SET POSITIVE TARGETS (November 1998)
By: Jeff Garbutt, Western Australia


Be careful how you set your targets - you may be sub-consciously setting yourself up to fail.

Now think about it for a while. All our lives we have been conditioned to "aim high" and get the highest score possible. From the moment we start school we aim to get the "highest" marks - not the "lowest". And this same thinking follows us beyond our school years. As a result our sub-conscious is "programmed" to always try and achieve the highest numerical value of any measure.

So it happens that when we set a target to achieve something - we will sub-consciously work our hardest to reach that target. And just to make sure - we'll even try to exceed that target.

And this thinking happens automatically - we will sub-consciously aim to exceed the "numerical value" of a target - regardless of whether it is a positive or negative target.

Now what do I mean by a "negative target". Quite simply it is the type of target where we want the final result to be less than our target - not greater. An example of this is to set a "drop out" rate from your beginners of "less than 10%". It certainly sounds like a good target - but what happens when we try to achieve it ? Our sub-conscious will work hard to achieve that 10% - and just to be sure - you will sub-consciously aim for a higher figure - say 11%. Which is not what you really want is it ? You really want to get less than 10%. But after years of always aiming higher - you are trying to do something un-natural.

So how do you win ? - simply by setting positive targets - by this I mean the type of target where we want the final result to be higher than the target.

In our case - instead of aiming for "less than 10% drop out" - you should really be aiming for "greater than 90% retention". Our natural instincts will then work for us - not against us.

In summary - always set positive targets - they are more natural to the human sub-conscious - and you may be pleasantly surprised by the result.