Het hieronder vermelde onderzoek laat zien hoe je je aandacht het beste kunt richten als je een doel wilt bereiken. Wanneer je nog maar net op weg bent richting je doel blijkt het het meest motiverend te zijn om je te richten op de progressie die je al geboekt hebt. Wanneer echter je einddoel in zicht komt blijkt het het meest motiverend te zijn om je aandacht te richten op de progressie die je nog moet boeken.

The Small-Area Hypothesis: Effects of Progress Monitoring on Goal Adherence
By Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fishbach

This article examines a small-area hypothesis: individuals striving toward a goal end state exhibit greater motivation when their attention is directed to whichever is smaller in size—their accumulated or remaining progress. The result is that, at the beginning of goal pursuit, directing attention to accumulated progress increases goal adherence relative to directing attention to remaining progress (e.g., 20% completed is more impactful than 80% remaining). However, with closeness to the goal, directing attention to accumulated progress lessens goal adherence relative to directing attention to remaining progress (e.g., 20% remaining is more impactful than 80% completed; studies 1–2). The focus on small areas increases motivation by creating an illusion of fast progress (study 3). Therefore, when individuals wish to prolong goal pursuit and avoid reaching the goal’s end state, they slow down goal adherence when their attention is directed to small areas (study 4).