"You know that rush of confidence that comes when you decide you are absolutely, totally going to make a change? The burst of optimism, the bliss of hope, the vision of your goals achieved? Turns out they can backfire on you. Especially that optimism bit. Scientists who study change and success know that intentions are an important part of accomplishing any goal. You have to want to change; you have to plan to act. But a new study from the University of Waterloo shows how positive intentions can actually interfere with long-term success. The study followed college students who had all set the goal to save money they were making at their jobs to help pay for school (on average, the savings goal for the term was $5000). They tended to be highly motivated and highly confident: they estimated, on average, an 85% chance that they would succeed." - Lit

"When they set their goals, the students also had the chance to enroll in a program designed to help them meet their goals by carefully tracking their savings. Most students did not believe they needed this help. When asked how much they were willing to pay for the support program, the most frequent response was "nothing." Even those who enrolled predicted it wouldn't do much for them. As it turns out, the program was quite helpful for those who participated, and would have been worth paying for. In the end, only 65% of participants met their goals, and this includes those who had the extra support of the savings tracking program. The researchers speculated that the students' initial optimism actually put them at a disadvantage over the quarter. Students put too much weight on their good intentions. They failed to recognize that they needed to carefully monitor their actual behavior, and might need some external help." - Lit