I asked Are goals necessary? a few weeks ago, before the current wave of New Year resolutions (which for many are their only attempt at setting goals). Recently Mark McClure came back with an interesting rephrasing of the question – “Are goals necessary but not sufficient?”
My own reflections since writing that post have concluded that goals are necessary, and I have been very poor at using them! Recent research by Professor Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire, looked at techniques people used for succeeding in last years resolutions. He found there were gender differences:-
Men were significantly more likely to succeed when they had been asked to set a goal for themselves: for example, instead of trying to lose weight, say by shedding a pound each week, they were told to focus on a measure of success, such as becoming more attractive to women.
Women were more successful when they [Read more…]
