Wolfy, you find the most interesting shit to ponder on Bro.
I liked this from the article:
Ian Newby-Clark, a professor of social psychology at the University of Guelph in southern Ontario, says the research is important because it exposes the limitations of earlier research by proving public commitment might actually "backfire" where issues of identity are concerned.
"Gollwitzer is saying that in certain conditions — probably a lot — people can actually become less active in their goal pursuit this way," says Newby-Clark. "And he's absolutely right."
Fuschia Sirois, an expert on goal attainment, suspects the effect is especially strong among individuals who express high levels of goal-commitment for the same reason insecure men often buy flashy cars: overcompensation.
"There can be a feeling that if you really express your desire strongly enough, you can get there, you can overcome the obstacles," explains Sirois, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Windsor.
"Those intentions may be compensating for actual belief that you can do it."
Intentions pale in comparison to actual belief! I feel this all the time in the gym. If I am going for a certain lift there is a definitive difference in how I breathe before it, how my grip feels on the bar, and the way my body uses all of its muscles together to properly pull it off when I truly BELIEVE I can do it.
On the ocassions when I have attempted things with false belief (aka INTENTIONS) my breathing is never as deep and focused, my grip on the bar is not as sure, and my form is usually less than perfect and I end up trying to compensate with momentum.
The difference between the two is NIGHT and DAY.
I too have thought on goals alot over the course of my life. I sat in as an analyst during a large insurance companies senior management retreat where they had just hired a new Executive Director. He was awesome. A brilliant, ruthless businessman. He laid out his take on GOALS and OBJECTIVES.
In his opinion, GOALS are something to strive for, they are the IDEAL, but they cannot ever be FULLY REALIZED.
OBJECTIVES are the means by which goals are pursued. They are the living processes of the business that allow a given department to get as close as possible to achieving their goals. As better processes are developed or current processes improved performances goes up, but there is still motivation for further improvement.
This kind of goes hand in hand with KAIZEN, the Japanese business philosophy of constant, incremental improvement. It worked quite well for this insurer. The staff was focused.
The hardest part about implementing a system like this is defining the metrics by which you will measure the efficacy/accomplishment of your objectives.
