WHY WE SHOULD ALL GIVE UP ON GOALS ALREADY

“Amanda Ruggeri investigates why a focus on outcome alone can create a hamster wheel mentality”

By: Amanda Ruggeri

Published: 20 November 2017, BBC, http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171117-why-we-should-all-give-up-on-goals-already

Level of Difficulty:** This is a difficult level 2

BEFORE YOU READ
 ·   If you want to achieve your goals, don't focus on them: Reggie Rivers at TEDxCrestmoorParkED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2PP3p4_4R8

QUESTIONS

1.       Read down as far as the first subtitle “Chasing Outcomes” and answer the questions:

·         The trouble with single mindedly trying to achieve goals is that…

·         The desire to achieve your goals at all costs can have a negative impact on the way you try to achieve your goals in that it…

·         Most people’s goal is to get a well paying job, a car, a house, a family, a summer house and the like. What is the problem with these goals?

·         What does “the latter” refer to in the phrase “our ambitions often focus on the latter”?

2.       Read the section titled “Chasing Outcomes and answer the questions:

·         Why does Robbins believe it is a mistake to trust your life to a 20 year old? Because he doesn’t have the wisdom to decide if….

·         What exactly is being criticized in The Bhagavat Gito? The fact that….

·         The example of the weight loss diet and that of the participants who missed a savings goal prove that…

3.       Read the section titled “Blinders On” and answer the questions:

·         What conception concerning the nature of goals has been proved wrong by Freund and other researchers? Establishing………targets is the right thing to do because you can…..

·         Read the example of the 5% increase in market share. What is strange about the outcome? People ……..instead of ……….This happens because strange as it may sound….

·         Read the example of the call center. What exactly does it prove? Be brief.

·         My current goal is to get my teaching assistants to publish lesson plans they themselves prepared in the form of an article. When do I tell them this is their goal?

-          After they have learnt how to make lesson plans

-          After they have successfully completed their lesson plans

-          Right at the beginning before they start

·         In a film involving a sales team, the sales reps were told the most successful person would get a bonus. The sales target is an almost impossible one. One sales rep however, slips Ipeca, a drug that induces vomiting, into another rep’s coffee preventing him from working. What conclusion can be drawn from this example?

4.       Read the section titled Creativity Crush and answer the question:

·         Why can rewards prevent creativity and problem solving?

5.       Read the section titled “One Direction” and answer the questions:

·         Consider the following examples and decide who has the right approach to their goal of seeing the country?

-          Traveler A is on a cycling holiday in Austria. The tour and destinations are mapped out. Hotels are booked at each stop along the route and luggage travels ahead and is ready for you at each hotel.

-          Traveler B sets of driving around Scotland. He stops whenever he likes, spends as much time as he likes wherever he stops and stays wherever he likes.

-          Traveler C goes on a tour to Spain. The tour is seven nights and eight days. There is an itinerary and a tour guide.

·         Picture two Buddhist monks who, after a long journey, wind up on top a hill overlooking a valley. The young monk asks the older one “What now? What was the point of the journey?” The older monk replies “There is no point. This is it”. What is the reason for his answer?

·         The fact that “The people who had had the least extraordinary lives were the ones who had managed to adhere closest to their plans indicates that:

-          Setting a goal and working towards it keeps people out of trouble

-          Setting a goal and sticking to it is what society expects of people

-          Setting a goal and sticking to it may not always be a good idea

-          Setting a goal and working towards it guarantees people stay focused

·         What does “it” refer to in the sentence “But it can be more freeing and fulfilling”?

WRITING TASK

Use all you have read to write an essay discussing the effects of setting goals.

WHY WE SHOULD ALL GIVE UP ON GOALS ALREADY; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

In a world where everyone is obsessed with achieving their ‘goals’ it should be interesting to study a text which outlines the pitfalls of a life which completely overtaken by trying to achieve goals. The arguments presented in the text should give students a lot of food for thought. Make sure to leave time for discussion. The essay task should ideally be done in class but could be assigned as homework if there are time constraints.

1.       The answers to the questions on the first section:

·         We get so emotionally attached to a goal we are setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment.

·         Kills your creativity, makes you more likely to cheat and less likely to thrive

·         These goals are not necessarily their own ambitions but what they think they should do.

·         Buying a bigger house and focusing on career

2.       The answers to the questions on the section titled “Chasing Outcomes”:

·         The goals he sets will improve his life or not

·         We are in a spiral of trying to find out the next thing to keep us in action.

·         Focusing on the outcome may make you even less likely to meet it.

3.       The answers to the questions on the section titled “Blinders On”:

·         Nice, easily attainable / shield yourself against the negative effects of slipping up

·         Slack off / trying to go further / easy goals can also limit us

·         Corporate incentives boost performance but employees also become more likely to cheat.

·         After they have successfully completed their lesson plans. After all, they have done the most difficult part but they still have to prepare it for publication by writing the article.

·         People can end up taking shortcuts when it comes to ethics

4.       The answers to the question on the section titled Creativity Crush

·         Because they can transform an interesting task into a drudge / Because they can turn play into work

5.       The answers to the questions on the section titled One Direction:

·         Traveler B

·         He was prioritizing the journey

·         The third

·         Living with fewer goals and purpose