Goal Setting and Achievement

                          Goal Setting and Achievement

Introduction

Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed in order to motivate and guide a person or group toward a goal. Goals are more deliberate than desires and momentary intentions. Therefore, setting goals means that a person has committed thought, emotion, and behavior toward attaining the goal. 

It is quite evident that goal setting is a key instrument, which fosters the prospect of your personal or professional advancements. Every goal should be concrete and specific. It is very important to identify what you are striving for and commit yourself wholeheartedly to achieving it.

Goal setting is everywhere in our world. We set goals for our careers, health, and lives in general. It seems modern society is always encouraging us to think about the next milestone. However, what we don’t think about enough is the science and strategy of how to accomplish your goals.

What is Goal – the setting?

Goal-setting is the process of taking active steps to achieve your desired outcome. Maybe your dream is to become a teacher, musician, or physical therapist. Each one of these dreams involves setting and reaching small and big goals. Each of these major goals can be broken down into smaller, more attainable goals that will propel you toward success.

There are three types of goals- process, performance, and outcome goals.

• Process goals are specific actions or ‘processes’ of performing. For example, aiming to study for 2 hours after dinner every day. Process goals are 100% controllable by the individual.
• Performance goals are based on personal standards. For example, aiming to achieve a 3.5 GPA. Personal goals are mostly controllable.
• Outcome goals are based on winning. For a college student, this could look like landing a job in your field or landing a job at a particular place of employment you wanted. Outcome goals are very difficult to control because of other outside influences.                                                                                                       General Goal-Setting Tips

• set both short- and long-term goals
• set SMART goals
• set goals that motivate you
• write your goals down and put them in a place you can see
• adjust your goals as necessary
• Recognize and reward yourself when you meet a goal

Set SMART Goals

Set all three types of goals- process, performance, and outcome – but focus on executing your smaller process goals to give you the best chance for success!

• specific – highly detailed statement on what you want to accomplish (use who, what, where, how, etc.)
• Measurable- how will you demonstrate and evaluate how your goal has been met?
• Attainable- they can be achieved by your own hard work and dedication- make sure your goals are within your ability to achieve
• Relevant- how do your goals align with your objectives?
• Time-based- set 1 or more target dates- these are the “by-whens” to guide your goal to successful and timely completion (include deadlines, frequency, and dates)

Benefits of Goal Setting

Helps You Stay Focused

The greatest importance of goal setting is that it helps you stay focused to achieve what you seek. It acts like a steering wheel that maneuvers you in the right direction. 

Assists in Overcoming Procrastination

Goal setting also helps you overcome procrastination. The habit of procrastination is one of the biggest frailties of human nature, which severely jeopardizes the chances of one’s advancement. However, if you have a set goal for yourself, you will always be on the ball and do as required to achieve it. You will waste less time on insignificant or unproductive actions and take a more direct route to the accomplishment of the goal.

Measures Your Progress

Goal setting works as a measuring gauge of your progress that enables you to evaluate your advancements from time to time. You will have a clear idea of what you have been able to achieve so far, what you lack, or how you can improve yourself.

Sets Barriers

It helps you set barriers. Setting clear, solid goals for yourself gives you a firm fenceline. It creates an invisible barrier, whereby you decide what you want, what liberties you and what distractions you need to get rid of, in order to expedite your progress toward achieving your goal. It also induces some sense of accountability towards yourself. 

Enables You to Manage Your Time

By setting goals, you will be able to manage your time to your maximum benefit. You will have a clear idea of what you have to achieve in a particular frame of time. Thus, you can channel all your energy and concentration toward achieving it. You can split one major goal into a number of short-term goals bound by certain limits of time, which will make the task easier. It increases your productivity and efficiency manifold.

Motivates

Motivation is an important ingredient that steps up one’s prospect of achieving one’s personal milestones. Assigning yourself some short-term goals will help you accomplish them in less time and will give you an added sense of achievement that can motivate you to perform better. Once motivated, you will set higher and higher limits for yourself and will be achieving more and more in due course of time. You 

Stress-Free Life

A clear goal and an efficacious game plan can make your existence more organized. By having a clear goal in your mind, you will be well aware of your priorities and with an effective time management strategy, you will be able to achieve your goals with little exertion. You will also be devoid of mental stress, further enhancing your productivity and efficiency.