The power of personal goals to help us in volatile times

Psych for Life with Dr. Amanda Ferguson

How does our increasingly volatile world impact our individual goal achievement – and why are our goals still so important?
Dramatically, the year before COVID-19 hit there was an explosion of scientific research into what makes an expert and how they achieve goals and greatness. There was a ground swell of pressure to discover what the pieces of the puzzle were and how they worked together. And then Covid-19 hit, and the world shut down, also shutting down – or at the least stunting – achievements world-wide.

So how are these volatile times changing our desires and abilities to achieve? Why is it important for us to keep working on our personal goals, and especially ambitious goals? What has the pandemic taught us about this? Why is this personally empowering?

Dip into the fascinating history of work engagement, self-regulation, performance, goal setting and achievement. Learn more about the nature of volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) times, the discoveries made about performance and achievement for these times. Gain an understanding of the added complexity it brings. Become up-to-date about how you can navigate your way to achieving your personal goals.

Developed from an academic paper presented by Dr Amanda at The
Australian Annual Industrial Organisational Psychology Conference
on 4 July 2022.