The technique probably works so well because people learn better from observation.
Research reveals people’s biggest regrets in life.
Research reveals people’s biggest regrets in life.
People are filled with the most regret about not fulfilling their long-held dreams and goals, research find.
In comparison, people do not regret failing to fulfil their duties and obligations as much.
In the study, 72 percent of people reported experiencing regrets about not fulfilling their dreams, in comparison to only 28 percent regretting not fulfilling obligations.
Similarly, when asked about their biggest regret in life, 76 percent mentioned something that was related to achieving their ideal self.
One of the explanations could be that it is hard to live up to your dreams.
Doing something about your obligations is usually easier as the action is obvious.
Working harder to earn more, attending a funeral or donating blood are all uncomfortable, but the path is clear.
With dreams and aspirations, it can be difficult to know where to start.
It can also be difficult to find the courage.
Professor Tom Gilovich, the study’s author, has this advice:
“As the Nike slogan says: ‘Just do it’.
Don’t wait around for inspiration, just plunge in.
Waiting around for inspiration is an excuse.
Inspiration arises from engaging in the activity.”
Often what stops people following their dreams is worrying what others will think of them
Again, Professor Gilovich says other people care less than you think:
“People are more charitable than we think and also don’t notice us nearly as much as we think.
If that’s what holding you back — the fear of what other people will think and notice — then think a little more about just doing it.”
The study was published in the journal Emotion (Davidai & Gilovich, 2018).
The study involved over half-a-million Canadians who were paid to increase their step count over about six months.
The researchers used some neat tricks to change people’s perception of the task.
The researchers used some neat tricks to change people’s perception of the task.
People start a task sooner when they believe it is part of their present, research finds.
So, the key to avoiding procrastination is moving a task from feeling like part of the future to feeling like part of the present.
In the study, the researchers used some neat tricks to make people think a task was part of the present or part of the future.
In one, they gave some participants an assignment on the 24th of April, giving them five days to complete it.
Other participants were given the same five days to complete it, but were not given it until the 28th of April — so that the deadline fell in May.
People in the first group had the feeling the task was part of their present and so they were more likely to begin it.
Those in the second group felt it was part of May so were less likely to begin.
Remember, both groups had the same time — five days — so it was just the perception that caused some people to drag their feet.
Dr Yanping Tu, the study’s first author, said:
“The key step in getting things done is getting started.
If you never get started, you can’t possibly finish.
But that urgency, that need to actually work on a task, happens when that task is seen as part of a person’s present.”
The trick with starting any new project is to choose the easiest and/or most enjoyable part of it and do that.
Any way you can sucker yourself into starting will drag the task into your present and kick start your motivation.
The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research (Tu & Soman et al., 2014).
Although positive emotions feel better, negative emotions can be just as vital to our lives.
People with this personality trait tend to be self-disciplined and they aim for achievement.
People with this personality trait tend to be self-disciplined and they aim for achievement.
Making concrete plans is the key to achieving your goals, research finds.
Indeed, the habit of making concrete plans is a type of personality trait the researchers dub ‘planfulness’.
Planfulness is an aspect of the wider personality trait of conscientiousness.
In general, conscientious people tend to be self-disciplined and they aim for achievement.
People who are planful tend to agree with statements such as:
Ms Rita M. Ludwig, the study’s first author, said:
“There indeed appears to be a certain way of thinking about goals that correlates with long-term progress.
What’s new in this study is that we used an objective measure of goal progress that could be recorded as participants naturally went about their lives: their check-ins at a local gym.”
For the study, the gym attendance of 282 people was tracked over a 20-week period.
Participants also completed personality tests and other critical measures.
The results showed that people high in the planfulness tended to visit the gym more.
The more planful people were, the more they visited the gym.
Ms Ludwig said:
“This work is broadly informative for those who are curious about how people pursue health goals, including their own patterns of thought around goals.
Clinicians might find it helpful in understanding how their patients tend to think about goals and whether person-to-person differences in such thinking are related to outcomes.”
Plans didn’t necessarily need to be written down — in fact, there was no relationship between how detailed people’s plans were and how often they went to the gym.
Ms Ludwig said:
“It seems logical that people who are successful with their goals would be able to write in detail about their planning process.
We were surprised, then, to find no relationship between people’s goal pursuit behavior and how they wrote about their goals.”
The study was published in the journal Psychological Science (Ludwig et al., 2019).
Using an AI chatbot on a phone is like having a therapist in your pocket, available 24/7.
The mindset is beneficial in areas like education, creativity, long-term planning and behaviour change.
Coaches, psychologists and others in helping professions often use a problem-solving approach — but this has dangers.
It motivated 85 percent to continue with their gym programme when they were failing.
It motivated 85 percent to continue with their gym programme when they were failing.
Fear can be used as an excellent motivator for exercise, research finds.
When people imagine themselves getting fat and unattractive, they are more motivated to work out.
The results come from a study where half of 281 gym goers were asked to imagine an unattractive version of themselves they feared becoming.
Fear motivated 85 percent to continue with their gym programme when they were failing.
This is in comparison to only 65 percent pushing on when they were already succeeding.
Obviously success is one of the best motivators to continue, but when failing, fear can be a useful way of getting back on track.
Professor Brett Martin, study co-author, said:
“How consumers see themselves in the future has a strong effect on how motivated they are to keep using a product or service.
When people dwell on a negative future, fear motivates them, yet as they move away from their feared state – a flabby body, or a wrinkled skin – they become less motivated.
At that point, marketers should take advantage of another insight of our study – that of motivating people with a more positive outlook.”
The study also found that thinking positive worked best when people were already succeeding.
But, when people were falling short of their goals in the gym, thinking positive worked less well.
Professor Martin said:
“Once someone moves away from their “feared self” – in this case an unattractive body – because they are successful in the gym, they lose motivation, so highlighting thoughts of being unattractive is unlikely to work.
But at that point, as they become more positive in their outlook, good marketing will build on this and suggest they can do even better.
That type of motivation works for those with a positive outlook.
However marketers should also be aware that those who are thinking positively will become discouraged if they don’t see success.”
The study was published in the journal ACR (Sobh & Martin, 2007).
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