A goal is a desired outcome. It is something you would want to achieve whether for yourself, as a group, or a team. It could be a desire for you to start eating healthy and get real on your diet, or a school play you want to be part of, probably a football cup you’re aiming to win as a team, or might be a science quiz bowl you want to ace. For a goal to be set, you have to plan out a specific action, give your full commitment, invest your time, and hit a deadline to materialise it.
Edwin Locke, an American psychologist who pioneered the “Goal Setting Theory of Motivation” states that goal setting is essentially linked to task performance. Having specific, and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance. It is also an effective process to achieve your desired outcome by breaking down your main goal into a more doable and attainable task to achieve such result.
Setting a goal also requires setting a correct mindset to get your head in the game. This is practically the first thing you must do to get started. Success mindset as they say, is a mindset that is focused on winning, on victory, based on having positive mental thinking, which will then empower you to develop good habits that will remarkably help you achieve your goals. After you have successfully gotten your mind into thinking correctly, all the rest will follow which is summed up into what we commonly known as SMART goal.
S – pecific. In order to make your goals specific, consider asking all the “W” questions.
Examples:
Who is involved in this goal?
What do I want to accomplish?
Where is this goal to be achieved?
When do I want to achieve this goal?
Why do I want to achieve this goal?
M – easurable. You need to have an indicator to keep track of your progress.
A – chievable. Although your goals could be challenging, you know you could make your way through it if you make it achievable and attainable. Efforts must also be worked out.
R – ealistic. Given the resources you have at hand, and the time given, your goal must be realistically inclined to the things you have at the moment and the time left to work on it.
T – imely. A start and end date are necessary to keep the motivation with a sense of urgency.
This method is an effective guide to individuals planning to materialise the tasks at hand and achieve a favourable outcome in a strategic and organised manner. However, just as it is important to learn how to set and achieve your goals, it is equally important to learn how to cope with disappointment when things don’t go well with how we pictured it out to be. And that’s totally normal. Part of the journey is to experience these bumps along the way, but that doesn’t mean that what you were trying to achieve was a failure. Or worse is when you think that you are the failure, yourself. NO. You have to remember that no effort is ever wasted because the learnings and experiences you’ve had on the process is a step closer for you to master and hone your craft. Disappointments can still be used to your advantage to fully build your self-confidence and teach you and help you in your growth far more than success could. While success teaches you to keep your feet on the ground, stay humble, and that hard works really do pay off, disappointment teaches you to always do better the next time and that difficulties won’t stop you in achieving your goals, instead, it will all the more help you push yourself to your limits.
At times when you think that it is about time to stop the goal you are aiming for, try to ask yourself these following questions first before coming up with a decision, according to Renaye Thornborrow’s Adventures in Wisdom Goal Setting Skillbook:
1. Have your interests changed?
a. A change of heart a long the way is normal and part of the experience. Make sure about these changes.
2. Has it become too hard?
b. If it has become too hard on the process, ask yourself if the goal is still important to you.
3. Is there an obstacle in your way?
c. Obstacles such as very limited time, or not enough resources and money could be considered.
Going over these questions will help you understand and consider everything first before deciding to stop. Ups and downs are nothing but normal when you pursue a goal and thinking about giving up should be the last thing to do after all has been carefully thought of.
The real power after all lies in the hands of the doer. Your goals should be something that inspires you to keep going instead of becoming a burden. With these things to guide and help you obtain that goal, it is a sure fire you’ll be okay as you go on achieving them. Goodluck! 
