Long-term Goals Study
Supporting individuals in achieving
their long-term goals
OVERVIEW
About the project
In this project, my team and I developed and deployed a qualitative study to explore the topic of long term goals after noticing discrepancies between short and long term goal attainment within individuals lives. Our research into individuals life experiences has helped us find and illustrate the connection between long-term goal attainment and motivation through the development of a theory.
Team:
Jenn Chan, Mitchell Fajardo, Saurabh Phadnsis
Duration:
10 weeks
My Role:
Study plan creation, recruitment, interview moderation, data analysis, and illustrations
PROBLEM SPACE
What are people's experiences maintaining long-term goals?
Short term goals easily motivate people as they reap immediate results, while long-term goals usually lack the reinforcement that motivates people to persist in goal attainment.
Study timeline
INITIAL RESEARCH
Literature review
I led a literature review with my team to find the most current research regarding long term goal achievement. Our research involved at looking at current behavior change theories aimed at facilitating goal attainment, as well as studies that provide methods for motivational support.
Goal achievement occurred when:​
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goals are specific, distinct and measurable
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goals are challenging but attainable​
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is conditional to whether the individual is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated​
RESEARCH
Participant sampling
My team and I gathered a convenience sample of four participants that were 18 years or older and possessed long-term goals. Two participants were masters students at the University of Washington. For the exploratory purpose of this study, we chose not to define what constituted as a long-term goal and left the definition for participants to determine.
Methodology
We used a grounded theory approach as our research methodology. Inductive methodologies would fit best with the exploratory nature of our research and wanted to create a theory around our participant’s experiences that could be applied.
We applied a mixed method approach that included semi-structured interviews and photovoice, which involved asking participants to take pictures of things that reminded them of their goals. Utilizing a mixed method approach allowed us to get a holistic understanding of our participant's experiences.
Example questions asked:
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How do you reflect on long term goals?
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How do you maintain long term goals?
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How have your goals change over time?
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What do you think you need to progress toward your goals?
Methods
Our interview sessions lasted 90 minutes long and took place at the University of Washington. The interviews were video recorded, so that we could reference participant body language. I was involved in most of the interviews as a moderator or notetaker.
During the interviews, participants reviewed their photovoice entries followed by two activities. The first activity involved listing past and present long & short term goals, and the second involved drawing a timeline of the most relevant past or present long-term goals.
P1. Photovoice
P3. Goal List
Interview timeline
Background questions
Photovoice review
Activity 1: Long & short term goal list
Activity 2: Long-term goal achievement timeline
Long-term goal reflection
P3. Long-term goal timeline
ANALYSIS
Understanding the data
My team and I followed a grounded theory approach and analyzed data as we received it. Each member was assigned to 2 participants and was responsible for developing in depth memos about their experiences. This tactic shortened the analysis process, while keeping data reliable.
After reviewing the memos, we noted any observations and assigned them to an initial set of codes. Next, we created an affinity diagram for our initial codes grouped by participant and assigned focus codes. Lastly, we combined the focused codes into one affinity diagram and developed our theoretical codes. We used the theoretical codes to create a theory.
Theoretical codes
FINDINGS I
Plans vs. emotions theory
Our research showed a strong correlation between long term goals, plans, and emotions. We found a tension between plans & emotions in the experience of goal maintenance within our participant's experiences.
Plans were discussed in the context of supporting and directing efforts toward achieving their goals. While emotions were categorized as positive or negative, and played a wide variety of roles (e.g. motivators & barriers). “Trusting the plan” was a reoccurring theme that helped navigate tension between plans and emotions.
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FINDINGS II
Tension areas
My team and I came up with 5 notable places of tension that influenced how participants maintained their long-term goals and if they were successful in achieving their goal.
Concrete vs. abstract goals
This code emerged after discussing the success metrics for each participant's goals. We've defined a concrete goal as a goal that has a clear endpoint and formal success metrics (e.g. running a marathon), while an abstract goal has an unclear success metric and may rely on a general feeling (e.g. establish a career). Three our of the four participants had concrete goals.
Fluid vs. happy path plans
This code emerged based on the observation of our participants' considerations of their goals not being met. We describe a plan as being “fluid” when a participant is willing to pivot or change their goal if it were unmet in the intended time frame. As opposed to an “ideal” plan, that does not take setbacks into account. Three out of our four participants had ideal plans.
Positive emotions
We observed that positive emotions from our participants past goal successes reinforces their motivation to achieve their current goals. It was especially prevalent in P2, who loves running. Their past accomplishment of completing a marathon boosted their confidence to sign up for another one.
Negative emotions as barriers & motivators
Participants perceived negative emotions as either a barriers or motivators to their long-term goal maintenance. P4 discussed how "failing to keep up" with one of their goals, ultimately led to them abandoning their goal. In contrast, other participants saw negative emotions as a hurdle to overcome. P1 said “discouragement from setbacks motivates me, which led to a re-examination of tactics to achieve their goal.
"Trust the plan"
The tension between Plans vs. Emotions is reflected to some degree in the experiences of all of our participants. P2 coined the term, “trust the plan” as their mantra and wrote in on the goal timeline they drew. They mentioned that trusting their marathon training plan helped them through moments of doubt about achieving their goal. Based on our analysis, trusting one’s plan might be the active ingredient in navigating the collision between plans and emotions during the process of long-term goal maintenance.
CONCLUSION
Reflection & next steps
Moving forward, it would be beneficial to check the Plans vs. Emotions theory with the experience of a larger amount of participants that are in different life stages. Our findings also showed that long-term goal maintenance can be enhanced by “trusting the plan.”
Further research would be beneficial to determine if the theory is supported by more people's experiences. If the theory is supported, the next step would be to identify specific ways to promote the formation of plans and the development of trust in those plans.
Appendix
For more information, please refer to our research study document below.