Thanks for the recommendation =)

Made to Stick is on my Amazon “Someday” wishlist, but it seems like I never
have enough time to read all the books on it ;)

Thanks for the recommendation =)

Made to Stick is on my Amazon “Someday” wishlist, but it seems like I never
have enough time to read all the books on it ;)

I think you're absolutely right – those of us committed to personal development tend to believe strongly in goal setting and we WANT the apocryphal Harvard study to be true.

This fits nicely into Chip and Dan Heath's “Made to Stick” (you've probably read it – if not I'd suggest picking it up). For the PD community, the Harvard study is “sticky” the same way that the urban legend of the “Kidney Heist” or the story of poisoned Halloween candy is.

Thanks for your comment!

You know, I am surprised that the Harvard 3% study still exists as such a
strong force in the personal development writing and blogs – but part of me
still has a hard time letting it go, especially when I know that
anecdotally, the people who I know with set goals (written or not) are so
much more accomplished than others I know who have no direction or goals

A self fulfilling prophecy of sorts I guess!

Thanks for your comment!

You know, I think you bring up an interesting point that is probably on a
lot of other people's mind as well – discounting emotions seems like it may
be something I should look into more. Maybe I don't listen to my emotions
enough – or maybe I am swayed by my emotions, and just rationalizing that I
made the choice based on logic and reason (something I know I've done in my
past, and that psychologists have found to be a common phenomena)

Thanks for the food for thought – and you're right, emotionally if we don't
have any desire for a particular future, we may not be happy with it no
matter how hard we try to reason it was the “right” decision!

Thanks for your comment!

You know, decision making really is one of the hardest things for me as
well. Like you, once I am heading down a certain path I am able to
(usually!) maintain my enthusiasm and motivation, keeping in my that a
payday may be far down the road.

Its especially difficult when my gut reaction disagrees with the research
I've done – like you I let it simmer for a few days and hopefully come up
with a decision I'm happy with ;)

Thanks for your comment!

I think you make an excellent point – that analyzing, while it may “feel”
like it slows us down, can actually speed things up by showing us where we
are making mistakes – or where we may be heading in a different direction
than we intended.

I think that's a great point, and a good analogy. Truth be told, my writing
does tend to center more on “climbing the ladder” – but you're absolutely
right, I am taking it for granted that the ladder is against the right wall,
and that may not be the case for everyone (even me).

Thanks for the comment! Making decisions based on consequences absolutely
makes sense to me – it's sometimes difficult for me to predict what the
consequences may be ;)

Excellent distillation of the process in analysis driven PD. To me, this approach is essentially applying the scientific method (across it's entire spectrum) to the circumstances surrounding personal growth.

On a side note – the Harvard 3% study….I had not read your post before, but about 9 months ago went through nearly the exact same process! I started by reading both of McCormack's books – only too realize he doesn't make this reference. This led to some substantive internet research (with primarily the same results you described).

I find the touting of this study quite interesting. It's one of those fascinating examples of how a supporting “fact” can be picked up in literature of an industry and spread virally so that it becomes commonly accepted. I happen to believe that Brian Tracy is responsible for this particular nugget – with others then jumping on the bandwagon.

Thanks for detailing your personal journey on this blog – I find it helpful and intriguing.

Cheers,
Miche :)

To answer your question, I am very goal driven. I think it helps to stay motivated if you keep you eye on the prize. I'm good at maintaining motivation too because I have more than one trick cup my sleeve to keep me focused on doing the same thing for a long period of time.

Decision-making is a tough one though. Sometimes it's easy and I follow my gut. Other times careful research and advice are needed before a decision can be made. Occasionally decision-making can be agonising and that's when it's best not to make any decisions at all but leave it a few days or weeks and see how things pan out!

Thanks for sharing your ideas. Keep up the great writing!

I can vouch for this type of development, because I know all about personal development which has no analysis involved, and it lacks any pinpointing of what worked best. It takes way longer to find out what you are doing right if you aren't analyzing the steps of it, speed of parts of the process, or the response. Seeing as how leaving analysis out is a pretty weak way to go, this makes a good case for analysis driver personal development.

Trial and error driven experiments are ones I would agree as enjoyable to talk about after they are done. Find me a person who doesn't learn something from trial-and-error methods and I'll show you a blue 3-leaf clover.

Great links to past articles here as well.

I like the emphasis on scepticism and experience but just think it needs to be part of a bigger picture. For me if personal development doesn't increase compassion and awareness it isn't worth bothering with – but these are my values and research on improvement won't lead to them (at least not directly).