How To Set Your Goal, Know About the Goal Setting Theory

Motivation

The term “motivation” refers to the underlying factors that operate behind the scenes to activate, direct, and sustain behaviour through time. In psychology one studies how biological, psychological, and social factors work together and form the basis of our motivation. To accomplish a goal, motivation is crucial.

These are a few of the explanations for why people are motivated to finish one activity but unmotivated to finish another.

These include: –

• Drive Theory – This theory suggests that organisms by birth have certain psychological needs that are needed to be fulfilled as the unfulfillment of this need creates a state of tension to reduce that tension the organism is motivated to fulfill those needs and once the needs are fulfilled the organism reaches a state of homeostasis.
• Arousal Theory – This theory suggests that people are motivated to those activities or show that behavior that increases their arousal.
• Expectancy Theory – This theory states that an individual is motivated to do a task only when they see it has some positive result in it.
• Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory – According to Maslow people are motivated to fulfill some needs and these needs are to be fulfilled at a hierarchical level.

Goal Setting Theory

• This theory’s major attention focuses on how cognitive factors work for our motivation rather than drives or arousals.
• The central idea of goal setting theory is that people accomplish more when they have a concrete goal to achieve.
• Goal setting theory works best in some situations.
• The goals should be highly specific, attainable, and challenging in nature.

• People who receive feedback for accomplishing their goals are more likely to complete that task.
• Those who are truly and deeply committed are the ones who reach their goal.

Types of goals

• Short-term goals – These are those goals that we want to achieve or do in the near future.
• Long-term goals – This includes those goals that we want to accomplish in the future and this requires proper planning and time management.
• Lifetime goals – These are those goals that we want to accomplish over our lifetime.
• Health and fitness goals – These are those goals that are related to our fitness and health. Here a person sets physical objectives that are then challenged and conquered.
• Educational goals – These are those desired changes in behavior and knowledge that are needed to be achieved after the completion of specific training or course.
• Family goals – These are the joint goals that all the family members together try to accomplish.
• Finance goals – These goals include ways in which one can save money and how to spend their money.
• Business goals – These are the targets of an organization that they want to achieve in the near or far future.
• Career goals – This includes the ideal state where want to see themselves in their job sphere.
• Personal goals – One can use these guidelines while establishing long- or short-term objectives for oneself, their family, or anybody else.
• Personal Development goals – These are those objectives that one wants to achieve in order to see the changes they desire in their personality, attitude, aptitude, etc.
• Experimental goals – These are the objectives that are needed to be accomplished during an experiment.

Benefits of goal setting

• Increases focus, clarity, interest, and attention.
• Provides a meaningful purpose because when we set goals we have our priorities we have a sense of what things are left to accomplish and hence we work accordingly.
• Doing tasks on time and accomplishing various goals provides mental satisfaction.
• As an individual keep achieving goals they feel confident in themselves.
• When one achieves a goal the feeling of achieving feels rewarding and it motivates us to make new goals and achieve them.
• The setting of goals helps us to prioritize our plans as per our benefit and as per the time left to fulfill that plan and this helps in proper time management of each and every task.

Demerits of setting a goal

• Decrease in motivation if the goal is too hard to accomplish.
• Time-taking process.
• Creates conflict between goals.
• The temptation to set easy goals.
• Raised expectations from oneself.
• Increase in Mental pressure if not able to achieve goals as expected.
• High disappointment if not able to achieve.
• Addicted to achieving goals.
• Disability to determine priorities

Five Golden Rules

One should bear in mind the five golden guidelines before creating any goals.

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time Bounded

1. Setting up that motivates you.
2. Setting SMART goals i.e;
3. It is advisable to write out one’s objectives.
4. Designing an action plan as per the goals
5. Sticking to the action plan.

Factors that influence the attainability of goals

• Health – Being physically active will keep our body both physically and mentally healthy which on the other hand will keep us motivated and active to achieve our goals.
• Personal Growth – When people get to see their personal growth they feel more motivated to attain more goals as achieving goals acts as positive reinforcement.
• Social Relationships – Healthy social relationships will create a sense of responsibility and emotional support will be provided in achieving goals.
• Image – Sometimes when people want to create an image of themselves that they desire or they create an image in front of others this motivates them to accomplish goals that help them for the same.
• Family – Having a supportive family will facilitate us to achieve our goals. A supportive family also works as a support system for the individuals.

Areas where setting goals can be beneficial

• Finance – Helps in saving and investment of money.
• Business – Helps to attain various objectives and prosper in business.
• Relationship – Helps to build healthy relationships.
• Job – Helps in achieving high levels in the job.
• Studies – Helps in keeping studies on track.
• Personal Growth – Helps in developing attitude, aptitude, perception, and knowledge.
• Spiritual Growth – Helps in attaining spiritual goals.

Conclusion

Despite goal-setting’s many benefits and effectiveness in motivating people to complete tasks, one should not ignore its limitations and drawbacks. The objective in itself is an art and one needs to master it in order to set SMART goals that are in actual beneficial for growth.