The second way is to set goals that are tied to the best performances from the past. This makes the perception of what is possible in terms of performance more positive. When poor results occur, they are viewed as a temporary setback that the system is able to overcome, allowing it to get back on track to a better performance. Now the reinforcing feedback loop is trending positive and encouraging actors to work harder to achieve better results. So if you temporarily despise yourself because of that extra donut, remember the day when you ran two laps on the track instead of one and move on.
