3B – Building a good life

Avoidant and approach goals:

• Avoidant goals: these are things you try to avoid, or not do, e.g., I will stop eating chocolate. Avoidant focused people are constantly scanning their environment for threats.
• Approach goals: these are things or states that you want to achieve and fixed on success, e.g. I want to run 10 km. They are therefore more motivational and working towards them makes you happier and more successful.

Often both approach and avoidant goals are necessary for making positive changes. The relapse prevention section focused on thoughts or actions to avoid or be alert to, now we are going to focus on setting your approach goals.

So how do you identify the parts of your life you need to work on and what goals you want to set?