Whoa We're Halfway There!

by Jeremiah Jones

Whoa, we're halfway there.

Imagine looking out at an island across the lake and thinking, "I could swim there!" I was a swimmer for a season in 8th grade! You set off with vigor and enthusiasm. You're so excited to accomplish this goal; brag to your friends and post on your social media that you still got it! Your strokes start with power; you're Michael Phelps! Then, with each stroke, your motivation deflates like your kid's helium-filled birthday balloon. As you shrivel like those flowers you forgot to water, you ask, "Why is the island still that far away?" As the sun sets, you lose sight of the island altogether. Of course, you have one of those red flotation devices like David Hasselhoff in Baywatch, so you do not fear for your life but decide the likes and accolades you receive on Facebook for this physical feat is not worth the struggle. You grab your red canister and float back with any remaining dignity. This preposterous situation describes the psychological phenomenon known as the goal-gradient hypothesis. It was initially proposed by Clark Hull in 1932 and illustrates how humans increase effort and motivation as they approach rewards or get closer to their goals (Hull, 1932).

I witnessed this principle first-hand during my first and last distance race of ten miles. Like Gimli from Lord of the Rings, I identify as a sprinter, so this was out of my comfort zone. After running 9.9 miles at an embarrassingly modest speed, I noticed the finish line 100 meters away and did my best impression of Usain Bolt. Despite our excitement to start and finish a goal, the middle becomes the Bermuda Triangle for dreams to vanish. Like being in the middle of the dark lake with no end in sight, our plans seem as likely as acquiring the fictional metal Unobtainium. There is a reason why 73 percent of people never reached their New Year resolutions (Batts, 2023) and why only 36 percent of Americans finish the books they start (Mandler, 2023). "Our brains are hardwired to focus on the beginning and endings of things while discarding the middle" (Draper, 2021). Read a list of twelve items and see which ones you remember most. Or try raeding waht is wiretten in tihs setence. Only the first and last letters matter.

The middle is the most challenging and most overlooked part of our journey. The stuck-in-the-middle psychological phenomenon was first noticed when Hull examined rats in a maze, yet it remains influential for humans to change a plethora of behaviors. By identifying this cognitive flaw, we can ethically manipulate our psyche to achieve our goals (Kachergis et al.,2012). Maybe you'll even swim all the way to that island with or without the red lifeguard rescue can.

The key is to shrink the middle as much as possible by setting sub-goals and rewarding our progress. Additionally, set punishments for not following through on sub-goals. Some people donate money to a charity they despise if they don't reach their sub-goal. It seems simple, of course; that's common sense. Then why are 41 percent of Americans still working too much? Seventy-five percent aren't exercising as much as they'd like. Sixty-nine percent are still procrastinating, and 74 percent still have their phones glued to their face despite efforts to seize these unhealthy habits (Orth, 2022). Adam Alter is a professor of marketing at New York University and is a bestselling author of books on judgment, decision-making, and social psychology. Alter explains the importance of giving yourself feedback and conceptualizing your progress. Avoid thinking of the journey as a single goal from start to finish. Keep your eyes focused on the next checkpoint. View your goals as a book, and savor each chapter. Each page is closer to the ending. You're not ending the race at one time. View a target and run to that; see another target and run to that. "I set for myself only small goals, goals that are not that far away."-Claudia Schiffer.

As you float along your life raft in the middle of the ocean with Richard Parker, you need more strategies to find land. Besides shrinking goals to seem more manageable, set artificial deadlines. You'll see this at work: when a deadline approaches, people start working faster and having more ideas. Additionally, tangible extrinsic rewards sporadically given can be more effective initially to jump-start an intrinsic reward system in which you value the process and progress. Lastly, don't equate goals to self-respect. When people don't reach a goal, they often feel like they've lost respect for themselves. Humans are completionists and attach strong moral elements to their goals. We forget to ask ourselves if we have done enough and form an unhelpful all-or-nothing thinking pattern. For instance, if we set a goal to run a marathon in under four hours and are unsuccessful in doing so, we would chalk up this serious feat of mental and physical endurance as a failure. Did we forget that the first guy to run a marathon, Pheidippides, died of exhaustion after finishing?

Top 5 Take-a-ways

1. Understand the cognitive impact of the goal gradient effect. We are really motivated at the beginning and the end when the goal approaches. When you set goals, make a plan for the middle.

2. Shrink the middle as much as possible with sub-goals. Avoid thinking of the journey as a single goal from start to finish.

3. Provide sporadic extrinsic rewards for meeting your sub-goals and punishments for not following through. Donate money to a charity you despise or force yourself to watch the Twilight Series.

4. Avoid equating goals to self-respect. You do or do not. Sometimes, you do not. Respect yourself enough to get out of the valley and continue the journey.

5. Avoid all-or-nothing thinking patterns. Your goals are a great servant but a lousy master.

Additional Resources

American's Bad Habits

https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/44815-bad-habits-americans-have-yougov-poll?redirectfrom=%2Ftopics%2Fsociety%2Farticles-reports%2F2022%2F12%2F20%2Fbad-habits-americans-have-yougov-poll

Adam Alter on Hidden Brain

https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/you-2-0-how-to-break-out-of-a-rut/

Livin' on a Prayer (14) YouTube

Adam Alter (adamalterauthor.com)

(14) Max Flotation Rescue Can - YouTube

References

Batts, Richard . "Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail | Lead Read Today." Lead Read Today | Fisher College of Business, fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/why-most-new-years-resolutions-fail#:~:text=Researchers%20suggest%20that%20only%209

Andrew Draper. (2021, May 5). How to Avoid Getting Stuck in the Middle. Minimalism and YourMoney.https://minimalismandyourmoney.com/stuck-in-the-middle/#Primacy%20and%20Recency%20Effect

Hull, C. L. (1932). The goal gradient hypothesis and maze learning. Psychological Review, 39(4), 551–560.

Kachergis, G., Verplanken, B., & Aarts, H. (2012). On the goal-gradient hypothesis in human behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(6), 998–1026.

Orth, T. (2022, December 20). Bad habits that Americans have — and have given up | YouGov. Today.yougov.com.https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/44815-bad-habits-americans-have-yougov-poll?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fsociety%2Farticles-reports%2F2022%2F12%2F20%Fbad-habits-americans-have-yougov-poll