Goal Setting and Implementation Assignment

           Goal setting is what an individual strives to accomplish. When we set a goal for ourselves, we engage in goal-

directed behavior. Our motivation to reach the goals we set for ourselves comes from the discrepancy between what

is our current accomplishment and what is our ideal accomplishment.

Currently, I am in my 4th year in Psychology and my current goal is to apply for a master's in different

countries. When I started to investigate different types of programs, I felt lost and uninformed. Since different

programs or countries has different regulations and requirements, I will be going to set a goal for myself to have

sufficient knowledge and requirements that I need to have to apply for master programs. This is a goal that I am

currently trying to accomplish. I accomplish some of the short-term goals that I had to accomplish but I have a long

road ahead of me. By doing this assignment I will be able to see which parts in my goal setting I am lacking, or

which parts need an improvement.

Applying for a master's is my long-term goal, by setting short-term goals for myself I feel motivated to

reach the bigger goal. While setting this goal for myself I am comparing myself with my current and ideal self. My

current self is to look for masters, look at the application process, and application dates, and write a statement of

purpose. My ideal self is to apply masters in London, Netherlands, and Turkey and get accepted into the programs

that I am eager to. Setting a goal for myself to go to a master’s program is important for me to see the road ahead of

me. However, just setting a goal is not sufficient to reach a goal but also, the type of goal setting is important. One

of the key elements in goal setting is goal difficulty. The more difficult the goal, the higher the performance. While I

am setting a goal for myself to go to a master’s program, I searched for the programs that are in the top 10 in the

world ranking and have lower acceptance rates so harder to get in. By applying to master's programs that have lower

acceptance rates my performance and ambition related to my academic career increased. I applied for internships,

and research labs, get to know my professors better, and work hard in my classes. Another factor that is important in

goal setting is the specification of the goal. In the summer I set a goal for myself to look at the world rankings of

clinical psychology master programs, look at course offerings, academic staff, internship opportunities, and

application fees. After I search for the programs, my goal was to find a professional consular who has knowledge

and expertise about the offerings of the different master programs and how to apply for those programs. After I get

the necessary information from a professional, I tried to contact various people who got into the master’s program to

that I will going to apply. Furthermore, another element that is important in goal setting is the congruence of the
goal. The goals we set for ourselves should serve our self-interests, values, and preferences. For instance, if my

parents set a goal on my behalf of me to apply for master's programs, it may not reflect my self-interest but reflect

their interests. So, choosing a goal autonomously that reflects our self-interests, values, and preferences increases

performance as well as persistence. In addition to those three elements, it is important to get feedback that shows

whether you perform well or poorly to accomplish the goal. If we perform poorly then our ought to performance

discrepancy- reduction comes into play. Since an individual does not feel satisfied because of below-level

performance, the individual performs with increased effort, persistence, and continuity to reduce the discrepancy.

Such as sometimes because of my busy schedule of mine, I sometimes do not pay enough attention to the

requirements that I need to do for the application for my master's. However, when I realize I am performing poorly,

I immediately start to be working on it. On the other hand, when the feedback shows that we perform above our goal

level, discrepancy creation occurs. Since already performing above the goal level, a new or more difficult goal can

be set to create a discrepancy. Setting a goal for ourselves is important but just setting a goal is not enough to

accomplish the goal. Goal striving is also important for performance, attention, and persistence that we perform to

reach a goal. The essential part of the goal striving is to formulate an implementation intention. Implementation

intention consists of two types of intentions which are goal intention and implementation intention. A goal intention

refers to what we want to achieve. In my case, my goal intention is to get accepted for the master's programs that I

am applying to. The implementation intention is how we specify the goal that we want to achieve. This specification

includes when, where, and how we will achieve that goal. Including where, when, and how to strive for our goal we

set a plan for ourselves. To achieve my goal, I specify that if I want to get accepted into master's programs, I must

study hard to get a good GPA, do an internship, participate in research labs, and do the necessary tasks to apply for

master's programs. I created a schedule for myself. To get a good GPA, after my classes I will revise the lecture

materials that I learned that day for two hours for each class in the school library. To make an internship I will be

going to work three days in a psychiatric hospital for three days. By making an internship in the psychiatric hospital

I will be going to have a chance to see various patients that able to integrate what I learned from lessons into the real

hospital setting. And to participate in research labs I will be going to analyze data on Wednesdays for four hours.

Also, I will work on tasks that I am required to do for applying for my master's on Saturday for three hours. By

creating an implementation intention, it will be going to be my weekly habit to accomplish the tasks that I set for

myself. With consistency and persistence, it will be going to be my behavior. With implementation intention, it is
easier to overcome distractions. Since I have weekly short-term goals to achieve my long-term goal, I will be

working on the tasks that I have to accomplish. I think it is important for individuals to set a goal for themselves. If

it is long-term, specifying the long-term goals with making an implementation intention specifies the goals, and

creates a specific short-term plan to attain the bigger goal. However, it is important to note that some goals can be

unattainable and can be very difficult in a way that exceeds one’s skill level. So, knowing where one needs to stop

and choose an alternative goal is a crucial part to attain a goal. Setting an unattainable goal can affect individuals’

psychological well-being. To prevent this individual has to develop a new alternative goal to attain.