UNIT 3: MANAGING AND TAKING CARE OF THE SELF

Lesson 1: Goal Setting

source: www.canva.com

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
1. Understand the theoretical underpinnings for how to manage and care for
different aspects of self
2. Acquire and hone new skills and learnings for better managing one’s self
and behavior.
2. Apply these new skills to one’s self and functioning for a better quality of
life.

I. THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOAL

 First, goals serve a directive function; they direct attention and effort
toward goal – relevant activities and away from goal – irrelevant activities.
 Second, goals have an energizing function. High goals lead to great effort
than low goals.
 Third, goals affect persistence. When participants are allowed to control
the time they spend on a task, hard goals prolong effort. Faced with a
difficult goal, it is possible to work faster and more intensely for a short
period or to work more slowly and less intensely for a long period.
 Fourth, goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery,
and/or use of task – relevant knowledge and strategies. (Wood & Locke,
1990, as cited by Locke & Latham, 2002).

A. Bandura’s Self-efficacy
 Students’ goal can be achieved only if they are worthy of believing these
goals can be achieved. As Gandhi perfectly understood the essential role
of self-belief in the students’ lives: “Your beliefs become your thought. Your
thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your

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 actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values
become your destiny.”

Self-efficacy was developed by Albert Bandura.

a. Self – efficacy beliefs are an important aspect of human motivation and
behavior and they influence the actions that can affect one’s life.
b. Self-efficacy, as Bandura (1995) explains, “refers to belief in one’s
capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to
manage prospective situations.” More simply, self-efficacy is what an
individual believes he or she can accomplish using his or her skills under
certain circumstances.
b. Self-efficacy has been thought of as a task-specific version of self-esteem.
The basic principle behind Self-Efficacy Theory is that individuals are more
likely to engage in activities for which they have high self-efficacy and less
likely to engage in those they do not. People behave in the way that
executes their initial beliefs; thus, self-efficacy functions as a self-fulfilling
prophecy.

People with high assurance in their capabilities:

1. Approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered
2. Set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them
3. Heighten or sustain their efforts in the face of failures or setbacks
4. Attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills which
are acquirable
5. Approach threatening situations with assurance that they can exercise
control over them.

On the contrary, people who doubt their capabilities:

1. Avoid tasks they view as personal threats
2. Have low aspirations and weak commitment to goals they choose to
pursue
3. Dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles they will encounter, and all kinds
of adverse outcomes, rather than concentrating on how to perform
successfully
4. Loosen their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties
6. Are slow to recover their sense of efficacy following failure or setbacks
7. Fall easy victim to stress and depression

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Four (4) Main Sources of Efficacy Beliefs (Bandura, 1997)
1. Mastery Experiences - It is also known as personal performance
accomplishments; are the most effective way to create a strong sense of
efficacy.

Positive example: If an individual performed well in a previous job assignment,

then they are more likely to feel confident and have high self-efficacy in
performing the task when their manager assigns them a similar task. The
individual’s self-efficacy will be high in the particular area, and since he or she has
a high self-efficacy, he or she is more likely to try harder and complete the task
with much better results.
Negative example: If an individual experiences a failure, he/she will most likely
experience a reduction in self-efficacy. However, if these failures are later
overcome by conviction, it can serve to increase self-motivated persistence
when the situation is viewed as an achievable challenge (Bandura, 1977).

2. Vicarious Experiences - These are done through observance of social models

that also influence one’s perception of self-efficacy. The most important factor
that determines the strength of influence of an observed success or failure on
one’s own self-efficacy is the degree of similarity between the observer and the
model.

Increase in self-efficacy example: Mentoring programs, where an individual is

paired with someone on a similar career path who will be successful at raising the
individual’s self-efficacy beliefs. This is even further strengthened if both have a
similar skill set, so a person can see first-hand what they may achieve.
Decrease in self-efficacy example: Smoking cessation program, in which,
individuals witnessing several people’s failure to quit, may worry about their own
chances of success, leading to low self-efficacy for quitting; or a weight – loss
program in which others do not achieve the results you are hoping for.

3. Verbal or Social Persuasion - It is a “way of strengthening people’s belief that

they have what it takes to succeed.” When it is effective in mobilizing a person to
action, and their actions lead to success, the enhanced self-efficacy may
become more permanent. It is influenced by encouragement and
discouragement pertaining to an individual’s performance or ability to perform.

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Positive example: A teacher telling a student: “You can do it; I have confidence
in you.” Using verbal persuasion in a positive light generally leads individuals to put
forth more effort; therefore, they have a greater chance at succeeding.
Negative example: A teacher saying to a student; “This is unacceptable! I thought
you could handle this task”, can lead to doubts about oneself resulting in lower
chances of success.

4. Emotional and Physiological States--The state a person is in will influence how

he or she judges self-efficacy. Stress reactions or tension are interpreted as signs
of vulnerability to poor performance whereas positive emotions can boost
confidence in skills.

Some examples of physiological feedback are: giving a speech in front of a large

group of people, making a presentation to an important client, taking an exam,
etc. All of these tasks can cause agitation, anxiety, sweaty palms, and / or a
racing heart.
Although this source is the least influential of the four, it is important to note that if
one is more at ease with the task at hand he/she will feel more capable and have
higher beliefs of self-efficacy.

B. Carol Dweck’s Mindset

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University
psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success.
Mindset are beliefs, beliefs about one’s self and one’s most basic qualities.
 People with fixed mindset people believe their qualities are fixed traits and
therefore cannot change. These people document their intelligence and
talents rather than working to develop and improve them. They also believe
that talent alone leads to success, and effort is not required.

 According to Dweck, when a student has a fixed mindset, they believe that
their basic abilities, intelligence, and talents are fixed traits. They think that
you are born with a certain amount and that's all you have. There are many
people with this consuming goal of proving themselves, in the classroom, in
their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a
confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation
is evaluated (Dweck, 2006).

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  People with growth mindset see their qualities as things that can be
developed through their dedication and effort. They are brainy and
talented, but that is just the starting point. They understand that no one has
ever accomplished great things without years of passionate practice and
learning. This is based on the belief that their basic qualities are things they
can cultivate through their efforts. Although people may differ in every
which way, in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments,
everyone can change and grow through application and experience
(Dweck, 2006).

 People with a growth mindset are also constantly monitoring what’s going
on, but their internal monologue is not about judging themselves and others
in this way. Certainly they’re sensitive to positive and negative information,
but they’re attuned to their implications for learning and constructive
action as reflected in the questions: “What can I learn from this? How can I
improve? How can I help my partner do this better?” (Dweck, 2006).

 Your fixed beliefs about you will hold you back from making positive
change. If you have a trait that you believe cannot be changed, such as
your intelligence, your weight, or your bad habits, you will avoid situations
that could possibly be uncomfortable or that you think that are useless.

Four (4) Simple Steps to Begin Changing Mindset

1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
2. Recognize that you have a choice.
3. Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
4. Take the growth mindset action.

C. Angela Duckworth – GRIT

A Psychologist from the University of Pennsylvania and is the world’s leading
expert on Grit; she devoted her research on the qualities that lead to success

Grit defined: grit is passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term
achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the
way. It combines resilience, ambition, and self-control in the pursuit of goals that
take months, years, or even decades.

MAIN PROPOSITIONS:

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a. Showing up: Although talent and luck play a part in success, when it comes
to facing a wide variety of challenges, the most successful people display
a large amount of grit.
b. Effort counts twice: Many times talented people are not the highest
achievers; instead, people who work incredibly hard can be more
successful.
c. Duckworth feels that although tests of talent are imperfect, the real
problem is that the focus on talent distracts people from focusing on effort,
which is more important to success.
d. Duckworth created two equations to explain how people can transition
natural talent into achievement: talent x effort=skill and skill x
effort=achievement.
e. How Gritty Are You? To be successful, a person should set a top-level goal
and then ensure that he is working towards that goal and not wasting time
on things that are distracting.
f. Grit grows: Grit may be partially genetic but it can also grow through
maturity and life circumstances. There are four things that the grittiest
people have in common: interest, practice, purpose, and hope.
g. Interest: It takes time and diligence to discover and deepen one’s interest.
According to research, people are happier and perform better in their
careers when they are doing something that they enjoy. Many successful
people who love their careers did not always have a singular passion for
their work; they experimented with other things before arriving to their true
passion.
h. Practice: The most successful people not only practice longer than others,
but they also deliberately practice on improving their weaknesses.
Deliberate practice begins by setting a stretch goal, which refers to a
particular weakness that the person is trying to improve. Once the person
sets the goal, he focuses solely on improving that weakness by practicing
and getting feedback from others on how he can improve. Then the person
practices continuously until he can easily do the thing that he once found
difficult. Once he has mastered the stretch goal, he sets another. Mastering
many small goals leads to great success.
i. Purpose: Purpose is the desire and aim to help others. The passion of a gritty
person is comprised of both interest and purpose. Most people begin with
a self-oriented interest, hone that interest through practice, and finally find
a way to bring purpose into their work.

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 j. Hope: Gritty people embrace an optimistic growth mindset that helps them
overcome setbacks. Rather than passively waiting for things to get better,
people with grit believe that they can develop a better future for
themselves.
k. Parenting for Grit: Wise parents who are equal parts supportive and
demanding and who model grit in their own lives are far more likely to have
gritty children.
l. The Playing Fields of Grit: Students who participate in an extracurricular
activity for at least two years are more successful later in life because
extracurricular activities teach discipline and persistence.
m. A Culture of Grit: Culture has the ability to shape our identity, so if we are
part of a gritty culture, we can become grittier people. A culture is
comprised of a group of people who have the same values. There are
sports teams, businesses, and schools that qualify as a culture. After a while
of belonging to a certain culture, people will begin to assimilate that
culture’s values into their own identities. Gritty people will sometimes live
their lives in ways that are confusing to others because the rewards for what
they are doing are so far off, but their culture and identity can explain why
they make hard choices.

Sources:
Companion Reads (n.d.) Grit summary. Retrieved from https://companionreads.com/grit-
summary/#tab-con-20
Fessler, L. (2018). Angela Duckworth’s “Grit”. Retrieved from https://qz.com/work/1233940/angela-
duckworth-explains-grit-is-the-key-to-success-and-self-confidence/