You hit it right on the head – I even had a whole section on risk aversion, before I decided I was being needlessly technical and deleted it. It would be great if our brains could recognize that losing is no longer dangerous, but oh well.

I’m still trying to work out the balance that works for me. For example, my goal accountability group is definitely an avoidance goal (“I’ll go to the gym 3 times this week, because if I don’t I’ll look bad at our weekly meeting), but the other reason I go to the gym is so that I can look and feel great. A mix of approach and avoidance does seem to be best, great insight Steve!

I think you make a great case for changing our approach to goal-setting. It can be just a little more motivating to put it in terms of avoidance. But you’re right, it can make it a little more stressful. Perhaps finding a good balance is the key.