deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
4
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
Believing that long shots are feasible
When we set goals, we are not that great at assessing our own ability to achieve them.
Because whether or not a goal is truly attainable can only be known when we start working on it.
98 SAVES
606 READS
The psychology of unattainable goals
Although setting goals is an important tool for self-motivation, but we tend to be overconfident beings, especially when a goal is linked to our self-esteem (we want to feel good about ourselves when it comes to achievements and aspirations).
So when we assess our own capabilities at taking on goals, we tend to be excessively optimistic.
96 SAVES
422 READS
The persistent pursuit of unattainable goals
- The persistent pursuit of unattainable goals can lead to higher achievements: focusing on smaller accomplishments can bolster positive feelings, motivating us to take on more goals in the same category. As long as we know that unattainable goals are not really about the destination, but the journey, they can be quite healthy.
- But unattainable goals often end in failures and how people react to failure varies greatly.
- Another potential mental trap following failure is the “false hope syndrome.” In this case, we tend to (mis)attribute the failure to reasons other than the fact that the goal was unattainable to start with.
98 SAVES
376 READS
Stop letting failed goals pull you down
- Don’t negate your progress as there is power in small wins.
- Don’t dwell on the failure: Reflect on your journey to achieving your goal.
- Think about related benefits: While you may not have achieved your goal fully, not all is lost.
- Ask for an objective analysis: We need to understand why we really failed.
- Take a third-person perspective, to help you reset your expectations.
97 SAVES
389 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
6
Key Ideas
SMART goal-setting framework
Set goals that are:
- Specific: It will be easier to see what you need to accomplish.
- Measurable: How will you know when you’ve achieved your goal?
- Attaina...
Locke and Latham’s 5 Principles of Goal-Setting
- Clarity: clear goals help with understanding the task at hand.
- Challenge: the goal should be challenging enough to prove motivating, but not impossible to achieve.
- Commitment: involve your team in the goal-setting process.
- Feedback: measure your progress and seek advice.
- Task complexity: be careful in adding too much complexity to your goals as it can impact morale, productivity, and motivation.
Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) framework for goal setting
- Objectives – This is what you hope to accomplish. Objectives usually take the form of broad goals that are not measurable (that’s what the Key Results section is for).
- Key Results – Based on objectives, the key results are almost always defined with a specific number.
11
Key Ideas
The Reason We Communicate
The essence of communication is to inform, influence, inspire, motivate, learn, socialize and build relationships. Communication makes possible persuasion, negotiation, and improve...
Improving Your Diction
Your style of speaking, or writing, choice of words while conveying your idea, or point of view are very powerful components in communicating with effectiveness and purpose.
The right word said the right way can make all the difference.
Increase Engagement
Your words need to be interesting both in terms of content (what is being said) and delivery (how it is being said) to be able to draw the people towards what you are trying to say.
9
Key Ideas
Winning A Lottery
Human beings are not wired to grasp the concept of probability. A chance of winning a lottery, sometimes 1 in 175 million, is not something that bothers us.
The Lottery ti...
The Steady Appeal of The Lottery
The steady appeal of the lottery is due to various psychological tricks by the marketers: suspension of logic and reason and the dreams that it sells.
Using the variable rewards concept of psychology, the marketers ensure that people keep buying their tickets for years, by introducing smaller wins with much better odds. This helped lottery buyers experience the thrill of a win.
Playing the Lottery for Entertainment
The odds to win are so small that winning does not even feature in our decision matrix of buying a ticket. The game of lottery isn’t played on logic, or for investment, but for entertainment.
For as little as two dollars, a person dreams of getting a chance to win thousands of dollars, and that dream is worth the price of the ticket. The bigger the jackpot is, the more the dreams are fed.