Perspective is everything.
When we’ve set a goal for ourselves, when we’re trying to motivate ourselves, the process can be invigorating or downright demoralizing. Goal setting in and of itself can be daunting.
Dr. Katy Milkman, in her podcast The Science of How People Change which I quote below, shares a real gem for setting (and keeping) “high and hard goals.”
She’s a behavioral scientist and professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania so she’s got a lot of cred.
Her key tip is called emergency reserves.
Emergency reserves are a fabulous way to give yourself grace. Not to mention they’re pretty darn easy to understand and use.
What happens if we don’t have emergency reserves?
Emergency reserves help avoid the what-the-hell-effect
“If you miss a goal, it can be incredibly de-motivating. There’s this whole literature on the, what-the-hell-effect.
You miss your goal, you throw up your hands, you give up, what the hell, and you walk away. How can you get that high, hard goal that’s motivating without the risk of the, what-the-hell-effect?”
What are emergency reserves and how to use them
What are emergency reserves and how to use them
Here’s a scenario. Imagine yourself trying to do something seven days a week. Like practicing French using the Duolingo app.
Katy says Try to do it seven days a week, but [give yourself] two emergency reserves.
An emergency reserve is like a pass. It’s a way to give yourself grace when you really can’t reach that goal that day.
“If you absolutely can’t do it, you can pull out that emergency card and say, I got a free pass. ” It doesn’t take you off track for the week.”
You’re still striving for this really tough thing, but if you slip, you’re not as likely to have the what-the-hell-effect.”
The what-the-hell-effect tends to demoralize us and stop us in our tracks. We throw our hands up and give up.
“Notice it’s exactly the same as trying for five days a week. It’s the same goal. But by saying it’s seven and you only use those emergency reserves in a true emergency, people keep pushing harder.”
Here’s how I use my emergency reserves
I use Duolingo, a popular language learning app, daily to help me improve my French. After listening to Katy’s podase I realized Duolingo uses emergency reserves.
Confession time: I’m a digital immigrant. That is, I came to technology as an adult. I can still remember sending my first fax! So the bells and whistles of Duoloingo’s gems, earning XP, and multiple badges tend to fly right over my head. I don’t really pay attention to them.
BUT I definitely pay attention to the emergency reserves, which Duolingo calls streak freezes. If I miss a day from time to time, Duolingo is forgiving and “freezes my streak,” that is my daily practice is maintained. The streak freeze or emergency reserve gives me grace and I still keep my streak.
And that dear readers, is a sublime example of an emergency reserve. Knowing that I have a streak freeze gives me some cushion, it reduces the pressure and motivates me to keep going.
Objective achieved.
Think about how you can pull out an emergency reserve when you need it. What’s your equivalent of a streak freeze?
This article was written by Lee-Anne Ragan, who creates innovative, customized training workshops to energize your team and help you work better together so you can get on with your important business of changing the world. To learn more please visit https://rockpaperscissorsinc.com