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The psychology of goal setting

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Published 21 Feb 2024
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Updated 2 Sep 2024
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14min read
10-goals-for-HR-department-in-2016-employment-hero

One basic system exists by which animals and humans alike share, and that’s our instinctive drive to help us set and achieve our goals. On a primitive level, like animals, humans are driven by our goal to survive by finding food and seeking shelter. However, what we also have in common is the activation of the reward system. The creation and release of dopamine is a common thread in both species, reinforcing behaviours associated with goal attainment.

Another shared trait is our ability to learn from experience, with positive outcomes reinforcing behaviours and negative experiences contributing to adaptive learning.

We both possess the ability to adapt goals to changing environmental factors, prioritising immediate needs over long-term objectives. Social learning and imitation play roles in our goal setting, as well as observing successful strategies and imitating behaviours. It’s in our nature.

So, if this behaviour is so intrinsically ingrained in our behavioural make-up then why do we often struggle to follow through with plans and maintain motivation? What’s the secret code to setting goals that drive us forward towards success?

Join us in taking a look at how motivation works, how to challenge resistance, and how to hack your brain to help you and your team achieve your goals.

Goals and OKRs

Nature vs nurture: the tale of discipline and motivation

As we know, motivation (or lack thereof) is the catalyst for starting and continuing towards our goals. It comes from the desire to achieve our goals, passions or external rewards. It’s the mental stamina that gets us started on something new and keeps us going when things get tough – like when we’re 8 hours into that mound of timesheets on the desk and the payroll cut-off point is tomorrow. Welp!

Feeling motivated is one thing, but finding the capacity to accomplish and set tasks is another challenge altogether. The intersection of motivation and willpower is where action meets execution.

Then there’s discipline – the silver bullet. The ability to stick to our plans and stay focused, even when it’s tough. Discipline is about creating good habits and making choices that match our goals. It’s the steady effort we commit to on the regular. Even if it means dealing with short-term challenges for long-term success.

While self-discipline involves creating habits and routines that become automatic over time, willpower involves resisting short-term temptations to achieve long-term goals. One way to think about self-discipline and willpower is as complementary skills, the safety net to the days when our motivation may wane. Habit and discipline will be there to help us stick to our routines and edge us closer to our goals.

Below are a couple of strategies that could help you implement discipline and stick to your goals. We don’t know about you, but we think it’s pretty unrealistic to rely on the limited reserve of energy and motivation we have to get us through the long slog. So we’ve compiled these simple steps to help you build a fool-proof routine.

Make good habits second nature

Establishing consistent routines minimises daily decision-making, and preserves our energy for more critical tasks. Whether it’s spending 30 minutes clearing our inbox and catching up on admin first thing so we can focus on the tasks that move the needle without distraction later on, routines help conserve mental resources. Think about scheduling time as a team to walk through the boring admin tasks.

Tackle important priorities or least favourite tasks first

We hate to break it to you but do the hard thing first. Despite good routines, fatigue sets in by the end of the day. By taking care of your most dreaded tasks and priorities in the morning, you can give them your optimal attention. It’s called eating that frog, and we’ll cover it again a little later. Share your frogs and how you plan to meet them as a team each morning, and hold yourself accountable for your goals.

Empower your team to say N-O

Saying “yes” to everything that’s asked of us drains our motivation and energy. We can free up mental energy for more meaningful work by focusing on the things that matter to us and our goals (people-pleasers we’re looking at you!). It’s a challenging skill, but an essential one for overall productivity and happiness.

Why do we struggle to commit?

No, we’re not talking about your ex here. We’re talking about that looming deadline you’ve procrastinated on for too long because you didn’t feel emotionally invested or aligned with the outcome. Picture this – you’ve been lacking in discipline and routine and haven’t put any steps in place for how or when you’ll get things done. Next thing, d-day is around the corner and you have simply got to get this task done, and your cortisol is through the roof. It starts to feel overwhelming, and any morsel of motivation you have quickly dissipates.

…Just us then?! Alrighty. 

If not, here’s some good news. It’s all in your head.

Hear me out for a second. Psychologists have pinpointed three main sources of resistance to productivity, and what they have found is that how you perceive a task significantly influences its completion.

So how can we recognise when these factors come into play in our thinking and use them to our advantage and boost motivation? Let’s start by looking at the three most common types of resistance.

The “I have to” mindset

When we’re forced to do something, our brains naturally resist because it goes against our need for freedom and autonomy. This pressure creates inner conflict, making us push back against the task. The brain’s fear centre becomes triggered, leading to a stress reaction and therefore a defensive response. Being compelled to act by an external force can create negative frustration and resentment. As humans, we’re wired to avoid losses, and being forced feels like losing control, intensifying our resistance.

When it comes to management and goal setting, external rewards or punishments for tasks can backfire, diminishing our intrinsic motivation. Essentially, our brains resist when we’re forced because it clashes with our need for autonomy. Understanding this resistance helps in designing approaches that foster cooperation and positive engagement.

The “I don’t feel right about this” mindset

Tasks or goals misaligned with our values will naturally lack our emotional commitment, which is a one-way ticket to demotivation. If what we are tasked to do clashes with our values and beliefs, our brain experiences discomfort and conflict, known as cognitive dissonance. If there’s a mismatch between our values and our actions, pursuing goals that feel wrong triggers negative emotions, affecting our motivation and the brain’s reward system.

Our intrinsic motivation is higher when goals align with our values. The amygdala, which is responsible for emotional processing, plays a role in determining whether a goal feels right. As humans, we’ve got a natural inclination to protect our values and maintain emotional wellbeing. Understanding this can help in aligning goals with values for increased motivation and engagement.

The “I can’t do this” mindset

Blame it on the constant barrage of how “successful” our peers seem to be when we scroll through Linkedin but it’s safe to say that we or someone we know has fallen victim to imposter syndrome at some stage.

When it comes to goal setting, imposter syndrome can hinder our motivation and drive. When we tell ourselves “I can’t do this,” our brain resists due to self-doubt and fear of failure. This belief activates the brain’s fear centre, making the task seem overwhelming and leaving us hyper-fixating on our potential failures. This then leads to avoidance altogether because, after all, we’re hard-wired to avoid perceived threats. Acknowledging this tendency helps in combating resistance to tasks perceived as challenging and can empower us to develop determination.

Now that we’ve identified some of the common areas in which we experience resistance to motivation and action, let’s take a quick look at some of the ways that we can use simple tools like repetition and visualisation to reinforce a new perspective. By reframing negative thoughts or challenges, individuals can transform their mindset and increase their motivation to take action.

How to conduct virtual brainstorming sessions with your remote team

Neuro-linguistic programming and goal setting

Simply put, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) refers to a set of tools and techniques that help people improve how they think, behave, and communicate. It explores the connections between our thoughts (neuro), language (linguistic), and actions (programming).

NLP offers practical ways to overcome challenges, change unwanted habits, and enhance personal and professional effectiveness. It often involves strategies like visualisation, positive language use, and understanding how our minds create patterns. Essentially, NLP is a user-friendly approach to better understand and influence our thoughts and behaviours for personal growth and positive change.

So, let’s reframe some of the common areas of resistance as discussed above and apply some of the principles of NLP to help us overcome them.

“I have to” Reframe it

Reframe the mindset from “I have to” to “I choose to” or “I get to.” Recognise that you are making a choice to pursue a particular task, emphasising the benefits and positive outcomes. This reframing empowers you, reducing the sense of obligation. A common example of this technique being used day-to-day is when we are trying to reframe exercise as something we have the privilege of doing, and that our body is healthy enough to enjoy, instead of a chore.

“I don’t feel right about this” Align with your values

Start by aligning the task with your values where possible. Identify aspects of the task that resonate with your core values or find a way to connect them to a higher purpose.

By establishing a meaningful connection, you can reduce internal conflict and enhance motivation. For example: an employee is hesitant about taking on a new project that requires significant overtime, as it conflicts with their value of spending quality time with family. Identifying the long-term benefits, such as being able to take 2 weeks annual leave, or work a shorter work day at the end of the project can help realign the task with their values.

“I can’t do this” Anchor and visualise

Start by creating positive anchors associated with past achievements. An easy way to do this is by recalling instances where you overcame challenges.

Grab a notepad and jot them down. Next, introduce an anchoring technique, such as associating a physical gesture, or external stimulus with confidence, to trigger a positive state of mind. A common example of this used by successful business leaders is using the superhero pose before public speaking engagements, key-note speeches or presentations. Check out Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on the topic here for more. 

Although it may seem ‘airy-fairy’ to some, visualisation can be a powerful way to boost confidence and motivate yourself towards achieving your goals.

Applying these NLP techniques can help shift our mindset, align tasks with values, boost confidence, and create positive associations with productivity, ultimately overcoming resistance to achieving our goals.

Engaging your reward system – your brain on dopamine

Discoveries from the Journal for Experimental Psychology found that an achievable goal should be just the right amount of challenging to trigger an emotional connection but not too lofty that it becomes overwhelming. Why does this matter? Sparking an emotional investment is the secret sauce to get your brain excited about chasing a goal.

Make your goal too easy, and you risk boredom. Make it too hard, and you might find yourself overwhelmed and frustrated. The key is to set a goal that’s challenging yet within reach.

Enter Andrew Huberman, neuroscientist and Stanford professor known for his work in the field of neuroscience. He’s a rockstar in understanding how our brains function and perform. His podcast, The Huberman Lab, delves into the captivating world of goal-setting psychology and biology.

Huberman shares a golden rule: Aim for a goal that is 85% achievable. When learning something new, hitting the mark around 85% of the time is the sweet spot. Leave about 15% for trial and error – a space where mistakes are allowed, your wiggle room. Keep your goals challenging but don’t build yourself a mountain. Let’s make your brain’s reward system dance with achievable yet exciting goals!

So where does dopamine come into the equation?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in pleasure, motivation, and learning. With rising numbers of ADHD diagnoses you’ve likely heard of the role dopamine plays when it comes to motivation. Interestingly, one behavioural neuroscientist discovered that rats with lower dopamine levels weren’t willing to climb a small fence to get to a larger pile of food, compared to rats with higher levels of the hormone.

Low levels of dopamine can impact executive functioning, making estimating time, starting boring tasks, planning, and prioritising tasks difficult. These are all important elements of setting and achieving goals that can be harder with ADHD.

That said, the entire human population can reap the rewards of high levels of dopamine, and finding “hacks” to help your brain release this wonder hormone can help to increase motivation and drive, regardless if you have ADHD or not.

Understanding the role of dopamine in goal setting provides insights into the brain’s reward system and how it influences motivation and behaviour. Think of your brain as a race car and the dopamine is Lewis Hamilton – it drives you forward towards your goals. It does so by:

  • Increasing motivation and reward
  • Providing positive reinforcement to your brain when you achieve your goals
  • Boosting your focus and attention
  • Helping us to build habits

If you find yourself feeling a little lacklustre, and in need of an afternoon motivation boost, there are a couple of simple ways you can “hack” your reward system and increase dopamine. That includes listening to music, completing small yet incremental tasks, nourishing your brain with a high-protein breakfast, and ensuring you are getting enough sleep and getting enough movement throughout your day.

Notebook with the word 'goals' written in big letters on the front page

Breaking down your goals

Eat that frog!

Staring at a massive goal can be really overwhelming, we get it. Not knowing where to start leads to quickly getting bogged down in small details. Next thing, you’re paralysed by terror and indecision, putting a real halt on productivity and motivation when it comes to achieving that goal.

Remember when we talked about how setting small achievable tasks can help to activate our reward centre? The same simple tactic applies when we feel overwhelmed with work. The answer? Break massive goals down into smaller, more digestible ones.

As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Setting smaller goals is also a great way to keep motivated when we’re slogging away at a long-term goal that requires input across the organisation. Reaching smaller personal or team milestones allows us to get a quick boost of dopamine every time we complete them, allowing us to maintain our motivation long-term.

That’s why setting individual and team OKRs that contribute to the wider success of your team can have a lasting positive impact on motivation. Using HR software like Employment Hero, you can publish and share your company-wide OKRs with your team to ensure everyone has visibility over their impact. You can learn more about how to set OKRs here.

We often think of multi-tasking as the ultimate way to be productive, that doing more things will get more done, but recent studies show the opposite. Multi-tasking can waste time since you’ll need to refocus your energy and attention several times as you switch from one activity to another.

In his book ‘Eat That Frog! Brian Tracey illustrates how humans are more successful when they implement laser focus and give 100% to a single task, completing it from start to finish, that this is the real key to high performance and productivity.

It’s normal to feel drowned in work, but when you learn to “eat your frogs” – meaning do your most important tasks first – you’ll work more efficiently, and be happier too.

We’ve got the salt and pepper at the ready.

Habit stacking

Habit stacking is a concept that has recently gained popularity through the work of author James Clear’s “Atomic Habits,”. Despite the recent uptick in conversation, habit stacking isn’t an entirely new concept, and was previously coined by S.J. Scott, who released “Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness“.

Habit stacking involves integrating a new behaviour into an existing routine by associating it with a habit you already perform consistently. The idea is to “stack” the new habit on top of an already established one, making it easier to adopt and maintain into our ‘flow state’ – or what we might call unconscious autopilot.

In the context of psychology and goal setting, habit stacking aligns with several principles that contribute to success:

Routine association

Habit stacking relies on the principle of associating a new habit with an existing cue or routine. This association leverages the power of triggers, making it more likely that you’ll remember to perform the new behaviour consistently.

Behavioural consistency

By integrating a new habit into an existing routine, habit stacking promotes behavioural consistency. It taps into the psychology of repetition and routine, reinforcing the desired behaviour over time.

Reduced cognitive load

The approach minimises the amount of mental effort or working memory associated with a task. Instead of relying solely on willpower and conscious effort, habit stacking embeds the new behaviour within familiar activities, making it more automatic and less mentally taxing.

Incremental progress

Habit stacking supports the idea of making small, incremental changes. By building on existing habits, individuals can introduce manageable adjustments to their routines, contributing to the achievement of larger goals over time.

In essence, habit stacking is a practical strategy rooted in behavioural psychology. By incorporating this approach into the goal-setting process, we can enhance our likelihood of success by making positive behaviours an integral part of our daily lives.

Here are five examples of how you can implement the above principles in goal-setting at work.

  • Morning goal setting:
      • Existing habit: Checking emails or starting work.
      • New habit: Setting daily goals.
      • Habit stack: Before diving into emails or work tasks, take 5 minutes to set your daily goals. This habit aligns with your morning routine and helps prioritise tasks for the day.
  • Meeting preparation:
      • Existing habit: Scheduling meetings.
      • New habit: Setting objectives for each meeting.
      • Habit stack: When scheduling a meeting, take an extra 2 minutes to outline the specific objectives or goals for that meeting. This habit enhances productivity and focus during meetings.
  • End-of-day reflection:
      • Existing habit: Closing down the computer.
      • New habit: Reflecting on achievements and planning for the next day.
      • Habit stack: Before shutting down your computer, spend a few minutes reflecting on what you accomplished during the day and setting priorities for the next day.
  • Lunch break learning:
      • Existing habit: Taking a lunch break.
      • New habit: Learning something new related to your job.
      • Habit stack: During your lunch break, dedicate 15 minutes to learning something new in your field. This habit contributes to ongoing professional development.
  • Communication enhancement:
    • Existing habit: Responding to emails.
    • New habit: Checking in with a team member or colleague.
    • Habit stack: Before responding to emails, make it a habit to check in with a team member or colleague. This strengthens communication and relationships within the team.

These habit-stacking examples integrate goal-setting practices seamlessly into existing work routines, making it easier for individuals to consistently work towards their professional goals.

Gamify goal setting

Another way to maintain motivation is to gamify goal setting by assigning points to tasks, and unlocking rewards as you progress. This is super important when it comes to keeping teams engaged. By visualising achievements with charts or virtual game boards, and by breaking goals into challenges and levels, we can make mundane goal setting more engaging and enjoyable.

Check apps like Habitica and Todoist that help add a gaming dimension to daily productivity, habit formation and task management.

Celebrate every milestone

A recent trend that has blown up on Tiktok involves creators who have chosen to buy themselves something fizzy, a couple of bottles of Moet, or nosecco if they usually opt for low or no alcohol, and tag the bottles with each of their goals. Each time they achieve said goal, they can pop your bottle of champagne and celebrate!

This is a super simple, novel yet effective way to create excitement and reward around goal setting. You could choose to buy a voucher for your favourite pizza place, or tickets to see your favourite show!

Celebrating milestones in goal setting is vital for motivation and psychological wellbeing. Recognising achievements provides positive reinforcement, boosts confidence, and creates momentum. Regular celebrations combat burnout, fostering a resilient mindset. By attaching positive experiences to goals, individuals stay motivated and committed to their pursuit, enhancing overall goal attainment.

Employment Hero client Tedaisy has found just that when they introduced Employment Hero as a way to boost recognition and make it part of their regular rhythm.

Navigating the intricate dance between motivation and willpower is essential for SME business owners, managers, and HR professionals. The challenge lies in translating motivation into actionable results and understanding our psychological motivation behind goal setting. By establishing solid routines, and good habits and strategically managing our cognitive load, we can enhance productivity and empower ourselves and our teams for sustained success.

How can Employment Hero help?

We help teams like yours to embrace continuous feedback and create a positive culture to match. Build your team’s route to goal using company-wide OKR setting, shoutouts and updates. Create a team at the top of their game and fulfil big career ambitions.

For more information on how to streamline the way you manage your workload visit Employment Hero.

Claire Kelly
Employment Content Specialist - Employment Hero
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