A Guide to Goal Setting
By Lathitha Ndudula
Researchers have found a formula for goal setting and effective learning: the ‘Eighty Five Percent Rule’. The SMART goal-setting framework is still useful, and will also be covered within this article.
Goals play a very important part in the learning process. The ‘Eighty-Five Percent Rule’, a goal-setting methodology outlined by researchers in a 2019 article, states that a task has to have 85% success rate and a 15% failure rate for effective learning to take place. This allows you to stay motivated to do better while still feeling confident enough in your abilities and not quitting.
How you can use the ‘Eighty-Five Percent Rule’
This rule does not only apply to the success and failure rates of a task but also to the effort that is put into a task. It was also found that putting 100% of your effort into a task does not yield the best results and that only putting 85% of your effort in, thereby allowing yourself a 15% margin of error, worked best. This not only alleviates most of the pressure but also produces the best quality work.
This rule can be used in goal setting by purposefully setting a goal that you know you will only have an 85% rate of completion. Or by allowing yourself to not put all your effort into one task and only putting 85% of your effort into a task. This will ensure that you don’t burn out because you are allowing yourself to breathe.
SMART Goal Setting
This is a concept that we have all come across before and its popularity is not without merit. The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
According to studies done on goal setting it has been found that goals that are specific and challenging lead to better results than easier, non-specific, “do your best” goals. Instead of simply saying, “I want to read more,” say, “I want to read 12 books this year”.
You should also ensure that your goals are measurable so that progress can easily be tracked. Continuing with the above example, reading 12 books is an example of a measurable goal as it has a specific number that can be tracked.
Your goals should also be achievable. This does not mean that your goals must not be challenging, but that they should be within reason.
It is also very important to set realistic goals that you will be able to achieve given your skill level, time constants, and resources. Because setting a goal to read 120 books in a year when you are not an avid reader is not realistic, it is better to start small at 12 books in a year.
Lastly, your goals should also be time-bound for completion, which helps to motivate you to complete your goals in a timely manner. Using the above example, reading 12 books in a year is time-bound as there is a clear timeframe for when the goal must be completed.
By using these strategies to set goals you will not only become more likely to achieve your goals but also to stay motivated.