Goal Setting theory of motivation is considered to be one of the most effective theories of motivation. We all need to stay motivated to go about the business of doing whatever it is that we do in our lives. But, more than anyone else, it is us – bloggers and struggling writers – who need to keep our motivation levels high in order to achieve success in our chosen field. How can we do that?
One way is to apply the goal setting theory to our writing.
The goal setting theory is simply about setting goals for our writing. But we already do that, what is so special about this theory? This theory says that our goals should have four essential qualities:
1. Specificity: The goal should be specific. We always say, “I am going to write more,” or “I will be writing a book this year,” or something like that. But what we should be saying instead is, ” I will be writing for one hour every day,” or “I will be finishing one chapter of the book I am writing every week,” or something else like that. Having specific goals makes them attainable.
2. Complexity: The goal should not be too difficult, nor should they be too easy. When a goal is too difficult, it is easy to give up. When it is too easy, it simply is not challenging enough. Sometimes we set ourselves the goal of writing a whole book, when, in the past, we might not have written even a long enough story. At other times, we might be satisfied with our blogging alone. Both these goals are not good enough to keep up our motivation levels high. We need to come up with something that is challenging enough and yet attainable.
3. Foreseeable Future: The goal should not be set for a very distant period of time. For example, setting a goal for the whole year will not be as effective a motivator as a goal set for a week or a month. When we see ourselves achieving our goals, we are motivated to continue on that path, and achieve more of our goals.
4. Measurable: Lastly, and this is closely related to specificity, the goal should be measurable. After we have achieved our goal, we should be able to measure what we have achieved against what we had set out to achieve. If there is something we need to change, we can. If not, we can continue achieving our goals as we did in the past.
Happy goal-setting!
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