Episode 184 - Tight and Loose Goals

<p class="p1"><strong>Summary</strong></p> <p class="p2">This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences. Could setting tighter goals make us more happy?</p> <p class="p3"> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Transcript</strong></p> <p class="p2">Welcome to episode 184 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences.</p> <p class="p2">People vary markedly in the way they set goals and where they focus their goals. In general though, tighter and clearer goals tend to be more effective than loose and general goals. A tight goal of exercising for 30 minutes each day is likely to be more effective than a loose goal of wanting to become more resilient. A tight goal of practicing giving presentations in weekly team meetings is likely better than a loose goal of wanting to become a better communicator. But the kinds of goals we set can vary over time and with our personality preferences.</p> <p class="p2">A 2020 study by researchers at the University of California tracked the goals of participants from when they started college to 20 years later. They also looked at the personality preferences of participants, the impact these had on the goals set, and how personality changed over time.</p> <p class="p2">The study found that personality changes impacted the kinds of goals people set. For example, participants whose levels of agreeableness, kindness and compassion increased placed more emphasis on family, relationship and social goals over time. Similarly, those who increased in responsibility, organisation and self-control placed more value on economic and family goals over time. This can help explain why our views of success vary so much - we value different things and set different goals.</p> <p class="p2">The researchers also found that people placed less emphasis on goals as they headed into middle-age, and believed this was due to people being