Category Archives: Updates on My Goals
An update series on my current goals.
Can you do a Million Push-Ups? (Marine Doing Million Push-ups for Charity)
At the beginning of this year, Sgt. Enrique Trevino made a New Year’s Resolution: Do a Million Push-Ups over a period of one year. To supplement his goal, Sgt. Trevino tied his goal to a cause greater than his own. “Instead of me doing a million push-ups for myself, I wanted to do something where it benefits others.” Trevino told ABC News.
Sgt. Trevino found his greater cause by doing a million push-ups as a charity fundraiser for The Wounded Warriors Project, a nonprofit organization that provides aid and support for severely injured service members while they are on duty and as they transition back to civilian life.
Sgt. Trevino is using a commitment device to give him more motivation to achieve his goal.
I will let you read the full story here.
To donate to the Wounded Warriors Project, you can visit Trevino’s Wounded Warriors Page. He is also tracking his progress on his Facebook page,
As of me writing this post, Sgt. Trevino is on Day 318 with an overall total of 872,447 push-ups!
Exercise:
With one of your New Year’s Resolutions next year, tie it to a cause greater than your own.
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want write contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily. Come back tomorrow for another article.
Updates on My Goals: Insanity
Today, I concluded my 60-day Insanity workout program. I felt a great pleasure and joy as I crossed off “Day 60” in my calendar. Two months since completing my first fitness test, I feel healthier, happier, and more energetic. I took an extra 2-weeks to finish my program, but I don’t feel any less accomplish.
My finished Insanity Calendar.
Back in September, I couldn’t imagine how I would feel and look after 9 weeks of intense work-out. Before starting Insanity, I never woke up early for anything but to catch my school bus. Now waking up early, grabbing my workout gear, and going to the gym feels natural. What used to be a forced activity is now routine to me.
Before this school year, I avoided physical exercise like high interest rates. I struggled to pass my physical exam in 9th grade, joined a summer running group in 10th grade only to quit after the third day, and tried doing P90X in 11th grade but gave up after the first couple of weeks. In summary, I had great intentions but lacked the ability to keep myself motivated.
After much failure, I wanted to redeem myself and give working out another try again earlier this summer. This time I was determined to start and reach in the end, no matter how many times I stopped. I wrote down my goal, started my support network, research different programs, and recorded my progress. In other words, I used what I learned from accomplishing my non-physical goals and applied it towards living healthier (an area I have neglected for a long time).
I thank my support network for all they have done to support me so far and now we press on. Completing Insanity was one of my short-term goals towards my long-term goal of living a healthy life-style. My next step is to work on my diet (courtesy of Hung Pham) and begin a new workout routine (this one I created by taking the best of Insanity, running with Juan, and my past experience with P90X).
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want write contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily. Come back tomorrow for another article.
The Framing Effect (Wording your goals to give you more Motivation)
Credit to Editor B of Flickr
I have been reading a lot on behavioral economics recently and came across the following exercise in Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow.
Which offer do you find more attractive?
- Accepting a gamble that offers 10% chance to win $95 and a 90% chance to lose $5?
- Paying $5 to participate in a lottery that offers a 10% chance to win $100 and a 90% chance to win nothing.
If you are like most people, then you chose the second option. But did you notice that both choices are the same? I will give you a minute to calculate that for yourself.
What causes the disparity in choices distribution is the way each option was worded. In the first option, the word “gamble” brings up mental pictures of “risk” and “loss” while the second one “lottery” brings up images of “potential gains” and “potential winnings.” This is called the framing effect, which says that people react differently to a particular choice depending on whether it is presented as a loss or as a gain.
The idea of framing also can be applied to goal setting. For example, a smoker who sets a goal to quit has many ways of framing his goal, below are two examples:
- I am giving up cigarettes
- I am protecting my health
Most people will prefer to think of protecting their health as a gain while giving up cigarettes as a loss of freedom to smoke even though both are the same.
I like to use the framing effect to my advantage whenever possible. When I wake up in the morning, my goal is not to workout, but to “reduce flabs and get more abs.” Both are equivalent statements, but when I think about what I am doing, I would prefer to think about the latter, because I have attached a benefit (gain) to my goals whereas working out just brings mental pictures of going to the gym to run for me (losing time from doing something else).
The way you frame your goals matters. If you think of your goals as gains, you are more motivated to seek the benefits, but if you look at your goal as loses in time, resources, etc. then you are less likely to complete them.
Exercise:
Look back at your goals, are they framed the most positive way possible?
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want write contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
The Planning Fallacy (Setting a Realistic Deadline for Goals)
Credit to robstephaustralia of Flickr
Hurricane Sandy is coming to town in a few hours, so Yale has canceled classes for today and tomorrow [I am writing this article as of Monday October 29th]. When we received the email last night, I could imagine what was going on in my peers (as well as my) head: another day to sleep in and catch-up/get ahead on work. Across campus, to-do lists were created, textbooks were bookmarked, and alarms were set. I am half-way through my day and have only completed about ¼ of my list. I am a victim of the planning fallacy.
The planning fallacy is a habit of people of underestimating how long they will need to complete a task, even when they have completed similar tasks in the past. The term was first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two researchers who pioneered behavioral economics (my field of study).
The planning fallacy can be found in anything from book publication to school work to assembling a chair. To gain a better understanding of the planning fallacy, I have included the results from the following two studies from Wikipedia (citation from original studies are included below):
In a 1994 study, 37 psychology students were asked to estimate how long it would take to finish their senior theses. The average estimate was 33.9 days. They also estimated how long it would take “if everything went as well as it possibly could” (averaging 27.4 days) and “if everything went as poorly as it possibly could” (averaging 48.6 days).
The average actual completion time was 55.5 days, with only about 30% of the students completing their thesis in the amount of time they predicted.
Another study asked students to estimate when they would complete their personal academic projects. Specifically, the researchers asked for estimated times by which the students thought it was 50%, 75%, and 99% probable their personal projects would be done.
- 13% of subjects finished their project by the time they had assigned a 50% probability level;
- 19% finished by the time assigned a 75% probability level;
- 45% finished by the time of their 99% probability level.
As you can see, we tend of overestimate our abilities to complete a goal and underestimate the time it will actually take.
Remember this as you set deadlines for your goals.
Exercise:
With your next to-do list, estimate how much time you will need to complete each item. Time how long each task took you. How close were you to your predicted time?
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want write contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
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The above studies are cited below:
- Buehler, Roger; Dale Griffin, Michael Ross (1995). “It’s about time: Optimistic predictions in work and love”. European Review of Social Psychology (American Psychological Association) 6: 1–32.
- Buehler, Roger; Dale Griffin, Michael Ross (1994). “Exploring the “planning fallacy”: Why people underestimate their task completion times”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (American Psychological Association) 67 (3): 366–381.
Being “Below-Average” (Comparing Yourself to Others)
Credit to http://philadams.co/
The dreaded college midterm season has just ended, and as 5,000 other Yale students and I begin to get our grades back one of three things will occur: we will either be happy, indifferent, or disappointed.
I am blessed to say that for all my first set of midterms, I’ve been happy with my grades, but this week I received one that was not so good. I studied, attended review session, and spoke to the professor; I did everything I would normally do before an exam, but this time my process didn’t work. I was one standard deviation below the mean and beyond disappointment.
Now that I have had about a week to objectively think back, I see where my distress came from. It wasn’t my grade that prompted my frustration, a grade is only a number after all, but the chart that listed the distribution of grades of my classmates. I was in the bottom 25 percentile. I was troubled by being labeled sub-average. We like to hear that we are “above-average” but no one likes to hear they are “below-average.”
If you’ve ever compared your social, academic, work, or love life to someone else’s, you know the frustration, envy, and self-defeating feeling that comes afterwards. But if we know this feeling is damaging to our personal health why can’t we just stop?
Not comparing ourselves to others is a hard task. We are social creatures, thus comparing ourselves to others is a natural process. Instead of seeing who has the biggest horns, teeth, or territory we compare to see who has a higher income, better GPA, or more Twitter followers.
After my initial frustration passed, I could see that I was unfairly comparing myself to others in my class, who might have spent more hours studying, visited the professor’s office hours more often, and wanted to pass the exam more greatly than I did.
We unnecessarily put ourselves down when we compare ourselves to others. We emphasis our weaknesses and bury our strengths. The way to start overcoming this is to remember that you have skills and talents that are above-average as well. There are things the other person has or can do better than you, but there are so also things you have or can do that he cannot.
Each summer in high school, I intern at a local real estate firm. My first day interning, I was intimidated by the people I was working with, who were 2-4 times my age. But then my real estate supervisor told me something, “Although the people here have more experience than you, you also have more experience than them at other things like speaking Vietnamese and using the internet. Some of the agents are still figuring out how to turn on Internet Explorer.”
Exercise:
This week, when you find yourself negatively comparing yourself to someone else, list something that you can do at least equally as well as the person you are comparing yourself to.
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to write contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
Observational Learning (How YouTube made me a Public Speaking Champion)
Me delivering closing remarks.
Photo by Heather Middleton
The following are some of my favorite speeches:
- President Barack Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention (Here)
- Steve Job’s 2005 Commencement Address to Stanford (Here)
- Conan O’Brien’s 2011 Dartmouth College Commencement Address (Here)
- Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture (Here)
I watch these videos not only because they are inspiring, but also because I learn how to become a better communicators from these great orators. From Obama, I learned where to pause for emphasis; from Steve Job, how to turn a simple story into a moving tale; from O’Brien, how to build rapport with my listeners; and from Randy Pausch, how to involve my audience.
I started public speaking at the age of 15 as a way to overcome my shyness, gain more self-confidence, and make new friends. For hours on end, I read books such as Presentations for Dummies and How to Win Friends & Influence People, watched YouTube videos of my favorite speeches, and practiced my speech in front of the mirror. In ten months, I started as shy freshman to a confident communicator travelling to Orlando to compete at a national public speaking competition after winning 1st place at the state competition.
I couldn’t have done it without all my great mentors. It was important for me to learn from others because I learned from listening to speeches as much as presenting my own material. Observational learning does not just apply to public speaking. I do this for all my goals. I watch great magicians perform, Yugioh players duel one another, and leaders lead teams. When Noelle, our featured writer last week, was sitting on the bench she took in everything around her and learned from other Field Hockey players.
With goals, it is important to realize there are people whom we can learn from. Football players do this by watching hours of footage, writers do this by reading great works by others, and you can do this by identifying the “teachers” in your field.
Exercise:
With each of your goals, identify people whom you can learn from.
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing featured contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
Recovering from Lapses and Relapses
Wake Up!
Credit to TheDarkThing of Flickr
With midterms this week, I spent a majority of my time in empty classrooms studying. Studying for 5 to 6 hours at a stretch, even with breaks, is mentally exhausting. When you add classes and extracurricular activities mentally exhaustion also becomes physical fatigue.
My body paid the price this week. I did not once wake up when my alarm sounded. I was just too drained from the day before. As a result, I woke up 30 minutes to an hour and a half later than I would like. I cut my workout from 60 minutes to about 30 minutes jogs and at one point only 15 minutes. Even as I was jogging or lifting weights, my body was easily burnt out. I just did not have the energy.
Now that my midterms are over, I am returning to my regular routine. I found that returning to my old routine has not been automatic. My body has been used to sleeping in this week. Waking up is hard, getting back into my rhythm is difficult.
I tell my story because many people have similar problems when working towards their goals. They take a break and find it hard to get back on track. When you are used to a routine and then you suddenly stop, it is hard to return; just ask any one who has had a relapses of gambling, drinking, or smoking. The best way to prevent this is to keep going and not stop.
But what if you did stop? What can you do? Pick up where you left off. It will be hard at first, but as with the first time, you will eventually get back into the routine. Give it time. As with all goals all you need to do is make the first step to restarting over. Even addicts who have had relapses have found that starting over the second time is easier than the first time.
Don’t let your gains go to waste by stopping.
Exercise:
List past goals you took a break from. Which ones would you like to pick back up?
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing featured contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
Finding Your Space
Credit to ShuttrKing|KT’s of Flickr
When I first started working out this year, I avoided my college gym like a black hole. The sight of runners jogging for miles without slowing down, varsity athletes benching hundreds of pounds at a time, and yogini (women who do yoga) putting their legs over their heads all imitated me. Though I do not like comparing myself to others, knowing I could barely maintain 5.0 miles per hour, lift a dumbbell, or touch my toes scared me. I was not comfortable starting my workout routine in the University gym nor the basement gym.
I eventually found a place where I was comfortable, my suite’s common room. I chose my common room, because I knew I could work at my own pace and not worry about others looking at how out of shape I was. I felt comfortable and productive.
Now, I go to the gym and feel good about not comparing myself to others. I just needed time and space to get comfortable with myself and my habits before joining others.
Finding an ideal place to work on your goals is important to maximizing your potential gains. A location should enable you to be at ease but also produce the results you want. In fact, I am writing this article in a vacant room that most students don’t even know exists.
People vary where they feel comfortable and productive doing work, working out, or rehearsing. When it comes to studying, for example, my suite and I are a perfect example. My roommate, Kevin, finds he is most productive studying in our room. Our suitemate, Juan, likes to study on our futon in the common room and his suitemate, Simon, can study at hours at time on his bed. I like to find an empty classroom to study in and rarely use my room.
The important takeaway, is to find a place where you feel comfortable AND productive.
Tomorrow, I will introduce a new section of my blog: Featured Fridays, where I will post an article by a guest writer, who will talk about their strategies for achieving their goals, lesson they learned from their failures, and any motivational stories they have to share.
Our inaugural featured writer is my close friend Marisol, who will talk about how she discovered how she turned her bathroom into a study space.
See you tomorrow.
Exercise:
If you don’t like where you are currently working, search for new places, ask for recommendations, and feel each location out until you find one you like.
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing posted contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
Create your own vision board
Credit to lululemon athletica for her vision board.
Yesterday, I talked about how having a vision board helps you to stay focused on your goals and use the Law of Attraction in your favor. A vision board is simply a collage of images that represent dreams, desires, and goals you have for yourself.
Today, I will provide you with an outline on how to create your own vision board. A vision board can be made by hand or on your computer, but the basic concept is the same.
What you’ll need:
– A board (I recommend something you can hang and glue down on)
– Rubber Cement (you can use almost anything, but don’t use Elmer-type glue, it winkles the images)
Here are the five-steps you will need:
Step 1: Define your goals. This gives you a starting spot for what will go on your vision board. If you haven’t narrowed down your goals, check out some past posts like this one about setting goals.
Step 2: Grab a few magazines or search online for images, headlines, or words that you can use to symbolize each of your goals. Make a pile, don’t worry about which ones are good and which ones are bad, all that matters right now is that you are thinking. There is no right or wrong way, a image of Bill Gates could mean you want to be an entrepreneur, learn a computer language, become a billionaire, win the Gate’s Scholarship, or meet Bill Gates. Only you need to know the meaning behind each image. When you think you have enough images go to Step 3.
Step 3: Go through your pile and begin laying down images on your board. Eliminate any you feel don’t belong. As you lay down your images, you begin to gain a sense of how the board will turn out. Will you divide the board into sections? Will you do some sort of chronological order? This is up to you. Play around with the arrangement, don’t glue yet until you have a configuration you are happy with.
Step 4: Use the rubber cement to glue and secure your images onto the board. You can add writing, paint, anything. I know people who put an image of themselves at the center of the board (I think this is neat). Be creative.
Step 5: Hang your vision board where you will be able to see it regularly.
Exercise:
Create a vision board.
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing posted contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
Creating a Vision Board
Credit to WiseWellWoman of Flickr for her Vision Board
I finished many projects in high school, but none meant more to me than my vision board, which I created in 10th grade. The assignment came from a community leadership organization where I was a member. At one of our monthly meetings, our director, who himself was an accomplished CEO, award-winning author, and teacher, handed us a task. “I want you to create a vision board.” He went on to explain that a vision board was simply a collage of images, pictures and symbols representing our dreams, hopes and desires.
“I don’t care if you don’t know how to accomplish your dreams, I just want you to start thinking about what those dreams are.”
With that he gave us two month to turn in a submission. He would judge the boards at the last meeting of the year, and the best board would win a couple movie tickets for the summer. Our vision board could be divided into as many sections as we liked, but had to have five mandatory sections: academics, family, community, career, and faith; areas our director thought were important to our lives.
I went home and brainstormed what I wanted place in each section. My list included starting a scholarship fund for high-achieving low-income students, graduating summa cum laude from college, and finding a career that brings me happiness. I went to my local Hobby Lobby and started working on my board buying a scrapbook and a $5 photo editing software.
The psychology behind creating a vision board is the same as writing down your goals and using the Law of Attraction. Brainstorming, creating, and editing our boards actively committed us to our goals. With each picture I cut and pasted from Times or GQ, I imagined myself owning that Lamborghini, holding that Harvard/Yale Diploma, and writing a check to my favorite charities. The thought of having and achieving my greatest dreams brought a smile to my face.
When it came time to submit our vision boards, students came in with a range of creations. Some students came in with tri-folds, others turned in scrapbooks, a few submitted collages on a expo board. One girl even turned her bedroom door into a vision board; the logic was that she would have to look at her vision board before going to school year day. She brought a picture in to prove her deed.
I ended up winning the tickets, because our director thought my board, “showed immense effort, thought, and balance.” But the 30+ of us who turned in a board knew that we had all won.
When I went home, I placed my vision board on my bed stand, where I could look at it before bed and whenever I needed motivation to keep me going after a bad day. Four years later, I still keep a vision board, which I update every few months to track the progress I have made on earlier goals and reflect my new vision by adding to and removing from my board.
What would you want to include on your vision board?
Tomorrow, I will walk you through creating a vision board.
Exercise:
Search in your favorite engine (Bing, Google, Yahoo, etc.) for images of Vision Board. Which ones are you attracted to? Why?
If you have any comments, suggestions for future topics, or want to have your writing posted contact me at findmymotivation@gmail.com.
My blog is updated daily.
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