Setting goals that are too difficult or too easy
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 8:40 am
We all give in to our egos sometimes. And there's nothing wrong with that if we want to satisfy some of our primary needs with a goal. However, a real goal that will motivate us in the long run should not be based solely on ego.
Here's an example: let's say you want to earn a certain amount of money. That's a typical example of a goal that comes from the ego. Have you ever asked yourself why you need that money? Do you want to buy something? Pay off a debt? Treat your loved ones to something nice? That's a better goal. So, let's not just want to "earn money," but let's want to earn it so that we can treat ourselves to something nice. Money is just a means to an end - not an end in itself.
I remember when we were studying this topic in my second year of psychology. Science has long proven that goals that are too easy or too difficult don't actually help us be productive. Goals that are too greece whatsapp data easy are easy to achieve, and achieving them doesn't bring with it a great sense of accomplishment. On the other hand, goals that are too difficult tend to be abandoned at the outset, often with the excuse: "Well, it was too hard anyway!"
If our goal is too complex, we need to break it down into smaller parts. It's like standing at the foot of a huge mountain that we have to climb – slowly, section by section. If we constantly think about how high the peak is and how it will take us forever to climb the mountain, it won't have a very positive effect on our motivation.
When we have too many goals
Sometimes it simply happens that we set too many goals. With the best of intentions, we want to "cover" as many areas of our lives as possible and set several goals in each of them. In the end, we end up overloading ourselves with them and starting to multitask . No matter how much we think we can "juggle" multiple goals - we are wrong. We often then get stressed because we are trying to achieve them all, and we cannot focus on any one of them. That is why it is wiser to set fewer goals, because then we are more sure that we will have a better focus on them.
If you have more than five goals, it's time to review them. Do you need to achieve all of them? Are they all equally important to you? Can you eliminate some or combine two goals into one?
Here's an example: let's say you want to earn a certain amount of money. That's a typical example of a goal that comes from the ego. Have you ever asked yourself why you need that money? Do you want to buy something? Pay off a debt? Treat your loved ones to something nice? That's a better goal. So, let's not just want to "earn money," but let's want to earn it so that we can treat ourselves to something nice. Money is just a means to an end - not an end in itself.
I remember when we were studying this topic in my second year of psychology. Science has long proven that goals that are too easy or too difficult don't actually help us be productive. Goals that are too greece whatsapp data easy are easy to achieve, and achieving them doesn't bring with it a great sense of accomplishment. On the other hand, goals that are too difficult tend to be abandoned at the outset, often with the excuse: "Well, it was too hard anyway!"
If our goal is too complex, we need to break it down into smaller parts. It's like standing at the foot of a huge mountain that we have to climb – slowly, section by section. If we constantly think about how high the peak is and how it will take us forever to climb the mountain, it won't have a very positive effect on our motivation.
When we have too many goals
Sometimes it simply happens that we set too many goals. With the best of intentions, we want to "cover" as many areas of our lives as possible and set several goals in each of them. In the end, we end up overloading ourselves with them and starting to multitask . No matter how much we think we can "juggle" multiple goals - we are wrong. We often then get stressed because we are trying to achieve them all, and we cannot focus on any one of them. That is why it is wiser to set fewer goals, because then we are more sure that we will have a better focus on them.
If you have more than five goals, it's time to review them. Do you need to achieve all of them? Are they all equally important to you? Can you eliminate some or combine two goals into one?