Get it Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation

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Ayelet Fishbach, PhD, is a psychologist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The former president of the Society for the Study of Motivation, she’s published over a hundred scientific articles, given talks around the world, and been featured in media outlets like the New York Times and NPR. Her research on human motivation won the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award. Table of Contents goals must be valuable and within reach (be on the right side of sunk-cost fallacy); action increases commitment So if you had vaguely thought of something like “excelling at your new job” or “getting more sleep” as your goal, try swapping that out for: “complete a work project by the end of the week” and “get eight hours of sleep every night.” If you want to start running, set a target like “run the next Chicago Marathon in under five hours.” First, frame it as the end in itself rather than a means to another goal. For example, say your goal is “finding a job” rather than “applying for a job.” You want your goals to be exciting – not a chore. Finally, think about times that you’ve been successful and unsuccessful in achieving your past goals. Thinking about successes is kinda easy, right? But we’ve all messed up at one point. I know I have. I’ve tried, I’ve failed, I’ve tried, I’ve failed again. So, how about learning from those failures? If you’re someone who struggles to lean into your mistakes, you’re not alone – but you are missing out on a bunch of important information.

Money, Business Culture, Non-fiction, Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognition, Productivity, Self-Help, Personal Development, Motivational, Economics, Inspirational Who is it for? Another guideline in choosing a goal with staying power is to frame it as something you intend to do (an “approach goal”) rather as something you don’t want to do (an “avoidance goal”). This type of approach doesn’t only apply to summiting a mountaintop. Each year over one hundred CEO’s in the S&P 1000 retire after reaching what can feel like a pinnacle in their career, leaving them feeling unprepared for the next phase. There are many problems with this book. The short review is that if you’d like a long lecture from a dishonest, uncreative, Liberal, Jewish-Puritan, this is the book for you. When you set a goal for yourself – especially if it’s one you don’t necessarily think is super fun to begin with, like work or exercise or vacuuming – you need to make sure you can find some fun aspect in it. Because if you’re having fun, then you’re intrinsically motivated, which in turn leads to success. There are, of course, exceptions. Like, what if you’ve been procrastinating on breaking up your relationship? It’s hard to find the fun in that. But keep in mind how it may make you feel in the long run. Maybe you’ll feel freer, maybe you’ll stop hurting yourself or your partner. So, in situations where it’s hard to find joy in a task, just remember why you want to do something and associate the positive outcomes with it in your mind.

Review

Ayelet Fishbach is theJeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing and IBM Corporation Faculty Scholar attheChicago Booth School of Business. The final, crucial ingredient to goal-setting is fun. I know. I just basically talked you through a bunch of homework you should do to get stuff done. And now I’m telling you to have fun, too?Bear with me. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain’s titular character notes that “work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” That is basically another way of defining intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is when you do something just because. Because you want to. Because you have fun doing it. Because it’s your dream. Because. Maybe there isn’t even a proper reason. It just feels good. fantasizing is fun but doesn’t generate action; fantasies about outcomes are largely ineffective tools for growth

So how do you motivate yourself to pursue your dreams and desires when life is in full swing? It all starts with choosing the right goal. relationships: understand the aspirations of people around you; make your desires known; share interests Dr. Fishbach has received several international awards, including the Society of Experimental Social Psychology's Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award, and in 2006, she received the Provost's Teaching Award from the University of Chicago. You could use it to your advantage, by, say, working in a public place like a café. And if you’re a bit of a hermit with lots of aspirations, there’s still hope. Because even a proxy for another’s presence, like a picture of a loved one or (this one’s a little bit creepy) of staring eyes, can help you put in the extra effort and inspire you to be your best self. Final SummaryConsider whether goals are "ought" goals—i.e., things you need to do—versus "ideal" goals—things you aspire to do, but aren't strictly necessary. Ideal goals are easier to frame as approach goals. Ideal goals are also more likely to tap into your intrinsic motivation. ( Read more about intrinsic motivation!) In addition, set your own goals. If you set the goal, then you have at least some amount of motivation toward achieving it! And so, here’s a little advice from the book: if you’re new to or uncertain about a commitment, try to stay motivated looking at it with a glass-half-full mindset. Trying to stay motivated and make serious progress in whatever you’re trying to achieve in life can sometimes feel like an impossible task. But it doesn’t have to be. There’s a simple fix – and it just so happens to be in your control. It all starts with changing your circumstances. Most importantly, you need to define your goals. You need to pay attention to maintaining momentum, stay focused when you’ve got a billion other things on your plate and get your friends and family involved. And when you make your behavior and environment work for rather than against you, your goal of getting that raise, or that strong healthy body, or that tax return form sorted, or that new language learned, will be yours in no time! i142855418 |b1160003006379 |dvlnf |g- |m |h2 |x2 |t0 |i2 |j70 |k220512 |n12-22-2022 00:45 |o- |a153.8 |rFIS Coming up with the goal is the easy part. The hard part comes with putting the goal into action and sustaining motivation during the slow or hard parts. To get over the agonizing middle when most goals fall flat, the author recommends these strategies:

Find ways to make the activity fun. If something is more enjoyable, it becomes intrinsically rewarding and much easier to accomplish. For instance, finding exercise and foods that you enjoy that help you towards fitness goals. If you don't enjoy something intrinsically, you will eventually avoid it and give up on it. Even the most dreary tasks can be livened up somehow. around others: you will conform without your knowledge; identify desirable and undesirable behavior Social isolation is so unnatural to humans that it's considered a harsh and often cruel and unethical punishment." pay attention and make the middle moments memorable when you want to give up; set subgoals; create landmarks When you find yourself facing a goal that's highly important, framing your progress based on what you haven't yet accomplished may be more motivating than thinking about what you've already done."great goals: are not proxies/means to other goals, are specific, have potential to fail, great incentives, intrinsic Professor Thaler: please note here that your colleague points out that your students would value quite highly an autographed book by you, even one that you start off by describing your reaction upon hearing that your friend has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. :( In her insightful new book Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation (debuting January 4 from Little Brown Spark), Fishbach takes on the questions that plague us most: In Get It Done, psychologist and behavioral scientist Ayelet Fishbach presents a new theoretical framework for self-motivated action, explaining how to: Daca pentru a atinge un obiectiv este nevoie sa faci ceva ce nu îți face plăcere este foarte puțin probabil să rămâi consecvent până la îndeplinirea obiectivului;

Role models are important figures in your life for your model is selling to whom you feel close into this place of qualities you'd like to see in yourself. ... you feel you have somewhat overlapping identities. You could potentially be like them, so they inspire you." Marie and Pierre Curie discovered two elements on the periodic table: polonium and radium. In 1903, the couple jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics. It was Pierre who insisted that Marie also be named, and Marie won a second Nobel Prize (this time in chemistry) on her own eight years later. Marie and Pierre Curie were able to make such incredible discoveries in part because they did it together. Their story tells us how two people can support each other’s motivation. I had this professor once who I really looked up to and they kept giving me these tasks that I didn’t think I was qualified for. And when I said, “Hey, I don’t think I can do this. I’ll probably need your help,” they said, “Jasmin, I wouldn’t give you these tasks if I didn’t believe you’d be able to do them and to do them well. I don’t want to see you fail. But I think you can do much more.” To this day, having a role model who believed in my abilities more than I did was the best motivator I could’ve asked for. I worked my butt off for that professor.A refreshing read and reminder of ways to get things done. Start with motivational methods and incorporate adequate support. “Trying to stay motivated and make serious progress in whatever you’re trying to achieve in life can sometimes feel like an impossible task. But it doesn’t have to be. There’s a simple fix – and it just so happens to be in your control. It all starts with changing your circumstances. Most importantly, you need to define your goals. You need to pay attention to maintaining momentum, stay focused when you’ve got a billion other things on your plate and get your friends and family involved. And when you make your behavior and environment work for rather than against you, your goal of getting that raise, or that strong healthy body, or that tax return form sorted, or that new language learned, will be yours in no time! With fascinating research from the field of motivation science and compelling stories of people who learned to motivate themselves, Get It Done illuminates invaluable strategies for pulling yourself in whatever direction you want to go—so you can achieve your goals while staying healthy, clearheaded, and happy. You’re more likely to detect a temptation when you make a decision that affects multiple occasions; we call this using a broad decision frame. If you decide in advance what to eat for lunch every day this month, you’ll probably choose healthier foods than if you decide on each lunch each day. Thirty lunch decisions are more consequential than one, so you’ll notice any self-control problems. P211 “As with all others in your life, your role model’s stated goals for themselves and others are going to motivated you even more than their actions. So you’ll want to choose a role model who doesn’t only do well, but also expects themselves and others to do well.” So when you’re setting goals, try defining them in terms of benefits, rather than costs. It’s better to aim for “finding a job,” rather than “applying for a job.” Achieving a goal is exciting; completing the means is a chore. 2. Find the fun path.