A strong self-concept depends both upon what you do, and your idea of yourself. Goal setting is the process that allows you to analyze and determine what you do. Goal setting helps you feel strong and in control. Goal setting drives us and gives us a measure for our successes. Setting goals provides an incentive and helps to push us into completing the goals we set.
The process of setting goals helps to provide a clear picture of your wants and needs so you can chart your own life destiny. To get a clear picture of your wants and needs, consider eight types of goals.
To begin building and qualifying your list of goals, answer four key questions that serve as triggers.
Question | Example | Potential Goal |
What hurts, or feels bad? | The long commute to work | Explore a telecommuting option |
What are you hungry for? | More time in the outdoors | Plan a national park vacation |
What are your dreams? | Enhance the yard | Build a rock garden |
What are the little comforts? | A new kitten | Adopt or buy a pet |
Now classify the goals according to potential timing: long-range, medium-range, and immediate.
Long-Range Goals
Medium-Range Goals
Immediate
The SMART method is a straightforward way to qualify and quantify each goal.
Handout Four: Smart Goal Setting describes the SMART criteria and provides examples of how they are used to establish and qualify goals.
SMART is a convenient acronym for the set of criteria that a goal must have in order for it to be realized by the goal achiever.
Use the SMART goal-setting method to set up an out of class personal goal.
Drew was a great influence and inspiration to a lot of his co-workers. He had a successful career thanks to his goal setting techniques. Since he was young Drew knew what he wanted to achieve, and by setting realistic and achievable goals he had positive results most of the time. This way, he learned that goal setting was an important aspect of everyday life which many people failed to apply.
With age, he still wrote them down on paper. He then reviewed his smart goals in his mind which allowed him to make all the necessary decisions to make sure that his goals were fulfilled. His manager recognized these skills and asked Drew if he would create a set of “Drew’s Rules” to help other people in developing better goal setting skills.