Picking The Right Goals by Brian Johnson “We have found that when it comes to happiness—our own and others’—all goals are not created equal. Looking over the research, we were intrigued to find that the psychologists Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan conducted a series of studies on goal setting. They found that the more participants held goals and values related to financial striving, the less happy they were, even controlling for the likelihood that they would achieve what they were aiming for! In contrast, the more participants had goals and values related to relationships, community, self-acceptance, and personal growth, the happier they were. We believe that this study makes an important point: happiness comes not so much from achieving your goals as from having the right ones.” ~ Craig & Marc Kielburger from Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World The research on this is truly fascinating. Check out the Note on Edward Deci’s Why We Do What We Do where we go into detail on the power of intrinsic vs. extrinsic goals. For now, know if you disproportionately focus on extrinsic goals like fame, wealth and beauty, you will be less psychologically stable than if you focused on intrinsic goals like relatedness, growth and contribution. (And that’s whether you think you’ll achieve your extrinsic goals or not!!) So, let’s pick the right goals. P.S. Focusing on shifting from Me to We is a good goal.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 22:23:22 +0000
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