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Debunking self-help advice that you've likely heard | Nudge Newsletter

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Long-Term Goals = Success?

​Read online​

You've probably heard of the “Yale Goal Study".

Here's the study.

In 1953, researchers interviewed Yale’s graduating class. They asked a simple question:

“Have you written down your goals for life?”

Twenty years later, they tracked the same students down.

And discovered something dramatic.

Just 3% had written specific goals.

And that 3% had built more personal wealth than the other 97% combined.

It’s a perfect self-help story, with a simple lesson.

Make long-term specific goals and you'll achieve success.

It gets quoted in seminars. Repeated in books. Shared in LinkedIn posts.

There’s just one small problem...

It never happened.

In 1996, Fast Company writer Lawrence Tabak¹ tried to track down the original research.

He contacted authors who had cited it. He reached out to the secretary of Yale’s Class of 1953. He spoke with researchers who had gone looking before him.

There was no evidence the study ever existed.

It's one of the most popular findings for self-help gurus. Yet it's entirely fictitious.

Writing down your long-term specific goals is definitely useful, but don't be fooled into thinking it'll guarantee you financial success.

So, are there reliable evidence-backed insights you can use?

Yes, in the Nudge Vaults.

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Thanks for reading,

​Phill​

¹Tabak, L. (1996). If your goal is success, don't consult the gurus. Fast Company.

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

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Nudge Newsletter

Phill Agnew

I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.

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