It’s amazing the time we live in, especially with the type of technology that gives us radio programs to be listened to at any time we decide. Everything is more convenient than it used to be and information on so many topics and subjects is right at our fingertips. Ever too tired to read? Or maybe reading for long periods of time isn’t really your thing, but you still want to learn. Why don’t we get in to a podcast? They’re free and not at all difficult to access. You can actually, from your smartphone, find 300 chart topping choices at the click of a button, and the best part is they stream, which means it’s instantaneous with no download. Just pick and listen and maybe learn things like how to better accomplish goals.
Some smartphones come with a Podcasts app already installed. If not, it’s free in your app store. How convenient. If you’re seeking something to listen to, just open up the app, go to a section titled “Top Charts” (iPhone) and pick willy-nilly from those 300 top-rated choices. It’s a great way to turn away from a back-lit screen 30 minutes before going to bed. Pick a podcast, let it play and lay down for the night. Let that brain absorb a little bit more right before it shuts you down for the evening.
Listening one night you might come across a choice program on the subject of setting goals. It’s a Ted Talks podcast and in it is a section featuring Derek Sivers. You’ve always been under the impression setting goals and sharing them with others holds you accountable and if you put it out there and make it a reality now it means you definitely have to do it. But wait. Mr. Sivers has some information that is soon to change your perspective.
In 1933, there was a study that explained people who talked about their goals were less likely to “make them happen.” It was discovered when we share our goals, and someone validates us as if we’ve already accomplished said goal, we become subject to something called social reality. It all gets very complicated, but supposedly our brain may give us the same rush we’d get after completing a goal, as in when we say we’re going to do something or be something and it makes us feel good just by saying it. Social reality makes it real to our brain and so we lose the motivation to actually work towards the goal we decided to share with someone else.
But, we’d think to ourselves, “Hey, we’ve shared our goals with people before and it helps us network with others to find resources for accomplishment and it also holds us accountable to follow through.” This is completely true, but Sivers thinks there are two different ways of sharing our goals. One has to do with your identity. For example, if you say you’re going to be, say, a lawyer, a doctor, or a firefighter and you tell a friend and if that friend then validates your goal your brain hits you with a brain chemical, and you get that high feeling that subsequently drains motivation to actually work towards it. On the other hand, if you lay out all the reasons that you need to kick your own butt to even get into school or training to move towards these careers, the knowledge that you’re nowhere near becoming that person may motivate you to struggle harder. You have to state goals in a way that gives you no satisfaction, according to Sivers.
There was also a recent study conducted by Peter Gollwitzer in 2009. In our podcast, Sivers explained the study: in four separate tests, around 163 people announced a goal they had written down, and the other half kept it to themselves. The participants were then given 45 minutes to work towards their goal, but were told they could stop at any time. The participants that kept their mouths shut worked the full 45 minutes, but those that had shared their goals out loud stopped, on average, after 33 minutes.
It’s interesting to note there are different ways of sharing our goals, one with satisfaction and one without. Maybe the best way to share is by outlining what needs to be done, rather than getting that rush of social reality as if we’ve already done it. We could decide to believe reaching goals is more about the effort than the reward and by constantly setting goals we may avoid a dopamine (one of those brain chemicals) hangover. According to an article in the Huffington Post, by Thai Nguyen, we might avoid this hangover by creating new goals before achieving the current one. Nguyen recommends we set a series of little finish lines to get those little hits of dopamine to increase future motivation and productivity, rather than setting one big goal and getting one big hit that leaves us drained. He thinks it’s better to have many little celebrations.
Perhaps we believe giving 150 per cent to everything we do is a good way to keep up motivation and we continue to search for those little tips and tricks to help us work toward our constant goals, instead of focusing on reward. Even just taking the time to listen to something as convenient as a podcast can help change our perspective for the better. We live in a time where there is an abundance of information to help us become better individuals. So, maybe we should share our goals, maybe we shouldn’t, and maybe we just need share them in the right way. In the end, knowing is half the battle and that’s important information in a life so often lived in a rather large grey area we like to call being human.
