How to Write a Goal

“What am I doing with my life? What do I want to do? Where am I heading?” These are common questions people ask themselves. Often, such hazy thoughts begin the process of goal setting and writing. While some people just stop at the vague level and give general responses to those questions, others will use similar questions to set specific and possible goals. can be done. Taking the time to write down those goals clearly will increase your chances of success. ^{[1] X Research Sources} And achieving goals is strongly correlated to your happiness and health. ^{[2] X Research Source McGregor, I., & Little, BR, 1998}

Table of Contents

Define your own goals

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Determine what you want. If you already have a certain concept of something you like or want to accomplish, it’s fairly simple to start working on it. But if you don’t have a specific goal in mind, at some point you may find yourself working either toward a vague goal or a changed goal. Setting goals will help you not waste time or energy. It can really give you more motivation to accomplish your goals.

For example, an employee would not want to start a vague task with no specific structure or instructions. However, employees will feel more motivated to work if they are assigned clear goals and results. ^{[3] X Research Source Locke, EA (1968). Theory of Motivating and Motivating Work. Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 3, 157-189.}
Examples of a general or vague goal are: “I want to be happy”, “I want to be successful” and “I want to be a good person”.

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Be specific when defining conditions. It is essential to understand what you are trying to achieve. Define generic or ambiguous terms. ^{[4] X Research Sources Fischhoff, B., Slovic, P., & Lichtenstein, S. (1988). Understand your desires: Measure volatile values. Decision Making: Descriptive Interactions, Rules and Regulations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 398-421. (Chapter 18)} For example, if you declare that you want to be a successful person, you need to determine what success means to you. For some, it can mean making a lot of money while for others, success means raising healthy and confident children.

Determining your conditions and goals will help you begin to see yourself in terms of the character and dignity that you are defining. ^{[5] X Research Sources Fischhoff, B., Slovic, P., & Lichtenstein, S. (1988). Understand your desires: Measure volatile values. Decision Making: Descriptive Interactions, Rules and Regulations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 398-421. (Chapter 18)} If you define success as a steady career, for example, you might set goals for getting into training and starting a business.

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Think about whether you really want these things. It’s perfectly normal to think you want something without really asking yourself why. However, there are times when you will have to decide that those goals don’t really align with your dreams and desires in life. A good example of this stems from the concept and ideology of society. A lot of kids say they want to be a doctor or a firefighter when they grow up, but don’t really understand what it means or realize later that those goals have changed. ^{[6] X Research Source Brunstein, JC (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1061–1070.}^{[7] X Research Sources Perrone, KM, Civiletto, CL, Webb, LK, & Fitch, JC (2004). Barriers and supports to achieving career and family goals among academically talented individuals. International Journal of Stress Management, 11, 114–131.}

Ask yourself if your goals are influenced by the people around you, such as the expectations of your parents or significant other, or by social pressure from friends and family. mass media.
Your goal should be something you want to accomplish for yourself , not anyone else.

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Consider your own motivation. Are you trying to achieve something or do something to prove someone wrong? While everyone has different “good” reasons, you need to ask yourself if your goals are right for you. Otherwise, you may feel unfulfilled or exhausted. ^{[8] X Research Source Schunk, DH (1990). Set goals and gain confidence during self-study. Educational Psychpogist, 25, 71– 86.}

For example: if you want to be a doctor, is it because you want to help people or because it’s a profession that makes a lot of money? If your motivation is inadequate, it can be difficult for you to accomplish your goals or feel fulfilled.

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Set realistic goals. It can be easy to become overly excited when you think about your goals. However, there are some things that may be out of your control. Depending on your goals, this can become a problem. Your goals need to be realistic and achievable. ^{[9] X Research Source}^{[10] X Research Source}

For example, someone wants to be the best basketball coach in the world, but issues like age and height can become big obstacles that you can’t control. Setting unachievable goals can make you feel frustrated and lose motivation to keep trying.

Write goals

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Imagine your own future. Take 15 minutes to jot down your vision, goals, and dreams. Don’t worry about having to write those goals down clearly or in a certain order. You just need to make sure that these goals and dreams align with your values and principles. If you’re feeling stuck, try a freehand writing exercise. You can describe: ^{[11] X Research Sources Marisano, Hirsh, Perterson, Pihl, and Shore (2010) from Peterson and Mar, 2004.}^{[12] X Research Sources}

The future you want
Qualities that you admire in others
Things you can do better
Things you want to learn more
Habits you want to improve?

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Break your goal down into specific steps. Once you have found your dreams and ideals, choose a few specific goals to achieve them. Try to be as clear and detailed as possible about these goals. If your goal is big and long-term, break it down into smaller goals or steps. You can view these steps or goals as a strategy to achieve your dreams and ideals. ^{[13] X Research Sources Austin, JT, & Vancouver, JB (1996). Building goals from a psychological perspective: Structure, process and content. Psychpogical Bulletin, 120, 338 –375.}^{[14] X Research Sources Locke, EA, & Latham, GP (2006). New directions in goal setting theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 265–268.}

For example, “I want to be a talented runner before my 50th birthday,” is a big and possibly long-term goal (depending on your current age). A better goal would be “I want to go to training for a 21km (half-marathon). I plan to do that for a year and run 43km (full-marathon) in the next 5 years.”

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Sort your goals by impact. You need to look back at your goals and decide which ones are the most important and you most want to accomplish. Think of each of these goals in terms of how achievable and time-consuming to accomplish, and the impact of trying and achieving that goal on your life. You should also ask yourself why you value certain goals over others. Make sure the goals on your list don’t contradict each other. ^{[15] X Research Sources Bandura, A. (1977). Confidence: Towards a unified theory of behavior change. Journal of Psychology, 84, 191–215.}^{[16] X Research Source Schunk, DH (1991). Confidence and motivation. Educational Psychpogist, 26, 207–231.}

Aligning your goals according to the level of influence will give you more motivation to strive to achieve. It also helps you visualize achieving that goal and the benefits it can bring.

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Set standards and deadlines. You can track your progress by setting standards and deadlines for your goals and steps. Achieving these will give you a sense of satisfaction, keep you motivated, and provide feedback on what is going well and what isn’t.

For example, if your goal is to run a half-marathon within a year, set a deadline for training within the next 6 months. Once you reach that goal, remind yourself to train for a half-marathon for the next 6 months. If you realize that you need more time, you can adjust your standards.
You can try using a calendar as a reminder card to keep yourself working hard to achieve your goals and timeframes. In addition, crossing a goal that has already been completed will help you get a sense of satisfaction.

Advice

It has been proven that writing a goal can increase the likelihood of achieving it. A study conducted by clinical psychologist Dr. Gail Matthews with the participation of 149 people has shown that those who write down their goals accomplish them better than those who do not. ^{[19] X Research Source}

Steps

Define your own goals

Write goals

Advice

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