Feedback and Goals

I'm not familiar with the rules of football, so apart from knowing that ball in net means goal, I have no idea what a good play looks like. The game of football elicits no excitement from me, in fact I can't understand why so many people watch and enjoy football. You see I do not understand the visual feedback I get when watching a match, and thus I am unable to feel the excitement that makes football something akin to religion to a large part of the world population. Clearly the problem is not with football, but with my lack of understanding.

So what does this have to do with goals?

If you are playing a game and you do not receive clear feedback on your actions, and thus do not know if you are winning or loosing, you will inevitably loose interest in the game. The goal of any game is to improve until you win, the same is true of any goal in your life. The question is what differentiates the skill of pushing console buttons in the correct order from any other goal? Yes, feedback! The feedback from your button pushes are clear, in enjoyable games, and thus you can see yourself improve until you reach a certain level of competence. When you work towards a goal often the feedback is not as clear for various reasons, ranging from unclear, immeasurable goals to uncertainty as to what constitutes a move in the right direction. Ensuring that you are much more likely to give up on said goal.

When you set goal, make the goals measurable. Make sure that you clearly define what a good move is. When you make one of these moves, feel the joy and excitement of knowing that you are now that much closer to your actual outcome. This will give you constant bursts of enjoyment with each micro choice in the right direction, and quickly alert you when you are moving away from your intended outcome. You will thus reach your goals more consistently.

Why not give it a try?