Today’s post is brought to you by Kanye West. In his song, Homecoming,
from the album Graduation, he raps about making his city of Chicago proud by
his entertainment success. The lyrics state, “Reach for the
stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.”
Goal-Setting
Theory
Mr. West’s advice is accurate according to researchers Edwin
Locke and Gary Latham and their research of Goal-setting theory. They reviewed over 400 laboratory and field studies
during a 25-year period and concluded that the harder your goal is, the higher
you will achieve.[1] Or
in other words,
So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.[2]
More simply put, “high goals lead to greater effort and/or
persistence than do moderately difficult, easy, or vague goals.[3]”
Framing &
Subconscious Priming
However, setting high goals is only one part of goal-setting
theory. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts where I explain how subconscious
priming and proper framing can help you achieve your goals.
[1] Edwin
A. Locke, Gary P. Latham, New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory, Association for Psychological Science, 2006, 265.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
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