Chapter 11: Do Not Just Dream, Make It Happen

Managing and Caring for the Self by Setting Goals for Success

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. – 2 Chronicles 15:7

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Use Bandura’s Self efficacy theory for self-assessment:
2. Differentiate growth and fixed mindset by Dweck: and
3. Design personal goal adapting Locke’s goal setting theory.

Introduction

An understanding of the self is very important and takes a lot of investment in time, energy and
health. Sometimes a person will not always be successful in this quest. For those who became successful
in finding and understanding themselves, what happens next? Then, it would be easier to create a
roadmap to where we would like to navigate our lives. It is easier to take the direction where we think we
should go because we have a clear understanding of our purpose and what and who we are.
The first part of this unit talks about learning to be a better student. This part will now tackle setting
goals for success. Now the definition of success is deeply anchored in our definition of who we are. Our
definition of success is when we have achieved the goal; we have set up for ourselves. Therefore, this will
not talk about a specific road map, but rather a general guideline on understanding this success and how
to get there. It is not enough that we understand ourselves but for us to do something to have a goal
precisely because we understand ourselves. Where do we want to go?

Why must we set goals?

Goal is an object to aim for and sets the standard of success. (Locke, 2002) If goals are achieved
then one feels successful and success leads to satisfaction. On the other hand, if goal is not achieved, then
it’s not successful and this leads to dissatisfaction. Every time a goal is reached, it brings us closer to what
we value in life.

Bandura’s Self Efficacy Theory

The concept of self-efficacy was introduced by Albert Bandura in an article entitled “Self-efficacy:
Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change” published in Psychological Review in 1977. The article
also became an instant classic in psychology (Kendra 2017)

The Bobo Doll Experiment

In the 1950s, Dr. Bandura had a study known as
the Bobo Doll Experiment. In this experiment, the sample
children were presented with new social models of
violent and nonviolent behavior toward an inflatable
rebounding Bobo Doll.

Dr. Bandura named the most influential

psychologist of all time. His theories gave major
contribution to the field of psychology, psychotherapy,
and education.
 Self-efficacy theory distinguishes between expectation of efficacy and response outcome
expectancies. According to Weibell (2011), outcome expectancy is “a person’s estimate that a given
behavior will lead to certain outcomes”. An efficacy expectation is “the conviction that one can
successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes”.
Weibell (2011) stated that Dr. Bandura defined self-efficacy as “People’s beliefs about their
capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect
their lives”. He defined acts of people with “high assurance in their capabilities,” such as:
1. Approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered
2. Set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them
3. Heighten or sustain efforts in the face of failures or setbacks
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.

In contrast, people “who doubt their capabilities”.

1. Shy away from tasks they view as personal threats
2. Have low aspiration 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
4. Slacken 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

Dr. Bandura described four main sources of influence by which a person’s self-efficacy is developed and
maintain. These are:
1. Performance accomplishment or mastery experience
2. Vicarious experience
3. Verbal or social persuasion
4. Physiological (somatic and emotional) states.

Seeing people like one self-succeed by sustained effort raises observer’s beliefs that they too.
Possess the capabilities to succeed, given the comparable activities.
Verbal or Social persuasion also affects one’s perceptions of self-efficacy. It is “a way of
strengthening people’s beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed”.
People also rely on their somatic or emotional states when judging their capabilities. Stress and
tension are interpreted as “signs of vulnerability to poor performance. “Fatigue, aches and pains, and
moods also effect perception of ability. Dr. Bandura notes, however, that that it is not intensity of the
emotional or physical reaction that is important. Rather, how it is perceived and interpreted. People with
a sense of self-efficacy may perceived and interpreted.
Since “most human motivation is cognitively generated “, self-belief of efficacy is an important
factor in human motivation. Beliefs of self-efficacy work in coordination with component skills needed to
succeed and incentive to act. Inasmuch as a person has both the component skill needed to succeed and
the incentive to engage, self-efficacy plays an important role in determining what activities a person will
choose to engage in, how much effort they will expend, and how long that effort will be sustained when
things get tough.
Dr. Albert Bandura’s quotes about self-efficacy are follows:

“Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the sources of action required to
manage prospective situations”.

“If efficacy beliefs always reflected only what people can do routinely, they would rarely fail but they
would not set aspirations beyond their immediate reach nor amount the extra effort needed to surpass
their ordinary performance”.

“Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assured spawns failure”.

“By sticking it out through tough times, people emerge from adversity with a stronger sense of efficacy”.

Carol S. Dweck’s And Growth Mindset Theory

Carol S. Dweck’s is the author of Mindset: The Psychology

of Success. She is one of the leading researchers in the field of
motivation and is a Lewis and a Virginia Eaton Professor of
Psychology at Standford University. Her research focused on why
people succeed and how to foster success. She has been elected as
one of the outstanding scholars in social sciences at the American
Academy of Arts and Science. Her worked has been featured in
different publications like the New Yorker, New York Times, etc.

Fixed Growth Mindset

Dr. Dweck’s contribution to social psychology relates to implicit theories of intelligence with her
book, she described people with two types of mindset. People who believe that success is based on their
innate abilities have a “fixed” theory of intelligence and goes under fixed mindset. According to her,
individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset can still be discerned
based on their behavior.

Dweck found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our
personality. A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static
givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent
intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for
success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.
A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of
unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of
these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our
relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our
capacity for happiness.
Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory
Edwin A. Locke’s is internationally known for his research on goal setting.
He was born on January 5, 1938. He is Dean’s Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership
and Motivation at the Robert.
He has published more than 300 chapters, notes, and articles in
professional journals on such subjects as work motivation, job satisfaction,
incentives and the philosophy of science.

Goal Setting Theory

The goal setting theory was first studied by Dr. Locke in the middle of
1960s. He continued to do more studies in relation to his theory. In 1996, he
published another article entitled “motivation through conscious goal setting”.
Locke first described that the approach of goal setting theory is based on what Aristotle final
causality; that is, action caused by a purpose. It accepts the axiomatic status of consciousness and volition.
It also assumes that introspective reports provide useful and valid data for formulating psychological
concepts and measuring psychological phenomena.

According to Locke and Latham (1991), there are five goal-setting principles that can improve our chances
of success.
1. Clarity – the goal must be specific and not abstract.
2. Difficulty – the more difficult the goal, the greater is the chance of achieving it because people
tend to work harder.
3. Commitment – These goals setting is largely dependent on the level of commitment the person
has towards the achievement of the goal.
4. Feedback – this is also necessary as this gives them accountability and they would know if they
have the change their pace or way of doing or to continue with how they are doing things.
5. Take Complexity – a complex task brings out the knowledge of the person.

Goal Attributes
Goals have both an internal and external aspect. Internally, they are ideas; externally, they refer
to the object or condition sought. The idea guides action to attain the object. Two broad attributes of
goals are content (the actual object sought) and intensity (the scope, focus, and complexity, have been
studied).

Internal Vs. External Goals

External goals are where your success will be determined – in part – by what someone else thinks.
Internal goals are those where success can be achieved without anyone else rendering judgment that
matters (not even a little bit).

In addition, probably obvious is that external motivators are benefits (or the reduction of
negatives) that you will achieve from the world around you, while internal motivators are purely those
things internally that matter. An example external motivator is that learning a new skill could increase
your salary; an internal motivator could be the inner confidence you have now that you know how to
perform that skill.
 To complete the explanations, external expectations are those things other people expect of you
and internal expectations are what you expect of yourself. This is often where people suffer most because
one or the other is often unrealistically high, or worse, both are exceptionally low.

Blocks to goal achievement:

(1) Irrationality - cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more
specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate use of reason, or through
emotional distress or cognitive deficiency.

(2) Unwillingness - he quality or state of being unwilling to do something; reluctance.

(3) Fear - dread, fright, alarm, panic, terror, trepidation mean painful agitation in the presence or
anticipation of danger. Fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and usually loss of courage.