Categories

One of the goals for all of us should be to, as much as possible, maximize the diversification of interests, skills, and opportunities in each of our portfolios.

…goals have a dark side. They point to numerous negative consequences of goal setting, several of which interfere with rational quitting behavior.

…while goals do help us to be grittier, grit isn’t always a virtue… [it’s] good for getting you to stick to hard things that are worthwhile, but grit also gets you to stick to hard things that are no longer worthwhile.

The pass-fail nature of goals impedes your progress because it stops you from starting things for fear of being unable to complete them.

As soon as you set a goal or a target, you put yourself immediately in the losses, at least in relation to your distance from the goal. As soon as you cross the finish line, you are now short of the finish line.

Progress along the way should count for something, but we discard it because goals are pass-fail, all-or-nothing, yes-or no. There’s no partial credit given.

Altogether, the pass-fail nature of goals can impede progress, cause escalation of commitment, and stop us from considering the progress we make along the way as success.

Goals work, but sometimes they work to the point where they make us ignore clear signs that the goal is not worth continuing to pursue.

When a goal is all-or-nothing, your choices are essentially not to start or stick to the goal no matter what.

Exacerbating the pass-fail problem is that once we establish a goal, we rarely revisit it. Goals tend to be set-it-and-forget-it. The finish line doesn’t move.