How setting long term goals can damage our motivation
Scientific litsketch on boosting motivation
Thinking about rewards you get immediately rather than rewards you get in the future has been shown to be much more effective in increasing effort and grit (Woolley and Fishbach, 2017). When we set long term goals such as achieving academic success or improving health and fitness, we often think about how important those goals are or how achieving those goals can change our life. We often believe that thinking about these long term, future rewards can help us to be more motivated. However, the research found that focusing on these long term rewards does not help much. But rather, thinking about immediate rewards such as how enjoyable and fun, engaging or interesting the process of working toward the goal is helps to sustain effort much more effectively.
The research surveyed people about their different goals like improving health, saving money, learning something new etc. Next the survey asked for their immediate rewards like how enjoyable and engaging the pursuit of goal is, and their future rewards like how useful and important their goal is.
The more people thought about their immediate rewards of pursuing a goal, the more successful and persistent they have been working toward the goal. But thinking about future rewards did not help much.
When you have big dreams that you want to achieve, try to focus your mind on how fun and enjoyable the process is (immediate rewards) rather than focusing on how important your dreams are (delayed rewards). For example, think about how much you enjoy a workout, eating vegetables, or reading a textbook rather than how important becoming healthy or successful is.
Focusing on the immediate rewards over delayed rewards will give you stronger fuel. Do not be anxious about tomorrow. We are a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes. So find the joy in what you do now.
Woolley, Kaitlin, and Ayelet Fishbach. "Immediate rewards predict adherence to long-term goals." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 43, no. 2 (2017): 151-162.