After reading this main post, it dawned on me that the scary sounding change terminal goals technique is really similar to just sour grapes reasoning plus substituting them with lower hanging grapes, that would eventually get you to the higher hanging grapes you originally wanted.
I typically refrain from deluding myself to think that I don’t want what is hard to attain, because I know I really do want it. With sour grapes reasoning I can pretend to not want my original goal as much as I now want another more instrumental goal. I feel like this helps me cope and be more productive, instead of frustrating myself with hard to define terminal goals.
At first I thought that changing terminal goals would be kind of a hard mind hack to put to use, but now that I think about it, it’s actually quite easy to carefully delude myself. This hack doesn’t have to just apply to lofty terminal goals, it can apply to goals that are just simply not in your locus of control, like getting the job or making the team. Didn’t get that internship? “Pfft, I didn’t really want it anyway, I really just want to practice and learn these skills to be an awesome programmer.” Didn’t make the cut for this year’s team? Pfft, I really just want to have an awesome crossover and sweet jump shot.”
After reading this main post, it dawned on me that the scary sounding change terminal goals technique is really similar to just sour grapes reasoning plus substituting them with lower hanging grapes, that would eventually get you to the higher hanging grapes you originally wanted.
I typically refrain from deluding myself to think that I don’t want what is hard to attain, because I know I really do want it. With sour grapes reasoning I can pretend to not want my original goal as much as I now want another more instrumental goal. I feel like this helps me cope and be more productive, instead of frustrating myself with hard to define terminal goals.
At first I thought that changing terminal goals would be kind of a hard mind hack to put to use, but now that I think about it, it’s actually quite easy to carefully delude myself. This hack doesn’t have to just apply to lofty terminal goals, it can apply to goals that are just simply not in your locus of control, like getting the job or making the team. Didn’t get that internship? “Pfft, I didn’t really want it anyway, I really just want to practice and learn these skills to be an awesome programmer.” Didn’t make the cut for this year’s team? Pfft, I really just want to have an awesome crossover and sweet jump shot.”