Goal Setters Often Delude Themselves
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Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — When you’re trying to achieve a goal and think you’re doing a good job at it, don’t be too quick to give yourself a pat on the back.
Researchers from the University of Colorado and Texas A&M University say that too often, people tend to delude themselves into thinking that they’re doing much better than they really are.
Some of examples of this occurring, say Margaret C. Campbell and Caleb Warren, are when you diet or try to save money. Essentially, human nature involves giving more significance consistent with one’s beliefs.
After looking at seven studies in this regard, Campbell and Warren say the tendency of people is to overestimate how well they’re doing on the way to achieving weight loss or saving money and to downplay setbacks.
That might explain why, for instance, people abandon exercise programs when they don’t see much results. The frequent reason for that is people think just because they’re working out, they should be able to eat whatever they feel like.
This is called “progress bias” and it often prompts people to quit working towards a desired outcome before they should.
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