Setting Goals for Success

Noreen G. Tannagan
 2

The Importance of Goals



Bandura’s Self Efficacy



Dweck’s Mindset
 (growth vs. fixed)

Locke’s Goal Setting Theory


Importance of
Goals
Goals

Goals are the first step towards

‘Goals,’ as defined by Latham
planning for the future, and play a
& Locke (2002, p.705) are “the
fundamental role in the
object or aim of an action, for
development of skills in various
example, to attain a specific
facets of life, from work to standard of proficiency, usually
relationships and everything in within a specified time limit.”
between. They are the target at
which we aim our proverbial arrow.
 21 Importance of Goals
12. Goals have value only if they help you develop and
1. Goals create a road map for success.
improve yourself or others potential.
2. Goals are the targets toward which you point your life. 13. When you measure your goals progress, you stay on
3. Goals give you a starting point and a destination to track, you see your target dates and experience the
reach. excitement of achievement that will propel you to reach
4. Written goals help you to see where you are going, what your goals.
changes you need to make and if you are progressing 14. The secret to achieving your goals is to get started.
towards your prize. 15. When you set actionable goals make sure they are in
5. To achieve your life goals, you must make sacrifices, stay agreement with your overall vision.
committed, overcome challenges and work your plans. 16. A goal worth pursuing is not something that anyone
6. You will find as you set goals that are focused on God’s can easily talk you out of achieving.
vision the more you will grow and accomplish. 17. Defining your goals in writing impresses them upon
your heart and mind.
7. Goals help you focus your attention on your purpose and
18. Goals are reached one step at a time. 
make it your dominant aspiration.
19. When you commit yourself to your vision and
8. When you have a definite target it positions you for real express it in achievable goals, you provide yourself with
success. the motivation of where you are going and how you
9. A specific goal does not take you around in circles; it puts anticipate getting there.
you on a direct course of action. 20. Goals help you to determine priorities and direct you
10. Goal achievement requires a committed, concentrated to focus on what is important.
and consistent work ethic to make your dreams a reality. 21. Setting goals in the seven areas of life (spiritual,
11. The process of writing your goals helps you clarify what physical, financial, relational, social, professional and
you desire to do, understand the importance of pursuing mental) empowers you to live your vision with power.
them and commit yourself to making them happen.  
Bandura’s Self
Efficacy
Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura was born December 4, 1925, in the small town of Mundare in
northern Alberta, Canada.
He received his bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of British
Columbia in 1949
He went on to the University of Lowa, where he received his Ph.D. in 1952
In 1953, he started teaching at Stanford University.  While there, he
collaborated with his first graduate student, Richard Walters, resulting in their first
book, Adolescent Aggression, in 1959
Bandura was president of the APA in 1973, and received the APA’s Award for
Distinguished Scientific Contributions in 1980.  He continues to work at Stanford
to this day.
Albert Bandura is an influential social cognitive psychologist who is perhaps
best known for his social learning theory, the concept of self-efficacy, and his
famous Bobo doll experiments. He is a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University
and is widely regarded as one of the greatest living psychologists.
One 2002 survey ranked him as the fourth most influential psychologist of the
twentieth century, behind only B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget
 Self Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in
their ability to succeed in a particular
People with a strong sense
situation. Psychologist Albert of self-efficacy:
Bandura described these beliefs as • Develop deeper interest in the
determinants of how people think, activities in which they participate
behave, and feel. • Form a stronger sense of
commitment to their interests and
activities
Self-efficacy can play a role in not
• Recover quickly from setbacks
only how you feel about yourself, but
whether or not you successfully
and disappointments People with a weak sense
• View challenging problems as of self-efficacy:
achieve your goals in life. The tasks to be mastered
concept of self-efficacy is central to • Avoid challenging tasks
Albert Bandura’s  social cognitive • Believe that difficult tasks and
theory, which emphasizes the role of situations are beyond their
capabilities
observational learning, social
• Focus on personal failings and
experience, and reciprocal
negative outcomes
determinism in developing a
• Quickly lose confidence in
personality. personal abilities
 
 4 Ways to Build Self Efficacy
Physiological Performance
Feedback 04 Outcomes

Self 01
Efficacy
Verbal 03 Vicarious
Persuasion Experiences

02
 Performance Outcomes
According to Bandura, performance outcomes or past experiences,
are the most important source of self-efficacy.  Positive and
negative experiences can influence the ability of an individual to
perform a given task. If one has performed well at a task previously,
he or she is more likely to feel competent and perform well at a
similarly associated task (Bandura, 1977). 
 
     "Mastery experiences are the most influential source of efficacy
information because they provide the most authentic evidence of
whether one can muster whatever it takes to succeed. Success 
builds a robust belief in one's personal efficacy.  Failures undermine
it, especially if failures occur before a sense of efficacy is firmly
established" Albert Bandura (1997).
 Vicarious Experiences
People can develop high or low self-efficacy vicariously through
other people’s performances. A person can watch someone in a
similar position perform, and then compare his own competence
with the other individual’s competence (Bandura, 1977). If a person
sees someone similar to them succeed, it can increase their self-
efficacy. However, the opposite is also true; seeing someone similar
fail can lower self-efficacy. 

Witnessing other people successfully completing a task is another

important source of self-efficacy. According to Bandura, "Seeing
people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises
observers' beliefs that they too possess the capabilities to master
comparable activities to succeed."
 Verbal
Persuasion
According to Redmond (2010), self-efficacy is also
influenced by encouragement and discouragement
pertaining to an individual’s performance or ability to
perform.

Bandura also asserted that people could be persuaded to

believe that they have the skills and capabilities to succeed.
Consider a time when someone said something positive and
encouraging that helped you achieve a goal. Getting verbal
encouragement from others helps people overcome self-
doubt and instead focus on giving their best effort to the task
at hand.
 Physiological Feedback
People experience sensations from their body and how they perceive this emotional
arousal influences their beliefs of efficacy (Bandura, 1977). Some examples of
physiological feedback are: giving a speech in front of a large group of people, making a
presentation to an important client, taking an exam, etc. All of these tasks can cause
agitation, anxiety, sweaty palms, and/or a racing heart (Redmond, 2010). Although this
source is the least influential of the four, it is important to note that if one is more at ease
with the task at hand they will feel more capable and have higher beliefs of self-efficacy.

Our own responses and emotional reactions to situations also play an important role in
self-efficacy. Moods, emotional states, physical reactions, and stress levels can all impact
how a person feels about their personal abilities in a particular situation. A person who
becomes extremely nervous before speaking in public may develop a weak sense of self-
efficacy in these situations.

However, Bandura also notes "it is not the sheer intensity of emotional and physical
reactions that is important but rather how they are perceived and interpreted."
Dweck’s Mindset
(growth vs fixed)
Carol Dweck
Carol S. Dweck was born on October 17, 1946. She graduated
from Barnard College in 1967 and completed her Ph.D. at Yale
University in 1972.

Psychologist Carol Dweck is considered a pioneering figure in the

the study of human motivation. She is perhaps best-known for her
research on implicit theories of intelligence and
how mindsets influence motivation and success. According to
Dweck, people who hold an innate view of intelligence, or believe
that talent and ability are inborn traits, possess what is known as a
fixed mindset. Those who believe that intelligence, talent, and
abilities can be improved through effort hold what she calls a growth
mindset. Such mindsets can play a role in how people tackle
challenges and whether they persist in the face of setbacks
 Dweck’s Mindset
“Mindset” refers to implicit theories that individuals hold regarding the nature of intelligent behavior; to the
degree that individuals attribute intelligence to fixed traits, they hold a “fixed” theory of intelligence (that is, a
fixed mindset), and to the degree that they attribute intelligence to learning, effort, training, and practice, they
hold a “growth” theory of intelligence (that is, a growth mindset). The terms fixed and growth mindset replaced
the earlier terms for entity and incremental theories of intelligence.
 
Carol contrasts the two mindsets — fixed mindset and growth mindset in the following way:

Fixed mindset: Growth mindset:

“Believing that your qualities are carved in “In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is
stone — the fixed mindset — creates an just the starting point for development.
urgency to prove yourself over and over. If This growth mindset is based on the
you only have a certain amount of
belief that your basic qualities are
intelligence, a certain personality, and a
certain moral character — well, then you’d things you can cultivate through your
better prove that you have a healthy dose efforts. Although people may differ in
of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look every which way — in their initial talents
deficient in these most basic and aptitudes, interests, or
characteristics.” temperaments — everyone can change
and grow through application and
exercise.”
 
According to Carol, we
can differentiate the
fixed and growth
mindsets across a
number of dimensions
such as
Beliefs
Effort
Challenges
Mistakes
Feedback.
Locke’s Goal Setting Theory
Edwin Locke
Edwin A. Locke is Dean’s Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and
Motivation at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of
Maryland, College Park. He received his BA from Harvard in 1960
and his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from Cornell University in
1964.
He is internationally known for his research on goal setting. A
survey found that Dr. Locke’s goal setting theory (developed with
Gary Latham) was ranked #1 in importance among seventy-three
management theories and is generally considered to be the leading
theory of motivation in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.
Dr. Locke has been elected a fellow of the American
Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological
Science and the Academy of Management, and has received many
other scholarly awards. He has been a consulting editor for leading
journals.
 Goal Setting
Goal setting is the process by which we achieve these goals. The importance of
the goal-setting process should not go unappreciated, according to Locke (2019)
“Every person’s life depends on the process of choosing goals to pursue; if you
remain passive you are not going to thrive as a human being.”
 
Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1984) is based on the premise that
conscious goals affect action (Ryan, 1970) and that conscious human behavior is
purposeful and regulated by individual goals. Simply put, we must decide what is
beneficial to our own welfare, and set goals to achieve it.
Goal-setting theory is summarized regarding the effectiveness of specific, difficult
goals; the relationship of goals to affect; the mediators of goal effects; the relation
of goals to self-efficacy; the moderators of goal effects; and the generality of goal
effects across people, tasks, countries, time spans, experimental designs, goal
sources (i.e., self-set, set jointly with others, or assigned), and dependent
variables.
(Locke & Latham, 2006)
 
Locke’s 5 Principles of
Goal Setting
 Commitment
Commitment refers to the degree to which an individual is attached to the
goal and their determination to reach it – even when faced with obstacles.

For a goal to be motivating you must be committed to it. Goals will only be
motivating for an individual if they are accepted by the individual. One must
put deliberate effort into meeting this goal.

According to Locke & Latham (1990), goal performance is strongest when

people are committed, and even more so when said goals are difficult. Given
the commitment to a goal, if an individual discovers their performance is
below that which is required, they are likely to increase their effort or change
their strategy in order to attain it (Latham & Locke, 2006).
 
 Clarity
Set clear, precise and unambiguous goals that are implicit
and can be measured. When a goal is clear in your mind,
you have an improved understanding of the task at hand.
You know exactly what is required and the resulting success
is a further source of motivation.

For goals to be motivating they need to be clear and they

should be concise. A clear, measurable goal is more
achievable than one that is poorly defined. Ambiguity or
complexity reduce the ability of goals to be understood and
to be motivating. In other words, be specific!
 Challenge
Goals must be challenging yet attainable. Challenging goals can
improve performance through increased self-satisfaction, and the
motivation to find suitable strategies to push our skills to the limit
(Locke & Latham, 1990). Conversely, goals that are not within our
ability level will not be achieved, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction
and frustration.

We are motivated by achievement and the anticipation of

achievement. If we know a goal is challenging yet believe it is within
our abilities to accomplish, we are more likely to be motivated to
complete a task (Zimmerman et al., 1992).
 Task Complexity
Miner (2005) suggested that overly complex tasks introduce
demands that may mute goal-setting effects. Overly complex
goals that lie out of our skill level may become overwhelming
and negatively impact morale, productivity, and motivation.

The timescale for such goals should be realistic. Allowing

sufficient time to work toward a goal allows opportunities to
reassess the goal complexity, whilst reviewing and improving
performance. Even the most motivated of people can become
disillusioned if the task’s complexity is too great for their skills.
 Feedback
Goal setting is more effective in the presence of immediate feedback (Erez,
1977). Feedback – including internal feedback – helps to determine the
degree to which a goal is being met and how you are progressing.
 
Unambiguous feedback ensures that action can be taken if necessary. If
performance falls below the standard required to achieve a goal, feedback
allows us to reflect upon our ability and set new, more attainable, goals.
When such feedback is delayed, we cannot evaluate the effectiveness of our
strategies promptly, leading to a potential reduction in the rate of progress
(Zimmerman, 2008).

When we perceive our progress towards a goal as adequate, we feel capable

of learning new skills and setting more challenging future goals.
 
THANK YOU
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