Self-Concordant Goals

Reading Time: 5 Minutes

What to Expect:

• How self-concordant goals can enhance our well-being

• A process for setting self-concordant goals

• Some research support to back it up

If you want to achieve anything meaningful and reach your full potential, goals are a solid starting point. But not all goals are created equal. Recently, I've been reading a lot about the power of self-concordant goals, which take a slightly more personal bend to the traditional achievement goals we might think of. Rather than focusing simply on what we want to accomplish, self-concordant goals push us to examine why we want to accomplish that thing in the first place, and whether or not achieving that goal actually fits with what we want for ourselves.

Self-concordant goals are goals aligned with a person's values, passion, and purpose. They are goals that are personally meaningful. Making progress on self-concordant goals is one of the clearest paths we have to improve our well-being (Lyubomirksi, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005).

For example, a person who values physical health and fitness might set a self-concordant goal of running a marathon. This goal is aligned with their values and interests, making it more personally meaningful than, say, setting a goal to climb the career ladder. Working toward completing the marathon is likely to feel more rewarding and lead to greater improvements in motivation and well-being, though societal pressure is more likely to push toward the title change and raise.

I've been surprised by the number of high performers working toward difficult things that aren't actually that sure of what they want (sometimes, myself included). They've all been told from a young age what's possible for them, and over time, largely unconsciously, adopted those possibilities as their own goals. While they've managed to be successful by outside standards, there's a sense that there might be something even greater to be working on.

Rather than focusing simply on what we want to accomplish or the success we hope to attain, we should be focusing on things that are personally motivating and meaningful. In the coaching I do, these are the goals I am always working toward with high performers.

When we set goals that are aligned with our values and interests, we are more likely to feel a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives. This can be incredibly motivating, and it can help us to overcome obstacles and setbacks along the way. The problem is that pursuing these goals often ends up conflicting with or pushing against some of the things we've either been mindlessly working toward or have been told we should want.

There's a ton of research support for the power of self-concordant goals, both personally and professionally. Sheldon & Elliott (1999) found that people who pursued self-concordant goals experienced greater well-being and life satisfaction compared to those who pursued non-self-concordant goals. Another study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that employees who were encouraged to set self-concordant goals at work had higher job satisfaction and performance compared to those who were not (Grant & Ashford, 2008).

The self-concordant goal literature has also shown that pursuing self-concordant goals can lead to better physical health outcomes. In a study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, individuals with chronic illnesses who pursued self-concordant health goals reported greater improvements in their physical symptoms compared to those who did not (Koestner et al., 2002). These findings suggest that setting meaningful and personally relevant goals can have positive effects on both mental and physical well-being.

This is a pretty virtuous cycle. You start working toward something meaningful, both your physical and mental health improves, and you're likely to have more energy to keep going. As you experience some success with this path, you're likely to experience the intrinsic rewards along with it, making you more likely to set a self-concordant goal and start again. From this lens, it's pretty clear why working toward goals that are meaningful versus goals that are purely achievement-oriented are likely to lead to better overall well-being.

Setting Self-Concordant Goals

Perhaps what's most challenging about working toward self-concordant goals is figuring out how, if at all, these goals can also align with what you want to achieve. I think that the simplest (not easiest) way to do this is by starting with your purpose.

If you have clarity on what you would really like to dedicate your life to, it becomes easier to map on achievements that would bring turn that into reality. Those achievements would also likely be related to, if not the same as, some self-concordant goals you'd set that would pave the path to the purpose you're working toward.

So step 1 is taking the time to reflect on your values and purpose. What do you want your life to stand for, and what qualities do you want to embody on your path to your purpose? If you completed the values exercises from earlier editions of this newsletter, you're already well on your way. If you want to take it a step further, link those values to your purpose -- a central organizing principle for your life that feels deeply motivating, high, and hard.

Once you have your purpose and values identified, we've next got to figure out what are the right steps to bring that purpose to life. These steps turn into our goals along the way - and, if we've followed this process, should be pretty darn self-concordant. Write those steps down, and turn them into goals. If you've gotten this far, you should now have several goal options to be working toward - some better and clearer than others.

Now, the next step is one I've been experimenting with, based on the research cited in Ken Sheldon's excellent new book, Free Will. In the book, he cites a study that essentially shows that people do in fact have an internal compass. And, the way to test your internal compass is to set goals, rate how motivating and meaningful those goals are, and then forget about them for a day. Then, about a day later, come back to the goals, and rate them again.

What this research he cites suggests is that after a bit of psychological distance, people tend to shift their goal ratings toward their internal compass -- or, in other words, toward self-concordance.

So, for this practice, that's what I want you to do.

Write your goals down. Then, on a 1-10, rate the degree to which you feel they are self-concordant, motivating, and meaningful.

And then walk away.

Come back 24 hours later, and re-evauluate. At the end, whatever comes out on top is where you begin.

References

• Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change.Review of general psychology,9(2), 111-131.

• Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482

• Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. (2008). The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 3–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2008.04.002

• Koestner, R., Powers, T.A., Carbonneau, N., Milyavskaya, M., Chua, S.N., & Gilchrist, E..A (2002). Self-concordant goals and adherence to healthy lifestyle changes: Theory and implications for interventions*. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin*, 28(9), 1315–1326. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672022812009