Why consider Goal Setting

Goal Setting

T he Goals that you want and the steps to get you there (the objectives you will learn to set) will ensure that your goals are not lost in the shuffle! Think about our couple seeking sustenance on a Friday night. If they had known from the beginning, where they wanted to go, they would have gotten there faster. Even if there were detours or road closures, they would have avoided driving around aimlessly hoping to find a place that would meet their needs. There is yet another consideration in goal setting and that is that when you set a goal, you are giving your brain a conscious direction and pattern. The more you review and work on the goals and objectives you set, the more your brain will grasp and solidify the goal, and the less likely you will be to lose steam or to forget about those all important things you want to accomplish. When you set goals and remind yourself of those goals, your brain can process and sort all the other details and distractions of your day within the context of your goals and how important those distractions may be when COMARED TO THOSE GOALS.

“Goal Setting can be used in a complex way and can also be done regularly, every month or so.”

Goals keep you and your brain focused on where you want to go in the long-term, rather than the on the minutia of the day. But, what if you really don’t know what you want? For example, what if your goals are very vague because you are young and don’t know yet what you want to do for a career? Is it still important to set goals? Sure it is! Your goal may not yet be something as clear as “I want to be a heart surgeon at the Mayo Clinic by the time I am 40”, but you could have a goal to decide what career you want by age 30 or a goal to try at least 4 different types of jobs by the time you are 30. What jobs might those be and how would you find out what skills you need for those jobs? By actively setting goals and exploring and getting educated, you will sift through things you DON’T want to do and find the things that appeal to you. So you ARE working toward a longer-term goal even though, at the outset, you don’t know the exact name of the job you want.You can also write down all the things that appeal to you, all the things in your life that you DO want, even though they may not have exact names. By thinking this through, you may see a pattern. The pattern may relate to the TYPES of things you like (physical things versus reading a book) or the types of places that appeal to you (cities or country settings). By looking at your personal preferences, you acknowledge who you are and how you would like to live and you can use that information to design personal and professional goals. The bottom line is that goals are important, both for those of us who know exactly what we want and for those of us who are still trying to decide. Because setting goals will help the undecided among us to discover more about themselves and the world around them and THEN they will know what they want to do next.