On Tina Turner and Goal Setting

In her famed song, Tina Turner asks, “What’s love got to do with it?”

Turns out, everything.

Let me share a sentence that may very well change your life: If you don’t love your job, you’ll likely never achieve meaningful goals.

The truth is, before you pull out your pen to jot down your first goal, you need passion for your profession. In other words, it’s highly probable that you won’t go after your goals if you don’t like what you’ll have to do to reach them.

We’ve all heard how important it is to delay gratification to be successful—that many folks set goals to achieve delayed, long-term benefits, such as a career advancement or improved health -- but it’s just as important to have immediate satisfaction as you go about the work of achieving your goals.    

And researchers at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business have proven this to be the case. In one study, they asked people about their goals and how enjoyable it was to go after those goals, as well as how important their goals were. They also asked subjects whether they were still working on their goals two months after setting them. The finding: enjoyment predicted people’s goal persistence two months after setting the goal far more than how important they rated their goal to be.

In fact, the researchers found this pattern—immediate benefits are a stronger predictor of persistence than delayed benefits—in goals related to fitness and nutrition. People who like running on a treadmill, for example, exercise longer than those who care more about the delayed health benefits.

And people who like the taste of vegetables eat more servings than those who think it’s good for their long-term health.

So, with this research in mind, how can you ensure you follow through with your goals? The researchers and I think these three items will help you:

1. Consider how much you’ll enjoy it when you reach your goals. So if your goal is to sell 300 homes in 2018, choose to-do items that you view as enjoyable and even fun. Sure, you’ll likely have some tasks that aren’t your favorites – maybe making phone calls – but if you work to make those calls more fun, you'll be much more likely to make the needed calls.
2. Think about immediate benefits as you work toward your goals. The University of Chicago researchers found that high school students worked longer on math homework when they listened to music, ate snacks, and used colored pens while working. Immediate benefits make the more difficult tasks seem more fun.
3. Seek out positive experiences while working on your to-dos that lead you toward your goals. The researchers found that people ate almost 50 percent more healthy food when they focused on the positive taste, compared with another group that focused on the health benefits.

The bottom line: love what you do. If you don’t, figure out ways to love it. It all comes down to doing what has to be done – and you’re a heck of lot more likely to do those tasks if you enjoy doing them.

Let me hear from you. What are your questions about goal setting? Are you doing all you can to make your to-do list more fun?