Succeed Ch. 1 Flashcards
is the phrase “do your best” a good motivator?
no, because it’s very vague
what kinds of goals produce the highest acheivement?
specific and difficult goals
why are specific goals effective?
they remove the possibility of settling for less
why are difficult goals effective?
they cause you to increase your effort, focus, and commitment to the goal
Locke & Latham difficult goals study
found if you give log haulers the goal of carrying a lot more trees, they carry a lot more trees
difficult goals and performance study
Federal employees who agreed with statements like “my job is challenging” had the highest rating on their annual performance reviews
succeeding at something hard vs. something easy
Succeeding at something hard is more pleasurable, gives greater satisfaction, and increases one’s sense of well-being
job satisfaction and difficulty
- In Germany, only those employees who felt their work was difficult reported increases in job satisfaction, happiness, and feelings of achievement over time
- Job satisfaction increases people’s commitment to their organization and confidence in themselves, which leads them to challenge themselves more
High-performance cycle (Locke & Latham)
setting specific, challenging goals creates a cycle of success and happiness that can repeat itself over and over
Abstract/why thinking
linking one particular small action to a greater meaning or purpose
effect of why thinking
When people think in why terms, their thoughts are more connected to their long-term goals, so they are less impulsive, less vulnerable to temptation, and more likely to plan their actions
what thinking
describing what you are literally doing
when is what thinking useful?
when you need to do something that is difficult, unfamiliar, complex, or takes a lot of time to learn
how does one’s type of thinking change with experience?
As we gain more experience doing something, it becomes easier for us to see it in more abstract ways
Wegner & Vallacher coffee cup and type of thinking study
asked experienced coffee drinkers to drink a cup of coffee and then rate how well each of 30 different descriptors fit what they had just done. 50% of participants drank out of a normal-sized mug and the other half drank out of a really heavy mug. They found that under normal conditions, they preferred why descriptions but under the heavy mug condition, they preferred what descriptions because the activity was novel.
