ok, so AVOID BEING EMOTIONAL when creating resolutions for the new year. Really think them thru – what do you want, how will you make them succeed and are they a good fit for YOU?
WSJ – By ANGELA CHEN Updated Jan. 1, 2014 9:47 p.m. ET
“Goal factoring,” a method of designing better plans, is one of the techniques taught by the Center for Applied Rationality, which hosts three-day workshops that teach attendees how to use science-based approaches to achieve goals. A November workshop in Ossining, N.Y., instructed 23 participants on how thinking about one’s future self as a different person can help goal-setting and why building up an “emotional library” of associations can reduce procrastination.
New Year, New Strategies
Here are three exercises used at the Center for Applied Rationality’s workshops to help people be more rational with their decisions
Goal Factoring
- Determine whether an action is the most effective way to achieve a goal. For example, going to the gym every morning may not be a realistic way to manage stress if you’re not a morning person.
Pre-Hindsight
- Use emotions to evaluate how likely you are to succeed at a goal. Imagine that, six months from now, you have not achieved your goal. The level of surprise you feel at this outcome is a good predictor of whether you will actually succeed.
Structured Procrastination
- Acknowledge procrastination as somewhat inevitable and procrastinate by doing something else productive. For example, procrastinate on starting an assignment by going on a walk or cleaning the house.
Learn more at http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303453004579290510733740616
Chez Froggie 