The following insights on the subject of ‘Goals’ are derived from listening to NPRs ‘Hidden Brain‘ podcast. The show is one of my favorite podcasts that uses science and its host, Shankar Vedantam’s unique storytelling skills to reveal hidden patterns that drive human behavior.
A while back i was listening to a particular episode on Goals and how they can affect our behavior. I found the information interesting enough for me to log some of the insights for posterity’s sake.
I recommend listening to the podcast but in case you are short of time, here are a few key takeaways from the episodes on Goals
- Almost achieving a goal, leads to a higher motivation level for the next goal. For example the feeling you have when a few numbers on Lottery ticket match the winning number
- Most of us tend to move faster as we get closer to our goals
- We tend to be more altruistic towards others goals, helping them achieve it
- Its important to use the funnel approach for motivation i.e.wider perspective as we start and as we get closer to our goals we should start limiting our focus on fewer things
- Beware that our brain can’t differentiate between winning and almost winning. This may lead to losses when gambling or feeling you are succeeding when you actually aren’t
- How you feel about our success is relational to whom we compare it to – those ahead of us or those behind. You can check this Interesting research on medal winners
Listen to the show if you are interested in behavioral science