How we can Succeed

. . . to Reach our Goals

by Author Heidi Grant Halvorson – who is a motivational psychologist and researcher. She writes about the scientifically-tested strategies we can use to be more effective reaching our goals at work & in our personal lives. She’s funny, smart, & down-to-earth. 04 July 13 (enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 9/13)

The Self-Control Muscle
If you want more self-control, you can get more the same way you get bigger muscles. Recent research has shown that engaging in daily activities such as exercising; keeping track of your finances or what you are eating, writing or cross-work puzzles, can help you develop your overall self-control capacity.

Exercising Self-Control
We can build it up just like we build up our muscles and, when we build it up in one area it enhances self-control in other areas. We must take advantage of little opportunities to train ourselves, by giving ourselves mini-workouts throughout the day. Whether it’s resisting the unhealthy food, breathing when we’re stuck in traffic, exercising x times per week, eating more veggies, whatever it is, go out & do it! And, remember that the more energy you put into developing self-control in one area, the more it’s going to benefit other areas.

Goal Targets: difficult but possible !!!
Two eminent organisational psychologists, have spent several decades studying the extraordinary effectiveness of setting specific & difficult goals. They’ve found that goals that spell out exactly what needs to be accomplished + set the bar for achievement high, result in far superior performance than goals that are vague or that set the bar too low. This is true, regardless of whether the goal is something you adopt on your own, something you are assigned to complete, or something that you develop jointly with someone else. Of course, you shouldn’t set goals that are not realistic or are impossible to reach. Difficult, but possible, is the key and that’s because more difficult goals cause you to – often unconsciously – increase your effort, focus & commitment to the goal; persist longer; & make better use of the most effective strategies.

Confidence: in your Ability & in your Challenges
Women who imagined that the path to weight loss would be easy. lost an average of 24# less, than those who imagined themselves having a hard time resisting temptation. Same is the pattern when looking at: 1) students in search of high-paying jobs after college, 2) single individuals looking to form lasting romantic relationships, & 3) seniors recovering, from hip replacement surgery.

[Confidence continued, Day Dreaming, & Not all Goals are created equal (=) in Premium Content]