The Importance of Flexibility in Goal Setting

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Timothy Stanley: Outcomes do matter, but the goals to get there need to be flexible. We've learned a lot about about the flexibility of goal setting on this show. While it's good to have specific goals, it'sGood to be very, very intentional. It's important to think about where you want to interject processes into your story - even when safety isn't central to your task. And because humans are bokwe we cannot perform perfectly all the time. Hardly, you know, ever can we perform perfectly so it's good for us to have structure that supports our failures.

Processes decrease our cognitive load and increase our productivity. On Behavioral Grooves we have talked with out guests a lot about habits and routines, but not so much about the processes behind them. In this bitesize episode we discuss the psychological benefits of using processes and how you can leverage them in your life.

To illustrate the use of processes to achieve different outcomes, we are joined by both a practitioner and a researcher on this episode. Joseph R. Keebler is a Researcher and a Professor of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. He has done some really amazing work on the use of processes and checklists for improving performance.

Our practitioner guest is Peter M. Krask, who is an artist and coach based in New York City. Peter helps people maximize their creative and non creative output. By tapping into processes, he will share how processes from one aspect of our lives can be used to help us work through new and unfamiliar tasks in other parts of our lives.

Topics

(3:29) How processes reduce our cognitive load.

(7:38) You can use the same process but get a different outcome.

(14:50) Being intentional creates better processes.

(16:50) Flexible goals are motivational.

(20:14) Summary of what we’ve learnt.

Links

Joseph R. Keebler, PhD: https://faculty.erau.edu/Joseph.Keebler

Peter M. Krask: https://www.petermkrask.com/

PMK Creativity Guide: https://www.pmkcreativityguide.com/

Episode 128, Wendy Wood, PhD: Habits, Productivity and Being Gentle with Yourself: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/covid-19-crisis-wendy-wood-phd-on-habits-productivity-and-being-gentle-with-yourself/

Episode 232, Katy Milkman: How to Make Healthy Habits that Actually Last: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/katy-milkman-habits-that-last/