SETTING GOALS

FOR
SUCCESS
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
⮚ Understand the theoretical underpinnings for
how to manage and care for the different
aspects of the self

⮚ Acquire and hone new skills and learning for

better managing of one’s self and behaviours

⮚ Apply these new skills to one’s self and

functioning for a better quality of life
 INTRODUCTION
⮚ Students are bound to face multifarious tasks, overlapping with other
roles they portray at different social institutions.

⮚ Enlightening them with which goals they are to track would ease
their minds in possible dilemma.
 SETTING GOALS FOR SUCCESS
Why should students set goals?
⮚ Setting a goal obligates an individual to take action, regardless of
the obstacles
that may be in place. As such,
it can encourage students to
develop critical thinking skills,
new problem solving techniques,
and a better understanding of
how to overcome issues.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOALS
1. The Importance of Goals
⮚ Setting goals helps trigger new behaviors, helps guides your focus and
helps you sustain that momentum in life. Goals also help align your
focus and promote a sense of self-mastery.

⮚ In the end, you can't manage

what you don't measure and
you can't improve upon something
that you don't properly manage.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOALS
⮚ According to Locke & Latham, conscious goals affect action, thus, a goal is
the object or aim of an action.

⮚ A college student’s academic goal is to fulfill the course requirements and

pass all the examinations to graduate on
time for the length of the program
he/she is taking. Goals affect
performance through four mechanisms
(Locke, 2002):

1. Directive Function
2. Energizing Function
3. Persistence
4. Action
 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOALS
Goals affect performance through four mechanisms:
1. Directive Function – they direct attention
and effort toward goal-relevant
activities and away from goal
-irrelevant activities.

2. Energizing Function – high goals lead to

great effort than low goals.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOALS
Goals affect performance through four mechanisms:
3. Persistence – when participants are allowed to control the time they spend on a
task, hard goals prolong effort.

⮚ Faced with difficult goal, it is possible to work

faster and more intensely for a short
or to work more slowly and
less intensely for a long period.

4. Action – it affects action indirectly by

leading to the arousal, discovery and/or
use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies.
 
 SELF-EFFICACY
2. Albert Bandura’s Self Efficacy
⮚ Albert Bandura – is an influential social cognitive psychologist who is
perhaps best known for his social learning theory, the concept of
self-efficacy, and his famous
Bobo doll experiments. He is a Professor
Emeritus at Stanford University and is widely
regarded as one of the greatest
living psychologists.

⮚ One 2002 survey ranked him as the

fourth most influential psychologist of
the twentieth century, behind only
B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud,
and Jean Piaget.
 SELF-EFFICACY
⮚Self-Efficacy beliefs are an important aspect of human motivation and
behavior and they influence the actions that can affect one’s life. Self-
Efficacy, as Bandura (1995) explains, “refers to belief in one’s
capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required
to manage prospective situations.”

⮚More simply, self-efficacy is what an individual believes he/she can

accomplish using his/her skills under certain circumstances.
 SELF-EFFICACY
⮚ Self-efficacy has been thought of as a task-specific version of self-
esteem.

⮚ The basic principle of Self-Efficacy Theory is that individuals are more

likely to engage in activities for which they have high self-efficacy and
less likely to engage in those they do not.

⮚ People behave in the way that

executes their initial beliefs; thus,
self-efficacy functions as a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
 SELF-EFFICACY
People with high assurance in their capabilities:

1. Approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered.

2. Self challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to

them.

3. Heighten or sustain their efforts in the face of failures or

setbacks.
 SELF-EFFICACY
People with high assurance in their capabilities:

4. Attribute failure to insufficient

effort or deficient knowledge
and skills which are acquirable.

5. Approach threatening situations

with assurance that they can
exercise control over them.
 SELF-EFFICACY
People who doubt their capabilities:

1. Shy away from tasks they view as personal threats.

2. Have low aspirations and weak commitment to

goals they choose to pursue.

3. Dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles they will

encounter, and all kinds of adverse outcomes, rather than
concentrating on how to perform successfully.
 SELF-EFFICACY
People who doubt their capabilities:
4. Loosen their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties.

5. Are slow to recover their sense

of efficacy following failure or
setbacks.

6. Fall easy victim to stress and

depression.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
Four (4) Main Sources of Efficacy Beliefs
(Bandura, 1997)
1. Mastery Experiences – it is also known as personal performance
accomplishments;
are the most effective way to
create a strong sense of efficacy.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
⮚ POSITIVE EXAMPLE: If an individual performed well in a previous job
assignment, then they are more likely to feel confident and have high self-efficacy
in performing the task when their manager assigns them a similar task. The
individual’s self-efficacy will be high in that particular area, and since he/she has a
high self-efficacy, he/she is more likely to try harder and complete the task with
much better results.

⮚ NEGATIVE EXAMPLE: If an individual experiences a failure, he/she will most

likely experience a reduction in self-efficacy. However, if those failures are later
overcome by conviction, it can serve to increase self-motivated persistence when
the situation is viewed as an achievable challenge
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS

2. Vicarious Experiences – these are done through

observance of social models that also influence one’s
perception of self-efficacy.
The most important factor that
determines the strength of influence
of an observed success or failure on
one’s own self-efficacy is the degree
of similarity between the observer
and the model.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
⮚ INCREASE IN SELF-EFFICACY EXAMPLE: Mentoring programs,
where an individual is paired with someone on a similar career path who
will be successful at raising the individual’s self-efficacy beliefs. This is
even further strengthened if both have a similar skill set, so a person can
see first-hand what they may achieve.

⮚ DECREASE IN SELF-EFFICACY EXAMPLE: Smoking cessation

program, in which, individuals witnessing several people’s failure to quit,
may worry about their own chances of success, leading to low self-efficacy
for quitting; or a weight loss program in which others do not achieve the
results you are hoping for.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
3. Verbal or Social Persuasion – it is a “way of strengthening
people’s beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed.”
When it is effective in mobilizing a
person to action, and their actions
lead to success, the enhanced
self-efficacy may become more
permanent. It is influenced by
encouragement and discouragement
pertaining to an individual’s performance
or ability to perform.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
⮚ POSITIVE EXAMPLE: A teacher telling a student: “You
can do it. I have confidence in you.” Using verbal persuasion
in a positive light generally leads individuals to put forth
more effort; therefore, they have a greater chance at
succeeding.

⮚ NEGATIVE EXAMPLE: A teacher saying to a student:

“This is unacceptable! I thought you could this task,” can
lead to doubts about oneself resulting in lower chances of
success.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS

4. Emotional and Physiological States – the state a

person is in will influence how he/she judges self- efficacy.
Stress reactions or
tension are interpreted as
signs of vulnerability to poor
performance whereas positive
emotions can boost confidence
in skills.
MAIN SOURCES OF EFFICACY BELIEFS
⮚ PHYSIOLOGICAL FEEDBACK EXAMPLE: Giving speech
in front of a large group of people, making a presentation to an
important client, taking an exam, etc.

⮚ All these tasks can cause agitation, anxiety, sweaty palms,

and/or a racing heart. Although the source is the least
influential of the four, it is important to note that if one is
more at ease with the task at hand he/she will feel more
capable and have higher beliefs of self-efficacy.
 CAROL DWECK’S MINDSET
3. CAROL DWECK’S MINDSET
⮚ CAROL DWECK - is an American psychologist. She is the Lewis and Virginia
Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her work
on the mindset psychological trait.

⮚ She found that we all have different beliefs

about the underlying nature of ability.
Children (and adults) with a growth mindset 
believe that intelligence and abilities can be
developed through effort, persistence, trying
different strategies and learning from mistakes.
 CAROL DWECK’S MINDSET
What is the mindset theory?
⮚ Mindset Theory proposes that people hold different beliefs about
whether people can or cannot change basic psychological
attributes, such as their intelligence or personality.

⮚ There are two (2) types of mindsets:

1. Fixed mindset 
2. Growth mindset
 CAROL DWECK’S MINDSET
⮚ FIXED MINDSET – people with fixed mindset believe that their
traits are just given. They have a certain amount of brains and talents
and nothing can change that. People in this mindset worry about their
traits and how adequate they are.

⮚ If they have only a certain amount

of intelligence, a certain personality,
and certain moral character, then
they would better prove that they
have a healthy dose of them.
 CAROL DWECK’S MINDSET
⮚ GROWTH MINDSET – people with this mindset see their qualities as
things that can be developed through their dedication and effort. They are
brainy and talented, but this is just the starting point. They understand that
no one has ever accomplished great things without years of passionate
practice and learning.

⮚ Although people may differ in

every which way, in their initial
talents and aptitudes, interests
or temperaments, everyone can
change and grow through application
and experience.