BA and good GPA, getting my Masters and then finding a job. The more realistic path is graduating with a BA, and finding a job that I can work in with just my BA. I know that sounds like I'm cutting myself short, but a part of me believes that I can't do any better than a BA. This negative conception is known as discrepancy reduction. Me doing poorly on exams/not getting the desired grade I want in my classes, has made me give up hopes on continuing school and made me feel like I'm not smart enough.
The paragraph about goal difficulty made me analyze my goal and realize that it's not really that difficult. I know that if I wanted to go down the path with the Masters degree, I could do it. And being in the Careers class has definitely helped me with goal specificity because I know what master program I want to apply for, some graduate school options, what you need to send the schools. The class also helped me make plans for what to do if I choose to get a job right after I get my BA.
Feedback for our goals are necessary for a goal to increase or decrease. My family all know that I'm getting my BA in Psych and that I want to be a counselor, but when I tell them this, their response each time is "why" or "you should do something else." Their feedback, really isn't helping. Sure, my friends say "yeah, go for it. you'll be good at it." But in the end, it comes down to my families feedback that matters the most. Negative feedback would even be okay, if they would explain why. They don't have a legitimate reason as to why I shouldn't be a counselor.
I have learned that in order to better fulfill my long-term goal, I need to sit down and write out my mental stimulations. I will sit down and I will focus on how it doesn't matter what my family believes because they aren't the ones who will be doing my job. I will make lists of planning and problem solving for having a job that I enjoy and how to come to that point.
Terms: Corrective motivation, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, long-term goal, mental stimulations
My medium-term goal is to go to graduate school. The textbook suggests that I need to have plans and regulate the behavior necessary to realize the plans. Right now my plans are to study for GRE and maintain good grades at school. I should also get involved in organizations. The studying part fits the description of discrepancy reduction, since getting better grades or scores is my corrective motivation, which tries to pull my current performance and the ideal standard closer. By contrast, involvement in other activities is discrepancy creation because there is not a clear definition of success in these things.
When I set my goals I need to make them difficult and specific. I will also need timely feedback and to grow inner acceptance. Getting high scores is difficult enough for me, but the spectrum of scores is not always specific enough. I usually do not have a clear idea of how I got my grades, so I am somewhat blind to my weakness. Yet I need to fix this in preparation for the GRE, so I won't mess up this important test. I also need to practice the questions so I can have feedback of how I did so far.
One reason I still need more involvement in the community is that I have not yet accepted the importance of these activities. I feel that there is enough to do in my academic pursuit and do not see why I should participate in other groups. There is also no specific goal to achieve in these social groups so I still lack the motivation to get involved.
Since I have a broad interest in the human mind, or described in the textbook as a long-term goal facilitating intrinsic motivation, I am very much annoyed by the fact that there is so much homework to do. This is especially true when I have to write sentences after sentences for hours every week to fill up these posts that few people ever read, only to get pathetically few points added to my grade book. Let this post be my testament of the tragedy happening at this very moment.
Another important term mentioned in Chapter 8 is implementation intention. I need to know clearly the process of getting into graduate school, so I will be more likely to act on it. I will concentrate better on more important issues and persist longer in the preparation of graduate school. I will also be less susceptible to irrelevant things. These are the reasons why I need to know specific steps toward a graduate program.
One major long-term goal I have for myself is to be a fashion journalist. Due to the fact that I am living in Iowa and have not yet completed any kind of degree in order to qualify me for such a position, there is a lack of congruity between my ideal state and present state. Thus, I have made a plan for myself that involves finishing school and getting an internship at a fashion magazine. In compliance with the test-operate-test-exit (TOTE) model, the incongruity motivates me to act upon my environment in order to match my present state to ideal state. So although it is a much more long term example than that used in the book, going to school and getting a degree is part of the 'operate' step of the model. As an individual, I am motivated to change my situation to match my ideal environment. Goal difficulty is a reflection of how problematic and immense a goal is. For me, the goal difficulty lies in my ability to make connections within the industry, which can be pretty difficult to do when I live in Iowa rather than somewhere like New York City. However, even though my goal is harder to obtain, the difficulty motivates me to work even harder and use more energy to make the goal come true. As of right now, my goal specificity, or the specific actions I must perform in order to obtain my goal, are lacking. Simply saying I will become a fashion journalist is much easier said than done, and is not something that will just happen. Thus I need to develop and act out specific step by step actions to achieving my goal. As of right now it all depends on the connections I am able to make, and the sorts of internship and job shadow opportunities I am able to produce out of those connections. The more connected and informed I am within the industry, the more developed my goal specificity will become. If I am able to make my goal more specific, than I would also direct myself toward doing those actions, feeding even more so into the motivation and success of achieving my goal. Having a more specific goal focuses my motivation and energy into more effectively achieving my goal. It may help me to set short-term goals for myself, such as setting up an internship, or creating a solid portfolio. By breaking down my large goal into smaller short-term goals, I am able to focus more on the process, and keep myself from being intimidated by the long-term goal. It is also important that I receive feedback pertaining to my goal, because feedback "provides the emotional punch that continually bathes the goal setting process within emotional experiences of felt satisfaction and felt dissatisfaction." When I receive some kind of feedback, I know weather or not I am effectively accomplishing any part of my goal. Without feedback, I have no satisfaction, and thus will lack any kind of motivation to continue working toward my goal. With a combination of short term goals, and feedback (hopefully positive) I am able to keep from being overwhelmed by my long term goal, and am thus able to be re-energized upon the completion of each short term goal if I receive feedback. Ensuring I encourage, focus on, and receive these conditions are vital to the success of achieving my long term goal. If I am able to remember these things, and focus on meeting them, I am sure to succeed.
Terms: Long-term Goal, Plan, TOTE Model, Goal Difficulty, Goal Specificity, Feedback
My goal started in March of this year. I decided I wanted to go to graduate school in the area of Higher Education Student Affairs. This goal came because I didn’t like the prospect of only having bachelors in psychology. So my ideal behavior became going to graduate school to become an Academic Advisor for a college. My present behavior was graduating only with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. This created a mismatch that I needed to resolve in order to find the success I am hoping for. So the “plan” started because I detected inconsistences in what I want, I generated a plan to eliminate the incongruity created from those inconsistences, I instigated plan-regulated behavior, and I await the feedback I receive for taking this route in behavior.
My plan requires a long term approach to it. The beginning of the plan was to get a job in the academic affairs department for experience. I did this which I could count as a short-term goal in my quest for graduate school. Next I made a few connections throughout offices in the student affairs division of UNI. That’s another short term goal that has made me feel like I’ve made some progress. Finally I’ve started shadowing academic advisors in their interactions with students. This is another goal that has helped me through my long term goal stretch. Finally, after having great success with my job I’ve been in talks with my boss to get in to advance grad school class and then go full time next fall. This is a huge step in my goal to be fully admitted into graduate school.
Some discrepancy that I’ve gone through in this process is not thinking I’m up to par with other students applying to graduate school. This would be a form of discrepancy reduction. A lot of the students who apply have higher GPAs than I do so I focused on getting more experience than them to counter that fact.
Obviously it’s important to set a goal for yourself. As we all know now after reading the book, people who set goals for themselves are much more successful than those who don’t. The difficulty of the goal has also made me try really hard to be successful. Before deciding to go to graduate school I never really tired. I was never pushed in school so I didn’t think it was a big deal to give it my all. I could still compete with people grade wise with minimal effort and kept that mentality for a long time. Setting a goal helped me realize the impact I can make when I really try. It makes me wonder what kind of student I would have been if I set goals my whole undergraduate experience.
Feedback has been huge in the process of me getting into graduate school. If it hadn’t been for the multiple short term goal feedback I received I don’t know if I would have been able to do this. Without feedback I wouldn’t know if the performance and effort I had been giving was paying off.
Goal acceptance was another huge thing for me. I had to commit to the goal of trying to get into graduate school. If I didn’t give it my all then the goal was not going to happen. I had to analyze the difficulty of the goal, participate in the goal process, make sure the people who helped me obtain the goal were credible, and have some sort of reward in the end that made me purse this goal. I would say that I’ve met all those requirements and now I’m just waiting on the word if I get in or not, which could possibly be this week even!
Terms: plans, goal setting, discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, short term goal, long term goal, feedback, ideal behavior, present behavior.
My goal is to finish my undergraduate degree in psychology, then hopefully get accepted into a graduate program. I want to first get into a master's program then if I feel that I want to pursue it further, a doctorate program. Chapter 8 discusses about goal setting and goal striving, which will help me manage my goals in the future.
The first concept from the chapter that can help me with my goals is discrepancy. Mainly discrepancy creation. Is is based on a "feed-forward" system where the person looks forward and proactively sets a higher goal. This creates a higher goal for a person to pursue. For example, I said I wanted to complete my undergrad first, then I want to pursue a graduate program. I am therefore creating another goal to pursue.
By setting more and more goals, I have created goal-performance discrepancy. By setting a goal I am going to work hard towards achieving my goal. The presence of the goal, will give me motivation to do well in my current and future classes to help me achieve my ultimate goal. If I want to get into graduate school, I will have to do well in all of my classes so that getting into graduate school will be easier to achieve.
Goal specificity is another term from the chapter that pertains to my goals. I have very specific goals. My goals are in a hierarchical order, with undergrad, to grad, then within grad, master's and doctorate.
I get feedback within my goal. The feedback I get for my goal is in the classes I am currently taking, have taken, and will be taking. The test scores I get and the grades I get in the class are the feedback that makes my goal important. Without doing well in those classes, I will not be able to achieve any of my goals. By doing good, I will have goal attainment that will conjure emotional satisfaction. The satisfaction contributes favorably to the discrepancy-creating process.
I have a lot of short-term goals within my long-term goal of graduate school. In order to get to get to my long-term goal of graduate degree, I must first get good grades, then a good GPA, then I must get my undergraduate, and then get I must get accepted into graduate school. So there are a chain of short-term goals that help lead to my long-term goal.
Terms: goal, discrepancy, goal-performance discrepancy, feedback, discrepancy-creating, short-term goals, long-term goals,
When we are younger we dream about what we would like to be when we grow up, and as we age those dreams become our goals. According to the book, a goal is whatever an individual is trying to accomplish. Ever since I was little I dreamed of one day becoming a child psychologist. I knew I wanted to help children. As of today my, what once was a dream, goal has evolved into becoming a child psychologist and working with children who are in child protective services. Now that I am close to finishing my Bachelor’s degree, I feel that I am growing closer and closer to achieving my goal. To achieve my goal I must first look at my present state, where I am in my life. I am in my junior year of my undergraduate. I then need to realize what my ideal state is, where I would like to be (goal), as stated earlier I would like to be a child psychologist and work with child protective services. I must come up with a plan in order to get me from my present state to my ideal state. I will use corrective motivation throughout this entire process. This means if an implementation intention were to get me off track, or set me back from pursing my goal I would simply go back and change or revise my ineffective plan. Some examples of my implementation intentions would include, not studying, using my time by engaging in other activities, or failing a course. If one of these happened I would have to go back and re-evaluate my plan to achieve my goal and change some things around. In every major there is a program that requires certain classes to be taken in order to graduate; this is what would be known as a discrepancy reduction. Discrepancy reductions are when the environment, the college, brings some standard of excellence, required classes. Throughout my college career, I will need to follow the designed program in order to achieve my goal. The book stated, to accomplish a distant goal, the performer first has to attain several requisite short-term goals. When thinking about this statement, I realized that I do have short-term goals to help me achieve my long term goal. First we have the degrees I must achieve, within those we have the courses I need to take and the semester GPA’s I need to obtain in order to stay on track. Within those semesters, at the end I will receive my final grades which will give me feedback for my course and how am I doing and if anything needs to be changed.
Terms: Goal, Ideal State, Present State, Corrective motivation, Discrepancy Reduction, Short-term goal, Feedback, Implementation Intentions
The text defines a goal as “whatever an individual is striving to accomplish.” Difficult goals energize the performer, while specific goals direct one toward a particular course of action. Chapter 8 describes the sequential steps within the goal-setting process as: (1) specify the objective to be accomplished, (2) define goal difficulty, (3) clarify goal specificity, (4) specify the time span when the performance will be assessed, (5) check on goal acceptance, (6) discuss goal-attaining strategies, (7) create implementation intentions, and (8) provide performance feedback.
A medium to long term goal that I have is to run a marathon with my boyfriend. We both love to run and he has recently completed a marathon in Memphis. To run a marathon with my boyfriend would bring us closer and aid in achieving our goal of running and experiencing a marathon together.
Going by the sequential steps for the goal-setting process, my first step would be to specify the objective to be accomplished. Goal setting generally enhances performance, but the type of goal one sets is a key determinant in the extent to which a goal translates into performance gains, as goals vary in specificity. To complete this step, I will specify my objective to be accomplished: to run a marathon with my boyfriend. The second step would be to define the difficulty of the goal. As goals increase in difficulty, performance increases in a linear fashion. The more difficult a goal, the more energizing the performer becomes. For the reason that running a marathon is such a difficult task, I am more energized by the goal I have set for myself. The high standard I have set increases my will and determination to prove to myself and my boyfriend that I am able to accomplish this feat (I am extrinsically – as well as intrinsically – motivated to complete a marathon with my boyfriend). As stated in the text, difficult goals energize the performer whereas specific goals direct one toward a particular course of action. This leads into the third step – to clarify goal specificity. In order to make it more likely for me to accomplish my long-term goal, I will need to construct a work-out plan that will keep me engaged and focused on my goal. My difficult goal is energizing my behavior, but making it specific with help focus the direction of my goal and thus making it more likely that I will accomplish the marathon. To make my goal more specific I can devise my work-out/running plan into how many miles I will run each day and which days will be my rest and recovery days. I may start out by running a mile or two every other day for a week or so and gradually increase either the distance of running, or the number of days per week I would run, or I could increase both the distance and amount of time per week. Goals do not always enhance performance; therefore, specific goals are necessary to assist in accomplishing long-term goals. According to the text, goals generate motivation, but motivation is only one of the causes that underlies performance; performance depends on factors that are not motivational, such as ability, training, coaching, and resources. Ever since I started soccer in elementary school I have been running. My running ability over the years will enable me to complete my long-term goal. I am persistent and love a challenge. My training and coaching would come from my boyfriend and other friends that have completed marathons. The third step of specifying my goal will help me focus my attention toward the task at hand and therefore away from tasks that are incidental. The fourth step in the goal-setting process is specifying the time span when running the marathon with my boyfriend will be assessed. The time span that running the marathon will be completed is within two years. This will give us ample time to train and mentally prepare to accomplish this difficult goal together.
Goal setting translates into increased performance only in the context of timely feedback that documents the performer’s progress in relation to the goal. Performers need both a goal and feedback to maximize their performance. Feedback that would make it more likely for me to achieve my goal would include such things as: emotional support from family and friends, resources to use while training (such as running shoes, stop watches, food and drink to help rebuild muscle, etc.), and focus on how I will achieve my long-term goal. If this feedback is present at or above my goal level, then I will be satisfied with my progress and the direction in which I am heading to achieve my goal. The fifth step in an effective goal-setting program is to check on the acceptance of the goal. A goal will be accepted or rejected based on: perceived difficulty, participation in goal-setting process, credibility of person assigning the goal, and extrinsic incentives. For the reason that the level of difficulty of my goal is high, I would be more likely to reject the goal. To make it more likely that I will achieve my goal, I will make smaller goals in the process. For example I might make a goal to run twenty miles a week (equivalent to four miles a day over a five day work-out schedule). This goal seems easy to accomplish for me and thus would aid in my acceptance of my long-term goal in the long run. My participation in the goal-setting process will be high because how much input I have will further enable me to complete my goal. I will be able to construct my diet, running schedule, as well as any other extracurricular activities that would aid in achieving my goal. For the reason that I am the one assigning the goal, I am biased to assume that I am a credible person. Extrinsic incentives is the final factor that will help me to determine if my long-term goal with be accepted or rejected. Extrinsic incentives that would make it more likely for me to accomplish my goal would be if I could be preparing to run a marathon that supports a cause or charity. I would be more likely to continue my training and work-outs if I knew that my efforts would help someone else in need. Discussing goal-attaining strategies is the next step in making it more likely that I will achieve my goal. To facilitate action, I need to mentally simulate my goal process instead of focusing on the goal itself. By thinking of how I will accomplish my goal of running a marathon, I will be better able to facilitate attaining my goal versus if I only focus on my goal (which would interfere with my goal attainment). Next is to create implementation intentions. The study of implementation intentions is the study of how goals, once set, are effectively acted on. An action plan needs to be developed in order for me to accomplish my goal. An effective action plan for my long-term goal could be: I will start training the first Monday in January (getting started), I will prepare my meals and work-outs ahead of time (persisting), and I will counter distractions by remembering how much I live to make other’s lives better – extrinsic motivation – (resuming once interruption/distraction occurs). Finally, step eight, is to provide performance feedback. Providing performance feedback will make it more likely for me to achieve my long-term goal by having my family, friends, and boyfriend provide a steady stream of performance feedback. I will be able to use their feedback to alter my training and better prepare myself to run a marathon.
Terms: goal, long-term goal, difficult goals vs. specific goals, discrepancy, goal difficulty, specific goals, performance, feedback, goal acceptance (goal difficulty, participation in goal-setting, credibility, extrinsic incentives), goal-attaining strategies, implementation intentions, and performance feedback
The hobby that I invest the most time in is my writing. I plan a lot of novels but I am bad at following through. It is one of the things that I am working on getting better at. Within a year I would like to finish at least one of them.
I have taken to recording my progress week to week with a short term goal of ten pages per week. This is an effort at discrepancy reduction, an attempt to outdistance my general lack of motivation. It is infinitely easier to break up any goal into smaller chunks. They seem more achievable, because ultimately they are. Because they are smaller we can fit them to tighter schedules thus forcing constant progress. This is goal is pretty specific, but I've been reconsidering the level of difficulty.
I meet that goal pretty consistently, and I am considering bumping it by five pages to fifteen a week. It's an achievable goal as my schedule is currently more permissive than it was in high school and I was managing twenty pages consistently enough back then. I am leery because I don't want to burn out, and grow to dislike writing even if it's only temporary. That would be a much bigger issue in the long run and would get in the way of the long term goal of finishing all of the stories I've started over the years.
Terms
Plan-The ideal version of a course of action or a series of actions.
Goal- An action an individual wishes to have complete within a listed time. The length of time varies generating sub-categories of short, and long term goals that have minor variations in how best to achieve them.
Discrepancy Reduction-Actions that aim at reducing the difference between a plan's reality and the ideal state.
Goal Specificity-An important characteristic of effective goal setting relating to exactly what must be done in order to have achieved the goal.
Goal Difficulty-A characteristic of effective goal setting relating to maintaining the interest of the individual.
My Goal: Complete the Warrior Dash 5k in 2013
Now, I know that most people who read this will probably think this goal is an easy one. However, me being super out of shape (I’m the kid in high school who would fake illness/go to counselor to get out of gym) makes this goal a bit more difficult. I want to complete the Warrior Dash 5k in 2013 as a way for me to get into shape, and just be healthier, while doing something that’s awesome and fun. I’ve watched friends on diets, and things like that to lose weight, and although I know I could definitely lose some poundage, I know that having a number goal isn’t really ideal, for me. Since I’m out of shape, a smoker, and just generally lazy, I currently cannot run a whole mile without being super winded (a joke between my friends, is that I’d let the guy chasing me stab me after a few blocks of sprinting, if it put me out of my misery).
This is a goal I’ve had since about May, or at least, an idea for a goal. I would rate this goal as medium, as far as difficulty goes. It’s not an unreachable goal, I feel like I can change parts of my lifestyle to be able to run a 5k in 8 months time. The book tells me to plan out my goal, and I have done that by setting sub-goals, or giving myself feedback. I want to be able to run a mile, without stopping, by new year’s eve. If my feedback is good when I get to that stage, I will then increase my goal, and experience satisfaction, and have discrepancy creation by setting new, more difficult goals. If my feedback is not great, I will experience dissatisfaction, and according to the book, discrepancy reduction, in which I will have increased effort, persistence, and planning (From figure 8.3). However, what the book doesn’t know, is that if I can’t run a mile (I’m not even timing myself, I just want to complete the 5k, even if it takes me an hour and a half) by New Year’s Eve, I’m saying forget it, and drowning my sorrows in potato chips, ice cream, and chocolate.
Here are the steps to an effective goal-setting program, according to table 8.1, in the book.
1. Specify the Objective to be accomplished: Complete the Warrior Dash 5k
2. Define goal difficulty: For my lazy butt, Medium!
3. Clarify goal Specificity: On July 27, 2013, I want to complete the Warrior Dash 5k
4. Specify time span when performance will be assessed: New Year’s Eve, 2012. So, in about 2 months.
There are also steps within the goal striving process, but those come after my initial feedback.
I’ve had some setbacks with my current goal, such as spraining my ankle, and getting ill. However, I’m starting to bounce back from that (I walked on the treadmill about 4 miles today, first time in over a month since I sprained my ankle!). After completing the Warrior Dash, I don’t know what my next fitness goal will be, maybe doing other 5ks, or just improving time. Like I said before, I’m not in it to be the fastest, I’m just in it to improve my overall health, and to have fun, and say that I did it!
Terms: Goals, discrepancy creation, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, discrepancy reduction, feedback
My future goals all coincide with each other. I am getting married in a year and 3 days today, so my goals are oriented towards starting a successful and happy family. Which comes with getting a supportive job, and great education. The type of discrepancy maybe being used here is discrepancy creation, which involve an ideal state that does not yet exist and does not require feedback. The reason my goal is like this is because of the situation, and how no one wants to impede in our lives. It feels good to be able to have an opinion that people will respect (just until everything crashes down, but it wont) and our feedback comes with our motivation on how much both of us want to succeed.
The problem with this goal is that it isn’t exactly a goal that has a level of difficulty, as it comes with the rollercoaster of life, and relies on the outcomes of life as well. In my opinion this goal, which is very achievable is quite difficult at the same time, as the mounting pressure may consume a person to addictions. The hardest part about this goal is to achieve it while exceeding expectations of maybe in-laws or even parents which could be viewed as discrepancy reduction, as discrepancy detecting feedback may cause motivation. In this case, I feel it makes it stressful to overcome such expectations.
Goal specificity is how well a person understands precisely what he is to do. Which can only be sound under the context of the goal setter them self, because if a goal is set that means the goal oriented person has intentions of getting said goal done. In my circumstances my goal is very broad and ongoing, as I want it to be as marriage never reaches an endpoint (well death I guess) and I could always get a better job. As I see my goals initially just building up on themselves, creating super goals. Like a successful marriage leads to a happy work environment a happy work environment leads to a better job, a better job leads to kids and their education, which helps me fulfill my initial goals and becoming a father is and will be at the top!
It is said that a long-term goal is only attainable by meeting pre-required requisites that are needed to attain the long-term goal. Lets see, getting married, I need a beautiful lady that will accept me for who I am and actually enjoys it (check). Need pre-approval of her parents (check), need to set a wedding date (check). Need to get a venue (check) need to make a menu (check), need, need, need… the list go’s on a you may know from getting married, but it never stops and when it does, something seems to be wrong. But I can go over getting a supportive job, its easy and simple. The better I look on paper, the better job I will get. So if I make it to grad school my entry level job pay will change significantly, but if I don’t I am looking at about $15-$18 starting out which is totally fine as my wife is looking to get a job as well. I am hoping to make a difference in this field as one of my interim goals is to do so, as I am getting married I feel that as a couple we need very attainable goals to accomplish to keep our relation “motivated”. It seems dumb as I know as soon as we start our family it is non stop, but motivation for a more positive environment is nice!
Terms: Discrepancy creation, Goal difficulty, discrepancy reduction, Goal specificity, Long-term goal setting,
I want you to choose a real goal that you have. Make it a medium to long term goal (so something at least 1 year away or longer). Using what you know from Chapter 8, how could you go about making it more likely that you will achieve that goal? Be specific in terms of the concepts from chapter 8 and how your application of them to your goal.
A real long-term goal that I have is to obtain a career in higher education Student Affairs. To obtain this goal, I must graduate from undergraduate school, attend and graduate from a graduate institution, and finally find a job. The chapter explained many ways in which to maintain motivation to achieve this and other goals.
Before goals can be established, the chapter discusses that plans must first be put into place. These plans are based on mental representations of ideal states. In the case of my future goal, the ideal state is an event, getting a job at a university in an Admissions office, for instance. I am aware of my current state as well. I am a senior undergraduate psychology student who will hopefully graduate in spring of 2012. There is incongruity, a mismatch, between my current state and my ideal state. This incongruence is what leads individuals, or myself, to create a plan to eliminate the incongruity and take steps that will lead to the current state becoming the ideal state. The incongruity is the motivating factor and the plan is the direction needed to reach the ideal state. For me, the incongruity is that there is still at least two and a half years of schooling between my present state and my ideal state. My very basic plan is to graduate from undergraduate school and attend graduate school to obtain a degree that will then help me obtain a job. Discrepancy creation, looking forward to a future and higher goal, is the basis of the plan I have for myself.
My goal is something I am striving to accomplish. Since my goal of obtaining a career in student affairs has been set, I must look at the goal-performance discrepancy between my present level of accomplishment and my ideal level of accomplishment. I must look at where I am versus where I need to be. Having a goal in general can boost my performance, but the type of goal is important to actually improving performance that will help me attain my goal of landing a job at a university. For optimal performance, goals should be both specific and difficult. I believe my goal has both of these qualities. My goal is specific in that I know that I must get a job in the Admissions office at a university. It is difficult in that it will take a great deal of hard work do well in graduate school to get the degree that will help me get a job. Having these two components within my goal will enhance my performance and keep me driven to persist until I obtain my goal. It is easy for me to accept this goal because it is one that I have established for myself with little outside input other than encouragement.
To achieve this goal, it is important that I set smaller, short-term goals along the way. My first goal is to study, do well in my classes, and complete this semester with a high GPA. Within the time frame of my first goal, I also have the goal of applying to Student Affairs graduate programs at various universities. My next goal is to do well next semester, get a high GPA, and graduate. Within that time, I hope to be accepted into a graduate program at a university and begin applying, interviewing for, and hopefully be selected for an assistantship position. When I begin graduate school, I will also set short-term, semester goals. My ultimate goal from graduate school is to achieve a Masters Degree in Post Secondary Student Affairs, which will help me make it to my final, ideal goal of starting my career at a university.
Terms: Plan, goal, mental representations, ideal state, present/current state, incongruity, discrepancy creation, goal, goal-performance discrepancy, short-term goal
My long term goal that I have is to someday make it on the PGA tour. I have been golfing since I was three years old and I have not given it up since. The chapter is based off the concepts of goal setting and goal striving. These two help lay the foundation so that a person (like me) is able to achieve their goals. The chapter points out that we are more likely to persist toward our long-term desires if we have plenty of feedback along the way.
Feedback is one of the most important aspects relating to goals because it allows us to measure the amount of progress we are making against the amount of progress we think we should make. Therefore, if I am not where I want to be with my progress, this can then motivate my behavior toward the goal even more. Without feedback, performance can be emotionally unimportant and uninvolving. For example: In high school athletics, if I was practicing something and my coach was not letting me know if I was doing it right or not, it can be non-motivating. In that case, I want to know what I can do to get better or even if I am doing it right, least I know so that I can continue the drill. In accomplishing that “long-term” goal, there are many, many short-term goals along the way. In each of these short-term goals, feedback will help provide achievement toward the “end goal.”
In making these short-term goals, make as many as you can because feeling any sort of satisfaction or achievement is great for a person’s psyche. This especially starts to happen once these short-terms goals are starting to be met. Since these goals are being met, I am increasing the likelihood of achieving the main goal because of my success. Is it not happen that when a person has success at something, they continue to want to engage in it? This happens for anyone who is meeting those short-term goals that are going toward there “big” one. For my sake, some of my short-term goals are: practice 2-4 times/week (weather cannot be an excuse because golfers have to be ready for any weather climate), stay physically fit (I have different goals regarding how I stay fit then), and my newest one is I am moving to Florida after graduation so I can play year around and improve my game without dealing with Iowa winters. This will allow to me to play without limited months. These are just a few of the short-term goals I have. Focusing on the process is called process simulation. The chapter says that process simulation is a solid concept because by focusing on the process toward a goal, will encourage a person’s motivation more to perform the actions. This makes it so a person does not only focus on the goal itself but rather the timeline to get there.
This leads into the mental aspect of goal-setting. There is no doubt that this goal is very tough and will have some hardships. But the fact of the matter is that there is no doubt that this goal CANNOT be achievable either. I have a great mindset toward it. I understand that this long-term goal is not just going to be achieved with the snap of a finger. More importantly it is going to take dedication, determination, perseverance, to strive toward getting my PGA tour card. In the meantime, baby steps are my process right now. I have to stick to what I have planned to do and that starts off with me continuing to practice my game, and then once I graduate…take my talents to South Beach.
Key Terms: long-term goal, goal setting, goal striving, feedback, short-term goal, satisfaction, achievement, process simulation.
One long-term goal I have is to move out of Iowa. Given the fact that this is my last year in school, and that my lease will end in August of 2013, I think that it is a good time to start figuring out how to make that goal a reality. It’s not that I dislike Iowa, but I have lived here my entire life and more recently I have lived in Cedar Falls for the last six years. Sometimes I feel like I could stretch out my arms and touch the walls of this town. I don’t exactly know where exactly I want to move, I just know that I would love to see a city skyline. The motivation I am feeling for this to happen is coming from my goal-performance discrepancy. I know that right now I am living in a small town with a “Main Street” as my down town. I know that I would like to be living in a large city with tall buildings where I could go to a new restaurant whenever I wanted. The lack of having any of the things that I want is pushing my motivation to obtain them. As stated in the book, “a goal without a plan is just a dream” and so in order for me to begin a plan, I will have to start out by deciding when I would want to move. I decided for myself that I would like to be gone no later than the start of summer, and so my best move would be to apply to only out of state jobs and see where it gets me. In this situation I would be able to visit several places for interviews and maybe spend a couple days in those cities getting a feel and seeing what I like and don’t like about them.
According to the book, getting started on your goal pursuit can be difficult for some. One study found that with women giving themselves breast self-examinations were more likely to complete the task of doing so just by writing it down. I honestly had never thought about doing that but it makes a lot of sense. Something I will begin to start is a goal journal. I can write down specific ideas that come to me about my goal and add in any changes I might need to make. I think that this strategy could also help me clear my head so that I don’t feel so overwhelmed. Another important strategy for me to pick up while in the process of meeting my goal is to come up with some implementation intentions. I need to focus on what some of my obstacles would be in the process of moving, that way I won’t be caught off guard or discouraged. One of the main things that I am sure will stress me out is money. The first thing I can do, since I am thinking about it now, it so start a savings goal. More importantly, I can vocalize my goal to family and see if they will be willing to help with any short comings, and know that once I am in my job I can repay them every cent. Another difficulty I can anticipate is that I may be lonely once I get to the city. This is exactly why I want to already have a place of employment lined up. Trying to settle in and job hunt alone would be too overwhelming. I also want to look in to different group activities in the new city, such as finding a gym with group workout classes or joining a book club.
I am confident in that if I can stick with these plans and use these strategies that I will be able to accomplish my goal successfully.
Terms: Implementation intentions, goal pursuit, performance discrepancy
When I started college my long term goal was to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, this goal changed during my sophomore year when I realized I wanted to pursue further education and get my master’s degree in psychology. My long term goal of getting my masters has been influenced by several short term goals; for example getting good grades so I am able to have a high GPA to be accepted. There are several steps that I am taking so I am able to accomplish my long term goal. This chapter discusses how and why we are able to accomplish goals and plans.
Once I decided that my long term goal was to go to graduate school I began to develop a plan that would help me accomplish my goal. My plan like several others was adjustable and subject to revision constantly because my short term goals were being accomplished, and as this was occurring I was creating or changing my original plan. This idea is known as corrective motivation; it activates a decision making process so the individual considers many different possible ways for reducing the present ideal incongruity. Like with any goals or plan the smaller or short term goals may cause some discrepancy. This occurs when the present state falls short of the hoped state. Discrepancy creates a sense of wanting to change the present state so that it will move closer and closer toward the ideal state. For example my current GPA is my present state and my ideal state is to have a slightly higher GPA.
A goal is basically whatever an individual is striving to accomplish. Goals generate motivation by focusing an individual’s attention on the discrepancy between their present level of accomplishment and their ideal level of accomplishment. It is very important to have goals because an individual is more likely to accomplish them. I view my goal of going to graduate school as a slightly difficult goal because I am still learning how I can accomplish it and the steps I need to take. Thus far I have been able to accomplish several short term goals that are helping me to achieve my long term goal, however getting into the graduate school I want seems challenging. Because I view my goal as difficult I am more energized to accomplish it because I have to put more effort into it. My goal is very specific, I want to get my masters, and because it is specific I know exactly what I need to do to accomplish my goal. During the entire process leading toward accomplishing my goal I have been receiving constant feedback about my progress. This feedback is shown mainly in my grades because they express how I am doing with my major classes and my major classes’ show how well I am doing as an undergraduate. If I wasn’t doing very well as an undergraduate it probably is a good indicator that I wouldn’t be very successful as a graduate student.
Overall my long term goal is to get my master’s degree in psychology. And there are several short term goals that are helping me feel confident that I will accomplish my goal. This chapter made me realize that even though some of the negative feedback I have received over my academic career bothered me at the time, it actually helped be solve problems which have helped me become better prepared as a student. I also realized that I need to continue to motivate myself to accomplish my goal because it means a lot to me and I will feel very good about myself once it is accomplished.
Terms: Short-Term Goals, Long-Term Goals, Plans, Corrective Motivation, Discrepancy, Goal, Goal Difficulty, Goal Specificity, Feedback
One of my long term goals has always been to get a PhD in health and sport psychology. In order to accomplish this, I am currently working to remove the incongruity that lies between my present state and my ideal state. The incongruity between the two is what drives my action, and makes me proactive.
After I decided I wanted to become a doctor in Health and Sport Psychology, I had to assess many options. I had to devise a plan, or certain short term goals that would help me attain my long term goal. My short-term goals include maintaining a 3.7 GPA or higher during my undergraduate studies, getting involved with volunteer work, and gaining experience related in my field. My goal of maintain a high GPA is specific (goal specificity) because it allows me to see exactly what I need to do, since this goal is numerical. Also another goal I have to achieve in order to reach my ultimate goal is going to graduate school. I have to pass my GRE and get accepted into my desired school, which I am unsure of at this point. In chapter 8, it states that long term goals generate intrinsic motivation, as opposed to short term goals. I would support this statement, because my long term goal is something I have always wanted to do, and it drives my behavior from within me. My short term goals, like getting good grades, are reinforced by environmental sources. I wouldn’t study really hard every day if I didn’t want to get good grades. The good grades are what motivate certain behaviors.
To make my goal easier to accomplish, I need to devise a plan of action, or an implementation intention. I have set a series of short term goals to accomplish that will help me achieve my ultimate goal. I need to set a schedule of behavior that will help me achieve these short term goals. In order to maintain a high GPA of 3.7 or higher, I need to set aside a specific study time every day. I need to try and have two study sessions everyday: one during my lunch break, and the other for a couple of hours every night. By going to the library to study twice a day, I will be readily prepared in all my classes for exams and will have completed papers. For getting involved with volunteer work and gaining experience, I need to be proactive, talk to an advisor who can point me in the direction of someone that would be able to help me. By being proactive and asking about things to do that will make me more applicable, I can find and gain experiences that will make graduate schools more interested in me. I also need to select a time when I will take my GRE, and work on studying for it. All of this is done in goal pursuit. Acting on these behaviors will make me persistent and effort.
One thing that will help me accomplish my goals will be feedback. Feedback from my teachers and employers are crucial for me to attain my goals. Teachers have to five me feedback on tests, quizzes, papers, and also need to encourage me along the way. If I don’t receive any feedback for my efforts, I will not be able to determine if they are sufficient enough or if there is more I need to be doing. Teachers also give me advice in terms of how to study, which information is more heavily discussed on exams that I need to focus my attention on. This will help me attain good grades. Employers can also provide feedback on how well you’re doing a job. They can either give you praise for a job well done, or sometime a raise can convey the same attitude. Also, supporting figures in your life can be influential. For example your parents, especially if they are helping you pay for college. This serves as a positive feedback because they are supporting your decision to continue education. Providing support for your aspirations is also a way of giving positive feedback.
Another part of my goal setting is mental simulations. These are visualizing techniques where you imagine yourself achieving, and working toward your goal. Sometimes, I imagine myself in the library for hours studying for finals. This would be an example of process simulation. Other times, I imagine myself down the road when I have accomplished my long term goal of obtaining a doctorate. I imagine myself with my own family, house, and a job that I like doing. This would exemplify an outcome simulation. Imagining these things will help me achieve my goals.
Terms: implementation intentions, goal pursuit, long term goal, short term goal, incongruity, feedback, goal specificity, outcome simulation, process simulation,
I have many long-term goals that all go hand in hand, such as a getting married a year from now, getting into graduate school, getting a master’s degree (in what I haven’t decided), etc. One problem with my first goal, that of getting married, is that there is not much goal specificity. Obviously I know that I’m getting married next October, and hope this leads to a fulfilling marriage, but this ambiguous thought is hard to put into a specific goal. My other goals, however, can be more specific. The goal I have to be accepted into a graduate program of my choice is a more specific goal.
There are two types of discrepancies that exist. Discrepancy reduction is based on the discrepancy-detecting feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. This means that some aspect of the environment provides feedback about how well or how poorly a person’s current performance level matches up with the ideal performance level. For me, my current performance in school does not match up with my ideal performance level. For the first three years of college, I did not think that I was going to graduate school, and did not take classes and grades as seriously as I should have. Therefore, my GPA is just below a 3.0, and I know that I need at least that to get into graduate school. So now I need to work harder than ever to bring it up this year. This environment brings a standard of excellence to my awareness and I know that my performance is not at the ideal level.
The second type of discrepancy is discrepancy creation. This is based on a feed-forward system in which a person looks forward and sets a future, higher goal. The person deliberately sets a higher goal, an ideal state, and does not require feedback. In my case, my goal of raising my GPA is created for myself.
There are two important distinctions between discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. First, discrepancy reduction corresponds to plan-based corrective motivation, and discrepancy creation corresponds to goal-setting motivation. Second, discrepancy reduction is reaction and involves feedback, and discrepancy creation is proactive, and growth pursuing.
Difficult goals increase the performer’s effort and persistence. The harder the goal, the greater the effort. If I had been a straight A student, I would probably not be working as hard to get into graduate school, because I wouldn’t need to. However, that not being the case, I have to work a lot harder now to make up for my laziness. Specific goals focus the individual’s attention toward the task at hand and away from tasks that are incidental. My goal of getting into graduate school requires specific tasks to be completed. I need to study for the GRE, take the GRE in the spring, get letters of recommendation, etc.
Goal acceptance is also critical when goal setting takes place within the context of interpersonal relationships. I did not plan on going to graduate school, even when my parents told me that it would be the best idea for me. After getting involved with my fiancé, he also told me that graduate school would be a good idea. I finally accepted this goal, which is going to affect both me and my fiance’s lives. Goal acceptance is related to goal difficulty. Goals that are easy to accomplish generally breed goal acceptance. Goals that are difficult breed goal rejection. I knew that getting into graduate school was going to be difficult, therefore at first I rejected this goal.
Terms: goal specificity, discrepancy reduction, corrective motivation, discrepancy creation, goal, goal acceptance
I struggled to figure out what a good long term goal would be until I talked to my brother about it. I didn’t want to do something obvious that I knew a lot of students would write about – losing weight or getting into graduate school or graduating with a bachelor’s degree. I wanted to do something more personal and my brother told me what to write about, which was pretty obvious. My long term (kind of medium) term goal is to kill a deer next fall with my new bow. I just bought a new bow this September, for my boyfriend is very into bow hunting. I am too busy, and not good enough, this fall to go hunting with him, so I need to wait to go out with him until next fall. So I hope sometime next fall I will go out, sit in a treestand with him, and kill my first deer!
There are some very basic things chapter eight talks about that can help me accomplish my goal next year. Most of them sound extremely obvious and simple, and yet most people when setting goals don’t do them. Why not? Is it because they’re uneducated that these easy steps can help? I’m unsure of why, but I am just as guilty and yet I DO know about these steps. This chapter reminded me a lot of a class I took last year with Otto – Behavior Modification. Both of these classes have taught me similar concepts that can help me be better about making goals and achieving them.
The first step when making sure that you will achieve your goals is making sure that YOU came up with the goal, not that someone else gave you the goal. Now it may look like I have already failed at this step, since I told you my brother helped me come up with the goal. However, this is not the case. My brother merely gave me an idea of what my goal should be about, not the actual goal itself. It is the same as the example from the book with the children at school. When the teacher let the students pick their goal, they achieved it much quicker and better than those students who were just given a goal to meet. So even though he told me my goal should be something with my bow, I am the one who came up with the actual goal of killing a deer this fall. This is a type of goal-performance discrepancy. There are two different types of discrepancy: discrepancy reduction and discrepancy creation. Discrepancy reduction is when there is an outside source, something in the environment, giving you feedback that underlies plans and corrective motivation. The external source tells you if you are performing at the level you should be performing. Then there is the other type, discrepancy creation. This is when a person looks to the future to set their goals in order to increase their performance level. I both of these discrepancies, it is the discrepancy itself that is providing the drive and motivation to alter the behavior. In my specific goal, I am using a discrepancy creation because I am looking to the future and setting my sights high on killing a deer.
Looking at my actual goal, there are two important things that it needs to have. My goal needs to be difficult and it needs to be specific. Let’s first look at the difficulty of my set goal. Goals need to be difficult because the more difficult the goal, the more it energizes the performer. The more energy I have, the most likely I am to achieve my goal. I want to kill a deer in a year. To me, this is a very difficult goal. I’ve never killed anything in my life, unless you count mosquitos and flies. Though I say that I will be able to when the time comes, sometimes I wonder if I really will be able to pull the trigger. With this evidence, it is clear that my goal is psychologically difficult. It is also physically difficult, a more obvious hardship. Right now I am shooting at my deer twenty yards away, and have a spread about the size of my outstretched hand. This is not good. From twenty yards away my spread (the arrangement of arrows on the target) should be about the size of my fist. Therefore it will takes lots of practice for me to be able to shoot an arrow at a deer in his heart (which is about the size of my fist) and kill him. You also need to factor in the range I will be shooting at. As I said, right now I’m shooting at twenty yards. What if a buck doesn’t come within twenty yards of my treestand, but comes within thirty? Obviously it is harder to shoot accurately thirty yards away rather than twenty. This factor also plays into the specificity of my goal.
The book also talks about how it is important to make your goal very specific. When a goal isn’t very specific, the energy the difficulty brought has no direction to go. Therefore the specificity of a goal directs where the energy needs to be in order to be successful. Specific goals also help make a plan. The more specific your goal is, the easier it is to create a plan. Right now, my goal isn’t very specific: kill a deer next fall. I need to be more specific in the how, when, and what. I am going to kill a deer by shooting an arrow in his heart from at least ten yards away. Obviously I can’t control how close the deer comes to my tree. However I can say that I am going to aim for his heart in order to kill him. Next we look at when. Next fall encompasses a three month time span. Since my goal is already plenty difficult, I will say that I hope to kill him by the end of November. Finally, we look at the what. This is pretty simple, but I will make it more specific and difficult by saying I want to kill a buck rather than a doe. Now that my goal has specificity and difficulty, I should be on my way to achieving my goal!
I know that there are many more things chapter eight talks about in being able to achieve a goal. Two very important concepts we learn are the importance of making a plan/timeline and journaling your progress. However, as I mentioned earlier, I wanted my blog to be different than everyone else’s and so I chose to wrote about other important aspects of creating the goal itself, since that was the hard part for me.
Terms:
difficulty provides energy, specificity provides direction, goal-performance discrepancy, energizing the performer, external source, drive, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation
My goal in a year is to run a 5K without stopping. The discrepancy between my present state and my ideal state is pretty large. First of all, the book describes the discrepancy between your present state and your ideal state a key to attaining your ideal state. Why? because it creates tension in between your two states. Your body wants to resolve this tension. It's like singing a scale in your head, and not singing the last note (try it!) your mind wants you to sing that last note to resolve the difference. The same with a goal and your desired state. If you hold both of these images in your mind, like for me, my present state is I am overweight, and can't run a whole mile without stopping. My ideal, or desired state is a 150 pound me, athletic, and am running, and completing a 5K without stopping. There are two types of discrepancy; descrepancy reduction and creation. Discrepancy reduction is when one get's feed back from someone else about your goal or plans. The environment pushes you, and gives you a standard of excellence that you must reach. Discrepancy creation is when one set's a higher goal for them self. So, Discrepancy reduction is more for extrinsically motivated people, and discrepancy creation is more for intrinsically motivated people. I think that for my goal, I would rather use discrepancy creation because something that has to do with changing my own body has to come within me. It wont work if I am being pushed from behind by someone else. It will work if I am being pulled from something ahead of me, my goal.
You may notice that my goal is very specific, and difficult. The book tells us that specific goals enhance our performance. So in my mind, when I see my desired outcome, I picture what I want my body to look like, and I picture myself running with everyone in the 5K race, and crossing the finish line, with my friends and family cheering me on. This gives me the fuel I need to pull me towards it.
I will give myself feedback by regularly monitoring my weight on a weekly basis. This will fuel my motivation to keep going. The book says that mixing goals and feedback produce a meaningful emotional mixture. The goal creates dissatisfaction, while the feedback continuously gives us satisfaction towards our desired goal.
These feedbacks will help with my short term goals with-in my long term goal. I will position "station points" with in my long term goal of getting to shorter term ones. Like getting to a certain weight, or completeling one mile without stopping, etc. This fuels my interinsic motivation because it keeps a goal that is with-in-reach. Goals that are too difficult and too far away are easier to lose. With the short term ones, our motivation can peak several times before we get to the desired outcome.
I talked a little about using visuals to help with goals earlier. This is called outcome simulation. When you focus on your goal, see the visual image in your mind of what it looks like to reach it. This is very powerful. Also, process simulation, which is visualizing yourself doing what you need to get there. So I would visualize myself running, or eating healthy.
Terms: discrepancy, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, long-term goal, short term goal, mental simulations, outcome simulation, process simulation
One of my long term goals is to lose weight. It’s something I have been struggling with for years. I know losing weight is a process that doesn’t just happen overnight. I have struggled to stay consistent. Some days I am more motivated than others. There are days I am really good about working out and eating healthy and there are other days I eat unhealthy food like it’s my job! My motivated for this goal needs to be high, every day, not just when I feel like it. My plan is to work out and eat healthy.
Steps to my accomplishing my goal:
1. Identify what needs to be accomplished: lose weight
2. Define difficulty: for me, hard
3. Clarify specificity: workout and eat healthy consistently
4. Time span: within a year, hopefully.
This is a goal that is going to need a lot of intrinsic motivation on my part. If I lose intrinsic motivation I will break down and have the junk food that I don’t need. I need to work on staying motivated and focus on the bigger picture which is my weight lose goal. Feedback is important in maintaining a goal. Feedback such as weighing myself say every week or every two weeks will help me keep track of my performance to see if I am on the right track or if I need to make modifications is some way.
For my goal of losing weight it might be helpful to have goals within my goal. I may strive to lose a certain amount of weight a month and work up to my set goal to make it more manageable. If I break my goal into smaller chunks it will make it more achievable and more realistic for me. To reach my goal it will also be helpful to only buy healthy foods at the grocery store. If there isn’t any unhealthy food in my kitchen I won’t feel as pressured to eat it. I also added the app professor MacLin mentioned in class one day that calculates your daily intake of calories. You enter your certain weight and what your weight lose goal is and it calculates how many calories you should have each day to obtain the goal. This is done by entering each food item you eat at each meal and your exercise for the day. It is extremely helpful. I never realized how many calories I was consuming until I started documenting them.
So far getting started and being consistent has been the hardest part. Using the calorie counter app has been the most helpful. It makes me think about my goal before I eat something. I ask myself “is it really worth it?” I have a set time I work out every day which has also helped me. Having a set weight in mind and routine I am more likely to obtain my goal.
After I complete this goal I plan to continue with the fitness goals and start running. I have always wanted to be a runner. I can’t run long distances to save my life. I am so jealous of everyone that can. I think it is a great way to exercise, stay healthy and take your mind off of things. I can’t wait to finish one goal to start another! I may end up combining my goals together so I can do both. Running would also help me lose weight.
Terms used: motivation, goal acceptance, goal difficulty, goal specificity, goal-attainment strategies, performance feedback, intrinsic motivation, discrepancy reduction
A long term goal that I have is to obtain a post-graduate degree (M.A. or Ph.D.) from one of the ten graduate schools I am applying to this winter. To graduate from one of these schools, I obviously have to do well at the school I choose. To be able to do well at the school I choose, I have to attend the school and prior to that I must be admitted to the school. Even before that, I have to send in all of the necessary information to be considered for admittance. As you can see, there are many requisite short-term and long-term goals I must achieve in order to obtain my ultimate long-term goal. This is described on page 219 and it also states that having a chain of short-term goals is just as effective as having a long-term goal. For me, I think it will be even more effective because I really enjoy feeling like I have accomplished something. Making a short-term to do list and frequently having the ability to cross items off of that list is reinforcing and motivates me to complete more short-term goals. The behavior of crossing off items fulfills the need for achievement as well. It also provides feedback which is very important in the goal process.
When observing just my ultimate long-term goal, the 4 step goal-setting program could be very useful. Here is what a plan using this system would look like:
1. Specify the objective to be accomplished- The objective is to graduate with a post-graduate degree from one of the ten institutions I am applying for. The chapter does, however, emphasize being specific so I will choose my number one choice, the University of Illinois-Chicago. Since this is the school I chose, the program I will be attempting to complete will allow me to obtain a Ph.D. in Social Psychology with an emphasis on Psychology and Law.
2. Define goal difficulty- Hard. It will not be an easy task to complete a doctoral degree because of the amount of short-term goals that must be completed in order to obtain the ultimate long term goal. These short-term goals include everything from obtaining letters of recommendation from before I am accepted to finishing projects while I am in graduate school.
3. Clarify goal specificity-I have not yet included an exact date so my ultimate goal is to graduate from the University of Illinois-Chicago in the spring of 2019.
4. Specify time span when performance will be assessed: Performance will be first assessed in April of this year when it will be determined if I am accepted into UIC. If I am not, I will have to alter the rest of my goal timeline.
After the initial assessment and feedback, I will know how to pursue the rest of my goals. Until then, I have to focus on how to become admitted to the school because without obtaining that short-term goal, I will not be able to obtain my ultimate goal of graduation in the spring of 2019.
“A goal without a plan is just a dream.” In life, people are thinking ahead and making goals and plans. To accomplish this goal they need to have a realistic goal, a plan, and then strive to achieve their goal. As a college student I have lots of goals and dreams. I believe there are always difficulties to every goal, yet if you try and have people helping you can accomplish your dreams. A person who has goals and trying to achieve them with do better than someone who does not set goals.
One on my main goals right now it to lose weight. I want to be healthier, prettier, and be able to go on a backpacking trip to Scotland in May. My goal weight to be at before graduation is about 130-140lbs. I have about a year and a half. Originally I had that as a goal by the time I go to Scotland, but because of class, work, and other commitments I and not getting to the gym as much as I would like to. Also going out to eat with friends makes dieting really hard. I have now set a more realistic goal. I have about 15 months to lose around 50 pound. That is only about 3lbs a month. By the time the Scotland trip comes around I will be around 20lbs lighter.
I have a plan now. It is reasonable so I am able and I have made it so I can finish early. I am using discrepancy. I know where I am now and where I want to be. I am using discrepancy creation. I see what could be and set a higher goal. It is an outcome that is in my mind.
So now it is time to start doing my plan. My goal is planned out and I know what I have to do. My worry about this plan is that it is only about 3 to 5 lbs a month. That seems really easy. I goal does need to be hard to make energy.
The hardest part of losing weight (I have lost 25lbs in the last year) is being discouraged when the scale does not say what you want it to. Things come up and I cannot put all the time into just this one goal since I do have goals for money, job, friends, family, and school. What I really important is the people around you understanding the battle you are having with your weight. You want to help them or go out to eat, yet it will put you back from your goal. Lucky I have my parents who are supportive of me and say how nice I am starting to look. I have a roommate that likes to go to the gym and work out with me. The worst feedback (information) I get is my parents do not have much money, so as I lose weight I need new cloths and I just do not have the money. The almost becomes, can I afford to keep losing weight?
Losing weight was been a goal of mine for a long time. I have always been goal directed thinking, yet my actions have not always met up. Many times I think I want to lose weight and then I have dessert then do not feel like going to the gym. I believe the next step for me is to actually write a schedule of what I will do every day. I have tried this before, stuff kept coming up and I would be sitting there looking at all the running, or work out stuff I didn’t do. This would be disheartening and make me want to give up. Yet this is the time in my life to do this. I have the amazing WRC to go to and really accomplish my goal; I just need more focus and commitment. I have already started this goal and have lost around 25lbs, but I want more. I now need to keep persisting even though there will be set back. I also need to resume (restart) it something gets in my way not just take a week off. I have a good support group, but I comes down to me and how much I want to lose weight and be healthy I can do this. I just to try harder and make more list and schedules. Losing weight is hard and yet I know I can do it, if I keep fighting and persisting.
Words: goal, feedback, plan, discrepancy, discrepancy creation, persisting, achievement.
My goal is to graduate with my PhD in psychology. It seems to get harder and harder the closer and more real it becomes because of short term goals that must be attained before I can reach my ultimate goal. In community college my short term goal was to graduate with my AA with a high GPA so that I could get in to a University. As I continued on my path, my short term goals got equally harder and more specific. After awhile, my ultimate goal wasn’t just to get my PhD in psychology but had developed in to a more specific goal of getting my PhD in either psychology of religion, I/O psychology or counseling psychology (yes, I realize how broad those fields are). As my ultimate goal got more specific so did my short term goals. When I got in to UNI, my short term goal was only to graduate with my bachelors in psychology with a high GPA. However, with feedback from my professors I found that that was not my only short term goal I needed to do before I got in to graduate school. I needed to get a high score on the GRE, foster relationships with my professors so that I could get strong letters of recommendation, get research experience, and make myself a stronger candidate to be accepted in to graduate school. Goal specificity had set in. For each short term goal, I had to work hard to achieve it, and as I said before, they kept getting harder and harder. The GPA was the easiest along with fostering relationships with my professors since I’m a relatively nice guy and I try hard in my classes. Every class, my goal is to get an A and every semester my goal is to get a 4.0 GPA for that semester. The GRE was tough, I was not used to studying in that way and for that strong for a test. Not even for the ACTs did I study that hard but the hard work paid off and I received a score that I was happy with. My research experience and TA experience came out of relationships with my professors and it lead to an Honors Thesis project that has turned in to the hardest thing I have ever done in my academic career thus far. These short term goals that I had to make myself a better candidate for grad school were based on discrepancy reduction that I had found on requirements for graduate school candidates in the individual universities I was applying to. I set my specific short term goals based on the information I received on that. My discrepancy creation helped look forward passed graduate school. What program did I want to get in to for graduate school based on what I wanted to do with my degree once I achieved my ultimate goal. If I had no plan or no goal, I honestly believe there would be no way I could continue on In the path I am going or even be on this path. When I get frustrated or I feel like giving up, I look to all that I have accomplished and look at the goals I have attained and still need to attain and it pushes me to continue working hard.
TERMS: short term goal, criticisms, goal difficulty, feedback, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, goal specificity, achievement
One of my major long-term goals is to graduate from graduate school so that I can obtain a satisfying and worthwhile job. Chapter 8 focuses on goal setting and goal striving. I would say that this goal has a very high difficulty and is very specific. Therefore, my amount effort that I will be putting forward to achieve this goal will be very high; this is known as performance discrepancy. The book stresses the importance of feedback while working to achieve a goal. Feedback in the knowledge of results and allows an individual to keep track of their goal. Feedback for my goal would include graduating from my undergraduate program, applying and being accepted into graduate school, moving to my graduate school, and so on. Each smaller goal within the long-term goal will keep me grounded and set on my higher goal. A third important part of goal setting is goal acceptance. I have to understand that my goal is very difficult, but achievable, and I am going to have to work to get there. I have to be willing to accomplish all the tasks necessary before I can graduate from grad school. There are extrinsic incentives for each goal that one sets. For my goal, the extrinsic motivators are scholarships to school, recognition on graduation day, obtaining a good, competitive job, and making money for my future family.
When setting a goal, it is important to focus on the actions one will take in order to reach the goal, as opposed to simply focusing on the goal itself. This is called simulation. Focusing on the actions assure that each person will engage in planning and problem solving. A way that I can specifically focus on my actions is to actively study and work hard to keep up my grades, research graduate programs that interest me, fill out applications, etc. Implementation intentions are similar to deadlines for short-terms goals within long-term goals. They are meant to make one think about where and when a short-term goal will be completed and how long it will take. Some of my implementation intentions are to graduate in May of 2014, move to my graduate school summer of 2014 to start classes in the fall, etc. This is a very important goal to me because it will shape the rest of my future. I have always held my goals up very high, and been very intrinsically motivated to reach my goals because that's how I was raised. All of these steps are important in helping my to get my graduate degree in a few years!
Terms: goal, performance discrepancy, feedback, goal acceptance, extrinsic incentives, simulation, implementation incentives, short-term goals, long-term goals, intrinsic motivation
One of my long-term goals is using my psychology degree along with my I/O certificate to obtain a job in the Omaha area upon graduation. The position I am seeking is a child and family services specialist offered by the government of Nebraska. I have the ability to continue my education after my undergraduate studies, however, part of me would rather gain experience in the field and then possibly pursue my masters if I deem it necessary. Therefore, my main goal and focus as of now is finding a job in the Omaha area and starting a life with my girlfriend who will also be graduating from Creighton this year.
I realize that getting a job directly related to psychology with just a Bachelor’s degree is difficult. Therefore, in an attempt to make it easier I have tried making my goal as specific as possible. According to the text, goals need to be difficult to create energy and specific to focus direction. In theory, the more difficult my goal is to accomplish, the more motivated and harder I should work to accomplish it. However, I realize I still have a lot of work to do before now and when I graduate. This is where discrepancy comes in. Goal-performance discrepancy refers to the present level of my accomplishments in comparison to the ideal level of my accomplishments. This is why I am doing all that I can now to help work towards achieving my ideal level of accomplishments. For instance, I take part in school organizations, I volunteer, and I also completed an internship at a substance abuse counseling program in Okoboji, IA this past summer. I take part in these opportunities because I know they are factors that are leading me in the right direction to accomplishing my goal.
Feedback is another variable that is crucial in helping me accomplish my goal. Without proper feedback my goal would lack direction and I would lack the motivation needed to accomplish it. Positive feedback reassures me that I’m on the right track to accomplishing what I want to accomplish. For example, the feedback I got from my internship this summer made me realize that I wanted to be involved in some form of counseling after I graduated and it created motivation to work towards doing it. I enjoyed the feeling I got from helping others and those motivational factors keep me motivated to work towards accomplishing my goal. It was a breath of fresh air to find something that was intrinsically motivating for me. Overall, my internship allowed me to accept my goal and really start working towards it.
Another aspect to accomplishing my goal includes goal striving. It is important to visualize myself accomplishing my goal and to stay focused on my goal. However, visualizing myself accomplishing my goal isn’t enough. I also need to take action. This means in order to successfully accomplish my long-term goal I must first accomplish short-term goals. Accomplishing short-term goals provide me with a better opportunity to accomplish my long-term goal by providing a strategy to do so. This is why I strive to continue to do well in school, get involved on campus, volunteer, and worked hard to find a summer internship. These are all examples of me taking action now in an attempt to better my chances of accomplishing my long-term goal. I realize that one of the best things I can do to accomplish my long-term goal is to keep building my resume and hopefully land a job because of it. All in all, it is important to create both short and long term goals in life. These goals will keep you motivated and help you succeed at whatever it is you truly desire.
Terms: goal, discrepancy, goal-performance discrepancy, feedback, goal striving, goal acceptance, goal difficulty, goal specificity, intrinsic motivation, long-term goals, short-term goals
My goal in the next few years is to attend graduate school, once I graduate with a degree in Family Services in the next year and a half. I need to boost my GPA and more around a 3.0 by doing all the assigned assignments, take part in class discussions, and just try my hardest to focus as much as I possible can. Maintaining this goal for a good GPA is feedback, because here I will be directly focusing and giving attention to keeping up my GPA and maybe even having it surpass that accumulative grade point average. How I do on my GRE and keep up my GPA will also help me determine what my plan will become with my own personal feedback. Discrepancy creation will hopefully come along for the ride with me as I venture into my next chapter, keeping me in check and looking forward to my future, and maybe even throwing a few extra goals in there that will keep increasing my intrinsic motivation to do well and be interested in what I’m going for. I’m going to strive for a high GRE, so I can have a chance at being accepted into more programs that are outside of UNI, even though I wouldn’t mind continuing my education here, I’m open for more options if they are offered. I’ll have to deal with difficult, specific goals as I continue to reach these goals, they will be difficult for me to accomplish, because the class work will continue to get harder. So I’ll need to stay focus and create positive energy that will help me be able to have the drive and direction I am looking for.
Long-term goals with the help of short-term goals that can and will lead up into the long-term goal will affect my intrinsic motivation. My short-term goals is maintaining a good GPA over a 3.0, while I’m still in undergrad school, while my long-term goal is to graduate from undergraduate school and then continue my education into graduate school with a good GRE score. Positive reinforcement will play a key role in how I go about my short-term goals by helping increase my intrinsic motivation in completing my long-term goals. I just need to make sure I don’t get lost with my implementation intentions (where I might fail to realize or finish my goals), because I want to accomplish my tasks and I’m finally buckling down and am ready to get this college chapter finished and over with. Only time will tell how much longer I’ll need to be in school, but for now I’m taking action on writing down all the classes I have left to take. Starting next semester I’ll be looking into grad schools to determine where I’d like to go. If I stay focus there’s no stopping me from achieving my goals.
Terms: feedback, discrepancy creation, intrinsic motivation, difficult, specific goals, long-term goals, short-term goals, positive reinforcement
Blog for Chapter 8
A goal that I have that is a long term goal is to graduate the University of Northern Iowa by the end of the 2013. I thought about this goal and what my ideal state of mind was telling me. My ideal state was telling me that I wanted to graduate at the end of December in 2013. Next, I decided to come up with a plan. I looked at all the classes I have left to take and I wrote them down. Next I decided if it was reasonable to graduate at the end of December or if I needed to push it to May of 2013. I only have nine classes to take after this semester so I decided to start the planning from there. If I take four classes next semester and three classes the following semester I can make that work. After that was decided, I set up some short term goals by making a time line. This was an assignment for another class but it really put my plan in order and having a visual really helped motivate me to set this long term goal. It has all the classes I need to take and in what semester along with assignments due for this semester. When I get my syllabuses for my new classes I will add to my time line. Next I evaluated my time and how I can accomplish my short term goal. My present state does not match my ideal state and I used the TOTE model. I will test and operate different ways to get rid of incongruities until my present state matches my ideal state. I have many incongruities that are in my present state that are keeping me from accomplishing my ideal state. Some incongruities that I am having is that I work 55+ hours of work a week and neither one of my jobs allow me time to do school work. My plan is to eliminate about half of my work hours. I plan to do this by talking to my bosses about my plan for graduation and the amount of work (goals) ahead of me. I hope that they will be accepting to my goal. It will be like goal acceptance. It will be me attempting to provide a goal to my boss of cutting my hours and them accepting or rejecting the goal I put forth. If my bosses reject this goal I will have to retest and operate another idea. I might just have to quit one of my jobs until I can find an exit that will acceptable to my ideal state. Another incongruity is that I do everything for my boyfriend and his daughter. I will present my boyfriend with the plan that he can cook and clean during the week and I will do it on the weekends and when I need to study he will have to play barbies. I know he will have low intrinsic motivation for this. Another short term goal I have for myself is to finish all my assignments from here on out on time. My plan to do this is to get it all done the day before it is due. With cutting my hours this should be achievable. I hope after all of my planning I can start to work towards my goals and my overall long term goal to graduate at the end of December.
Terms: Goal, long term goal, ideal state, plan, short term goals, motivation, present state, TOTE model, Test, operate, incongruities, goal acceptance, exit, and intrinsic motivation
My biggest long term goal is to get into grad school and do research on the brain. It is a difficult subject, but one that I understand really well and am extremely interested in. To reach this goal, I can set a series of short-term goals to help me meet my long-term goal. Short-term goals are small goals that are more frequently met than the long-term goal, and can provide intrinsic motivation to keep going with the goal-oriented behavior. My series of short-term goals include getting involved in research on campus, assisting the professors with said research so they will give a good letter of recommendation, complete and submit some applications to various Biopsychology graduate programs, and finishing off my undergraduate degree. All of these activities can provide feedback to motivate me and keep me on the right track. Feedback measures progress, and can be a reality check to see how far we've actually gotten compared to how far we think we have gotten. Feedback can be received from professors, friends, and family; really anyone who is invested in your situation and can provide valuable feedback that you can use.
On top of breaking down my long-term goal into a series of short-term goals, I can increase the chances that I'll achieve my goal if I use process simulation, which focuses on the process of reaching a goal rather than focusing on the goal itself. Process simulation encourages motivation to pursue and complete the actions needed to achieve a goal. The opposite of this is outcome simulation, which focuses on the goal only, which is much less motivating.
Planning on how, when, and how long you will work towards a goal can be a powerful motivator as well, this is called implementation intentions. This is a good technique to use because it sets concrete limits on when you want to achieve your short-term goals and it motivates you to get them done. This technique can eliminate volitional problems, which are issues that may arise that distract an individual from their goals. Volitional problems can embody themselves as stress, laziness, or distraction, but when you have a concrete deadline to get a goal done, you will be much more motivated to get it done.
Terms: Feedback, Short-term goals, Process Simulation, Outcome Simulation, Implementation Intention, Volitional Problems.
A goal I have is to graduate with a 3.60 GPA. This is both a discrepancy reduction and a discrepancy creation. In other words, the environment (grad schools) have brought an ideal state to my awareness (I need a high GPA). But I have also proactively created a higher goal to pursue (3.6 GPA). The discrepancy is the difference between my present state (a 3.4 GPA) and my ideal state (3.6). This goal-performance discrepancy is what is generating my motivation.
According to the goal setting process, my first objective is to specify the objective to be accomplished. My goal is to graduate with a 3.6 GPA. I believe this is a realistic goal in terms of difficulty. If I get a majority of A's, a few A-'s, and an exceptional B+, I could achieve this goal on time. Of course I would love to get straight A's from here on our and shoot for a 3.8, but I think that would make my goal too difficult and create too much stress. I have already made my goal specific. My initial goal was to "raise my GPA," but by specifying it, it gives me more direction and a better chance of achieving it. The next step on the goal setting process is to specify the time span when performance will be assessed. The long-term goal will be assessed at graduation. However, I have planned to break this goal into smaller short-term goals, which will be assessed more frequently.
The goal striving process requires that I check on goal acceptance. Since I have created this goal for myself. this is not an issue. I am very intrinsically motivated to achieve this goal. The next steps are to discuss goal attainment strategies by creating implementation intentions. First, I'll break down my goal into smaller goals, such as grades at each semester and for each tests. I know that implementation intentions create good habits, so I am going to make specific goals of when and where to study. I will study every Monday and Wednesday at the library from 9am-12pm, and every Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm-8pm. I will also prepare for how to persist when difficulties and set backs happen. I'll have a good support system to encourage me and keep me accountable for studying during these times, and for attending every class. I know that interruptions will occur, such as a conflict during my study times. If this happens, I will resume the next day with the regular schedule, and also add on a study session during the weekend to make up for what I've missed. The last step is to provide performance feedback. I will be getting feedback from tests during the semester, but I will also make a goal to meet with each professor once every two weeks to gain additional feedback.
Terms: goal, discrepancy reduction, discrepancy creation, present state, ideal state, goal-performance discrepancy, goal difficulty, goal specificity, long-term goal, short-term goals, goal setting process, goal striving process, goal acceptance, intrinsic motivation, implementation intentions, performance feedback