{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/distinguish-a-blocked-goal-from-an-obsolete-goal",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1193",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Distinguish a blocked goal from an obsolete goal",
  "summary": "Persistence is useful only while the goal still deserves the effort.",
  "kind": "question",
  "body": "Before optimizing execution, separate two problems. A blocked goal still matters, but the route, capacity or dependency is wrong. An obsolete goal has lost enough value, feasibility or priority that continuing it is the problem. Research on multiple-goal pursuit and goal adjustment supports treating selection and adjustment as normal parts of self-regulation, but it does not give one universal stop rule.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not use one hard week as proof that a meaningful goal is obsolete. The evidence on goal adjustment is heterogeneous and does not validate this question set as a universal decision algorithm."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-goal-portfolio-and-procrastination"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-62087D21CBC61F88",
    "RS-C6D23E042D83E7B2"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Research on multiple-goal pursuit treats self-regulation as a dynamic process that includes selecting which goal to work on, deciding timing and order, and adjusting goals as demands and information change.",
      "source_id": "RS-62087D21CBC61F88",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The review synthesizes theories and empirical phenomena rather than validating a single prioritization rule.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    },
    {
      "claim": "A 2026 meta-analytic review mapped 1,421 effect sizes from 235 studies and found that goal disengagement, reengagement and goal-striving flexibility have distinct antecedents and outcomes, while rating the accumulated evidence low to moderate overall.",
      "source_id": "RS-C6D23E042D83E7B2",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "High heterogeneity, publication-bias risk and heavy use of cross-sectional studies mean the evidence does not supply a universal rule for when an individual goal should be abandoned.",
      "locator": "Abstract and evidence-quality summary"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A goal keeps slipping and you are unsure whether to push harder, change the method or stop."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not use one hard week as proof that a meaningful goal is obsolete. The evidence on goal adjustment is heterogeneous and does not validate this question set as a universal decision algorithm."
  ],
  "example": "A certification goal may still matter after work becomes busy; the plan needs a new route. A side project whose intended user problem has disappeared may need retirement rather than a better calendar.",
  "check": "You can name the decision as continue, change route, pause with a return condition, or retire—and point to the evidence behind it.",
  "question": "If the current method disappeared, would I still want the outcome? · What changed: value, feasibility, available capacity, dependency or opportunity cost? · Is there a different route that keeps the outcome but removes the main blocker? · What evidence would justify continue, change or stop at the next review?",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-62087D21CBC61F88",
      "title": "Dynamic Self-Regulation and Multiple-Goal Pursuit",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113156"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-C6D23E042D83E7B2",
      "title": "A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41233533/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1193",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1194",
      "type": "use_before",
      "url": "/knowledge/retire-a-goal-explicitly-when-its-case-has-changed"
    },
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1193",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0943",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/review-goal-progress-before-changing-the-goal"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-01E44BC725C55AA0",
      "title": "Choose, adjust and finish goals without turning life into a busier calendar",
      "url": "/collections/choose-adjust-and-finish-goals-without-turning-life-into-a-busier-calendar"
    }
  ]
}