Goal Setting: Are You Doing It the Right Way?

While defining the right goals will help you turn your plans into reality, it is still one of the most neglected aspects. It is vital not only to set goals but also to monitor them on a regular basis to ensure that each one is motivating enough to be pursued and to determine if any short-term goals need to be added in order to reach the long-term targets you have set. While on one hand, not having goals seems to be the major problem; not knowing how to set the right ones is a far greater one. As a result, in this YouTube video on the Chicago Booth Review channel, Chicago Booth’s Ayelet Fishbach discusses effective approaches to goal setting.

Ayelet suggests that the goals we set are powerful motivational tools. According to her, a goal not only points you in the right direction but also pushes you there. While discussing the best approach to goal setting, she recommends that the first thing to realize about effective goal setting is that it requires defining a goal rather than a mechanism. A compelling goal, in her perspective, specifies a desirable state rather than the methods to get there. She proposes that objectives should be defined in terms of benefits rather than expenses. She further underlines the importance of setting abstract goals as the second effective approach to goal setting. She contends that, while there is no single correct method to establish goals, the abstract approach is more inspiring. It aids in underlining the reason for your activity. She warns, however, that one must be careful not to transform the goal’s abstractness into vagueness. She says that creating imprecise goals would lead to a lack of activities and, hence, be harder to pursue. Finally, Ayelet proposes that one grasp the distinction between “do” and “do not do” goals. By using these names, she implies that the aim you established should be addressed more optimistically than in a negative tone. This is because when objectives emanate negativity, it is impossible to find the drive to pursue them.

Goal setting is an essential activity that must be carried out effectively. This might help both individuals and corporations accomplish what they want. The aforementioned are a few key takeaways from the YouTube video from the Chicago Booth Review channel on the subject.