An Exploration of the Thoughts and Emotions Associated with Goal Attainment
The aim of this study is to explore and better understand two things that cannot be seen, but that play a significant role in goal outcomes – the inner world of thoughts and emotions. With some coaching scholars and practitioners believing that positive thinking and an optimistic outlook are valuable components of successful goal pursuit, this study explores positive and negative thoughts and emotions in a unified way, to reveal the reality of the ‘inner-game’ with a view to informing coaching practice. A quasiquantilogical Q-Methodology study of subjectivity is used to ‘make the unseen seen’. A universe of subjective thoughts and emotions experienced during goal pursuit are generated from literature and a Qualtrics survey to create a Q-Set of forty statements. Nineteen participants in professional and organisational settings offer their perspectives on these statements ranking them in a semi-forced distribution from ‘most agree’ to ‘least agree’. Using factor analysis, the nineteen individual perspectives reveal clusters of viewpoints and four distinct views have emerged. The Four View Framework including Positive, Realist, Dreamer, Conflicted, implies the emotions and thoughts experienced by coachees may not reflect the belief that positive thinking is the best or only route to goal attainment. The ‘negative’ Realists who experience self-doubt, overwhelm and anxiousness go on to achieve their goals, whilst only a quarter of the positive thinking ‘Dreamers’ and a third of the ‘Positive’ participants achieve theirs. This study offers a greater understanding of the inner experience of thoughts and emotions in pursuing goals. Revealing the combinations of negative emotions balanced with positive thoughts associated with goal attainment. It also offers a practical set of coaching cards and a Coaching Compass within the Four View Framework, creating a toolkit for coaching practitioners to help map and navigate the journey towards goal attainment.
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