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What is success?
>> Is it what you accomplished?
Or how much you feel you have grown, learnt, and
your ability to change your habits, moving forward?
>> Most traditional views of success would argue that it's the former,
that it's about money, status, recognition.
And it's associated with the fleeting feeling of happiness you experience once
you achieve a goal.
>> However, another measure of success is based on the behaviors you take once you
achieve the goal.
>> The goal supporting activities that enable you to make progress
in important domains of your life such as health, relationships, or education.
>> Now, this insight is critical, because it moves us from focusing on our
achievements to thinking about what happens after the goal has been achieved.
It allows us to move from the short run win associated with attaining a goal
to the longer term benefits associated with continued improvement,
after the goal has been achieved.
>> The whole point of education is not getting a diploma.
It is to acquire the skills to keep learning in the future.
And the whole point of getting into shape is not to lose five pounds,
it is to keep the weight off, and maintain your healthy habits in the future.
>> In this life, success isn't the short run win,
it's the subsequent activity that you adopt after you achieve your goal.
>> In our research, we focus on how to achieve this type of longer term success.
We hypothesize that, instead of focusing only on the goal that's been attained.
Individuals will be better served by reflecting on all the steps he
took to achieve it.
Just think metaphorically about the entire effort as a journey,
rather than a destination.
>> So we recruited more than 1600 dieters, exercisers,
business executives, and university students to think about their goal
success as a journey they just completed or a destination they just reached.
For example, we designed a 14 day walking program, and
asked volunteers to download a Pacer Mobile app to track their steps.
The participants would state their walking goal, and tracked how far they walked.
After reaching their goal, they were then given the opportunity to continue tracking
their steps for three more days.
We found that the exercisers who were guided to think about completing
the program as a journey,
walked close to 5500 more steps during the three additional days.
That's a 55% increase in steps taken.
>> In another study, we worked with Stanford Seed Executive Education Program
in the African country of Ghana.
We gave one cohort of executives, a journey for
practice during the graduation ceremony.
They were asked to think about what they achieved as a journey.
Another cohort was instructed to think about their graduation as a destination.
We also had a control cohort,
who wasn't asked to reflect at all, during their graduation ceremony.
The Stanford Seed program then tracked these executives business practices for
six months after graduation.
The executives who used the journey metaphor to think about their achievements
were more likely to put their learning into practice when leading their companies
after they left the program.
>> What's important here is that when you look back at your past achievements as
a journey, instead of a destination reached, that mindset
helps you to recognize and learn from the ups and downs along the path,
inducing a feeling of growth and feeling positive behaviors moving forward.
>> But this doesn't mean that the destination mindset is without value,
it can be beneficial during the actual pursuit of a goal.
When you are in the middle of pursuing a goal,
it is important to have a North Star, or destination in mind.
It helps you sharpen focus and work harder.
However, when you achieve the goal, this research shows it helps to shift mindsets.
And take a moment to think about what you have accomplished, as a journey.
>> In this life success isn't the short run win,
it's the behavior that you adopt after you achieve your goal.
And a dirty mindset helps you stay focused on that type of success.
So, real success comes down to anchoring on the right destination and
embracing the journey.
But remember to look back on the journey, in order to move forward.