Goal Pursuit and Goal Attainment

Although the expression goal pursuit seems to be rather a technical term it does describe a basic situation that we are frequently confronted with in daily life. However, we usually only become aware of this when explicitly having a task to solve, especially when this requires cooperation with others.

Goals are usually not pursued blindly, but obey an arithmetical logic. The higher the expectation of being able to achieve a certain goal and the more valuable the goal appears to a person, the more likely it is that the person will stick to that goal. Sticking to a goal - i.e. one's firm intention to achieve it - is made easier if a goal is split into sub-goals that are operationalized through "if-then plans". These plans not only help a person to enter the action phase in a target-oriented manner. In the action phase, these plans also help to reduce one's own attention by simply applying predefined steps to achieve a goal in a quasi-automated manner. The "saved" attention can then be used to check the current status of the goal pursuit and to anticipate obstacles on the way. Both actions support one's own determination to pursue a goal as well as to achieve it.

However, the pursuit of goals is not just an issue of a person’s determination. Equally important are the available scope for action and the social support received. The importance of both concepts is often underestimated in business practice. However, they play a significant role in motivation, especially when facing competing goals or, generally spoken, when time required is longer than initially expected.

Pursuing a goal is actually not a trivial matter. The range of services provided by coopartner includes to train this capacity under challenging conditions. For more information, see e.g. https://www.coopartner.de/en/check-ups