How Focusing on Short-Term Benefits Can Help You Achieve Long-Term Goals
As we think about the cash goals for 2019 , one of your key considerations should be the small steps you can take every day or week to get where you want to go.
At Fast Company, Becky Kane explains that it is so difficult for people to achieve their long-term financial goals, such as saving for retirement, because our brains are not programmed to do so. She writes:
In practical terms, when you think of yourself in a month, a year, or a decade, your brain registers that person in the same way it would register Taylor Swift, the postman or lady driving the next lane. So saving for retirement is the neurological equivalent of giving out money to someone else.
This is not entirely news, although the important thing here is that it means that some of the steps behavioral economists have taken to encourage people to save, such as showing them their own photographs as they age, are unlikely to be effective if you still don’t. this. I don’t think of this person as myself.
So, if our brains are more or less opposed to our long-term best interests, what can we do to get around it? We crave instant gratification from doing something in days or a week, not a year. So, one powerful step is to focus on making short-term goals easy stepping stones to achieving long-term goals. “Whatever your long-term goals — getting in better shape, starting your own business, writing a book — thinking about your deadline in terms of days, not months or years, can help you understand how close the future really is. writes Kane.
If your long-term goal is to save more in a Roth IRA, for example, then a weekly or monthly savings goal you know you can cross out will help you achieve that goal and in the meantime make you feel happier and more successful. …
By taking it one step further, you can rethink what you are doing in terms of immediate gratification. Kane uses the writing of his article as an example of how this might work:
I’m going to focus on the sense of accomplishment that I’ll feel in just four hours, where I no longer have to feel guilty about not finishing what I put off for so long that it started to feel like a shivering acne in my stomach. every time I think about it.
This is important because the process of achieving goals is as important, if not more important, than crossing the goal off the to-do list. Take this example (which Kane notes) from Caitlyn Woolley of Cornell University and Ayelet Fischbach of the University of Chicago, who study goals and the people who achieve them:
In one study, we asked people on the Internet about their goals at the beginning of the year. Most people set goals for themselves to obtain delayed, long-term benefits, such as a promotion, debt repayment, or better health. We asked these people how enjoyable it was to achieve their goal, and how important their goal was. We also asked if they were still working on their goals two months after they were set. We’ve found that pleasure predicts a lot more about people’s resilience to a goal two months after setting it than how important they feel about their goal.
Researchers have observed these results for a variety of purposes including fitness, healthy eating, and education.
Woolley and Fischbach recommend that people consider pleasure in the activities they choose to achieve their goals. It may seem obvious, but immediate gratification is what will get you moving on. So find a workout activity that you really enjoy, or find a way to save money that you find interesting.
Then, according to the researchers, try adding more immediate benefits. “We found that high school students worked longer on a math assignment when they listened to music, ate snacks, and used colored pens as they worked,” they write. “By making it more enjoyable, listening to music while exercising, or working at your favorite coffee shop, you can persist in achieving your goals.” Just because you are working towards something does not mean that he has to feel like he is working all the time.
Finally, think about the benefits of immediate gratification as you work towards your goal. If you are saving, check your account balance and enjoy your progress. If you’re trying to get in shape, take the time to notice when five-pound weights no longer seem so difficult.
“We found that people ate nearly 50 percent more healthy foods when they focused on positive taste, compared to the other group that focused on health benefits,” they write. “When you’re pursuing a goal, seeking out a positive experience — as far as it suggests — can help your persistence.”
We have written for a long time about the need to take small, sequential steps to achieve certain goals. This applies to exercise, writing, playing the piano , etc. , as well as money. As you look into 2019, think about the small steps you can take now that will bring you the most satisfaction.