Motivation Theory – Goal Setting

First of all, goal-setting motivation or well-known as “Locke’s Goal Setting Theory” was developed by Edwin A. Locke is a set of various actions that are clear, specific, and challenging that need to be taken within a certain time period and be motivated to maintain the commitment in achieving it. Goal-setting theory is generally considered to be SMART which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example from myself, I just had a rejection from my job application from the company that I have been wanting for a long time. Practicing goal-setting makes me realize that I need to focus on my future goals instead of the rejection that ruined my motivation as well as to help me be fully committed to getting a job after graduation. Having rejection over rejection is a hard phase of life in general but it will not change my focus on my goals and I won’t let it determine my values. It may be caused by several factors that may not come from me like some companies want to recruit US citizens, not international students who only can work for a few years ahead. The thing that led me to behave that way was there is a goal that I need to achieve and always remember that I need to focus on the things that I can control (like my achievement, academic standing, getting as many experiences as possible) as well as let go the things that are not my control as long as I already give my best. Also, it can help me having a process of establishing specific and effective targets and based on several studies said that that goal setting has a positive influence on task performance. As Latham and Locke explained that “a specific high goal leads to even higher performance than urging people to do their best”

References:

• https://www.betterup.com/blog/goal-setting-theory

• https://opentext.wsu.edu/theoreticalmodelsforteachingandresearch/chapter/goal-setting-theory/