2/14/18. Richard Wiseman examined thousands of people trying to attain their goals Finish a project Get a job Stop smoking Lose weight

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1 Richard Wiseman examined thousands of people trying to attain their goals Finish a project Get a job Stop smoking Lose weight Examined which strategies worked best Tested many scientific and lay theories 86 What strategies do people use to reach their goals? Think positively Visualize attaining your goal Focus on the great things that will happen once your goal is achieved Use willpower to push through tough times 87 These are the strategies that fill self-help books Think positively Visualize reaching your goals Fantasize about success Build up your will power But each of these strategies did not help In fact, they all led to increased chance of failure! 88 1

2 Visualizing/Fantasizing imagining attaining your goal How can this backfire? Often creates unrealistic expectations for easy success Lets you experience the positive feeling of attaining your goal without doing any work 89 Researchers had people either Visualize attaining a goal Or, think about the step-by-step process of attaining a goal Control group did neither Goals tested: Getting a job, good grades, a date, etc In all cases, planning helped and vizualizing hurt goal attainment 90 Expectations Fantasizing Outcomes Effort 91 2

3 Those who visualized attaining a job Sent out fewer job applications Sent applications to more high status jobs with lower acceptance rates Were most likely to get lowerpaying job or no job at all 92 This form of positive thinking leads to unrealistic optimism Unrealistic goals Not taking precautions against potential failures Not planning carefully Not realizing when current efforts weren t working 93 Fantasizing Expectations Effort Outcomes Planning Expectations Effort Outcomes 94 3

4 Example: What steps are involved in getting into graduate school? Research grad programs Attain good grades Study for and take GRE Attain letters of recommendation Write personal statements Submit applications and go to interviews 95 Will power should be relied on as little as possible Will power is a limited resources and can be easily exhausted It s better to set up environments that reinforce good habits 96 Example: Trying to lose weight Those that rely on will power tend to fail E.g., willing onself to go to the gym and not eat sweets Will power is contingent on bodily resources E.g., blood glucose levels Dieting/stress decrease these 97 4

5 Example: Trying to lose weight Most successful strategies are those that change environment to support goals Only have healthy food in the house Spending more time in places where you walk (parks, cities, malls) Make a commitment to work out with friends Hiring a personal trainer 98 Motivation can be increased simply by setting clear, specific and attainable goals Works best if goals are objectively measurable E.g., I m going to walk 15 minutes a day, or, I m going to save $20 a month 99 Implementation Intentions realistic, step-bystep plan on how to attain goals and avoid failure Write down What do I need to do, step-by-step, to attain this goal? When do I need to have each step done? What is likely to hinder me at each step? What should I do if I don t initially succeed? Make each aspect specific and measurable 100 5

6 Bad Goal: Get fit! Why is this not a good goal? Too vague Doesn t offer any time-line Doesn t prepare you for potential failures 10 1 Good Goal: On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will lift weights for 20 minutes and run for 15 minutes I must have this exercise done no later than 10am Things likely to hinder me: Being tired, not being motivated, having too much to do So, I need to get to bed by 11pm, work out with a friend, and make sure not to delay homework the night before If I don t succeed, I ll talk with my friend about it and plan on what to do better next time 102 Meta-analysis find that people only achieve 20 35% of their goals But, those that followed these strategies achieve their goals 50 65% of the time That s doubling the odds of success! 108 6