Here’s a tip to help you achieve your goals


Posted on September 29th, by Dr Rob Yeung . 1 Comment

Want to boost your commitment to your goals and achieve more?

Silly question, really. Because I’m sure your answer is “yes”.

Perhaps your biggest goal at the moment is to do with your work – getting a promotion, finding a new job, securing a pay rise, or reducing your stress levels, for instance. Or maybe your main goal is to do with your personal life – finding someone to date, losing weight, fixing a relationship or something else.

Many self-help gurus suggest that you should share your goals with other people. However, the latest research suggests that telling other people about your goals may not always be helpful.

In a series of studies, researchers led by Howard Klein at The Ohio State University found that telling other people about a goal was only helpful those people were high-status individuals.

The results of Klein’s experiments showed that participants in their studies were most motivated by sharing a goal with people they thought had higher status because they cared how those higher-status people would evaluate them.

In contrast, it did not help experimental participants when they shared their goals with people they thought had lower status. In fact, telling lower-status people was no more beneficial than keeping their goals to themselves.

So if you want to help yourself to achieve your goals, don’t just tell family members or good friends who love and support you in all circumstances. “The important thing is that you need to care about the opinion of who you are telling,” said the lead researcher, Howard Klein. You need to be just a little worried or at least concerned that you don’t want to let them down or have them look down on you.

Share your goals with people you admire, respect and feel just a little judged by.

So bear this in mind whether you’re pursing a professional or personal goal. You will only get the boost to your goal commitment and ultimate achievement when you share your goals with higher-status individuals whose opinions you value.





One Response to “Here’s a tip to help you achieve your goals”

  1. Brett says:

    Thank you Dr Rob

    I did a SWOT analysis on my communication effectiveness today, and I got the person who I thought knew best, to see over my results, rather than my friends or my boss.

    so this article feels very relevant. Thank you again. i appreciate your posts

    Kind regards

    Brett

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