Do-Your-Best Goal

Do-Your-Best Goal

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

A non-specific instruction that gives no external standard for how much effort or result is enough.

What it is

It is the comparison condition in goal-setting studies, set against specific, difficult goals.

In effect

In the article on goal-setting theory, it serves as the vague side of the contrast.

What it does not say

It is a name for the comparison condition. It does not say that vague goals never help, only that specific, difficult goals were found to raise performance more in the work reviewed.

Sources

  1. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.