[CHAT]: Goals and Goal-Setting
So, goals are good. We get told it from our school, by our parents and by society all the time.
We get told that life is a simple progression from setting, goals, achieving those goals, and then setting new goals. Achieving goals guarantees success, and success guarantees happiness, right?
But, what happens if you don't succeed in your goals? What happens if your goals aren't the same as the goals that other people want for you? Arguably, goals are important, but what happens if you develop an unhealthy relationship with them? What if you set too much? Or too little?
How do you make goal-setting work for you, and not against you?
Join us next Monday, 17th July at A NEW TIME OF 7:30pm AEST To have a chat about all things goal-related. We hope to see you there! 🙂
Goal setting is the process of identifing the desired result and planning how to achieve it withing the specified time limit. Basically it's about planning the future.
Many a time we abandon our goals before we reach the finish mark. If we actually go the extra mile to follow a proper goal setting process, we can actually improve our chances of hitting our target.
In my opinion, we should set a goal in something that we love to do all the time. If we fail in something we will automatically get up if we love to do that and by continuous efforts, it will be achieved. Just we need to be motivated for our goals.
Hey everybody! Welcome to tonight's chat! Which we're having a go at starting at 730 for the first time ever!
Hey everyone!!
Sorry I'm late! The new time got me all muddled, but I am here now and ready to participate!
What exactly is a goal anyway?
It is an idea, task or achievement we have yet to reach but which motivates us to work to achieve it at some (ideally specified) point in the future. A goal can be related to all aspects of life and can be big or small, short term or long term.
Hi everyone,
I'll be in and out as I am cooking dinner 😄
What exactly is a goal anyway?
To me, a goal is something I want to achieve in my life and the steps I will take to achieve that goal. It is more than just an outcome of something, it is a process. It is a process I use in everyday life to help organise myself and manage things as they come. A goal is something that helps me keep perspective and purpose. It can be big or small, and it can be short or long. To me, a goal is something I desire for myself or it is something I am required to do.
@mspaceK A goal for me is definitely something I look forward to and use to motivate me to keep going. I like to set little goals at first so they seem more realistic and then lead it up to a bigger goal. An example when writing some of my assignments, I'll set a goal for 100 words (or something easily achievable) and gradually make it bigger until the goal is to completely finish my assignment. I use goals to motivate me in my uni work, to exercise and eat healthy and I also set money goals to help me save and buy things that I really need. I definitely think that having a goal of some sort is a very strong motivator to achieve what you want to achieve. 🙂
I really like your wordcount goals when you are writing assignments @lr8991. 🙂 i tend to have mini goals like that too and I find they help me to get started om difficult things.
Hey guys, so sorry I missed yesterday! Work is absolutely destroying my sleep schedule -_-
I'll pop in the answers to the questions here anyway!
1. What exactly is a goal anyway?
To me, a goal is something you aim to achieve. It can be a grade, a skill, a job, or anything that requires planning and effort. It also provides structure and organisation, and often the creation of the goal and striving to achieve it is wayyyy more important than if you actually do
2. How does goal setting help you in life?
Provides direction, organisation, purpose, structure and motivation! Or, for me anyway.
3. Goal setting has many benefits but what are some negative aspects of goal setting? How does it feel when a goal may not have worked out as well as you would've liked it to?
I definitely used to get really stressed out when I didn't achieve a goal, and that would usually happen in high school when I didn't get a grade that I wanted or a score on a test that I'd aimed for. So, from my experience, I would definitely say that the downsides of goals occur when you end up spending more time focussing on the outcome and not the process, and when you use negative self-talk when you goals don't turn out as planned. I definitely feel like this can also happen if your goals are unrealistically ambitious, or are goals that you've set because you feel like other people want them for you, such as 'my dad's a doctor, so even though I want to do social work, I have to get into medical school'.
I am pretty terrible at setting goals. Big or small. I often get the beginning of an idea which can progress into a goal but I don't let it become "goal" per se. I feel as if I set goals and then don't achieve them then I am a failure. I know that's not true but it is a barrier to me setting goals!
Good answers everyone, time for another Q!
How does goal setting help you in life?
How does goal setting help you in life?
Personally, goal setting gives me some semblance of structure and certainty. It's something tangible that can help me focus and give me motivation when I'm feeling unmotivated or clarity when I'm feeling anxious.
But goal setting can also sometimes be discouraging or overwhelming if the goals I set are too big or seem unacheiveable.
Goal setting has many benefits but what are some negative aspects of goal setting? How does it feel when a goal may not have worked out as well as you would've liked it to?
It sucks when goals don't work out. I had a lot of that happen this year. It made me feel hopeless that nothing was worth it anymore. Losing some goals made me give up on them all. I had to retrain myself in accepting that not everything I try will happen but it made me want to work harder for my long term goals.
I often try to put a positive spin on it, and instead of giving up on a goal, I'll have another crack at it and try not to be so hard on myself. Obviously if it's a time sensitive goal like school marks or the result of a sports match that can be tough, but if it's a goal like getting into a new routine or something I'll accept that the way I tried to do it first didn't work, and then maybe try a different way.
-- omg my dinner is so yummy -- I just had to add that in. I made a goal to cook dinner tonight and I did and it is delicious. nom nom nom xD
How does goal setting help you in life?
Goals really help me to cope with daily tasks and responsibilities, as well as help me to keep on track with my purpose and passions in life. By creating a goal and writing a 'to do list' with steps on how to achieve my goal, then I am able to break things up into more manageable tasks. I think the idea of having 'steps to achieve your goal' accompanying your goal are really important - because you can have a goal, but if you don't know how to achieve it and if you are not motivated to achieve it, then you will most likely not achieve your goal, and that's when you can start to feel down on yourself and disappointed. One of my goals that helps me cope is to 'remember to do self-care everyday, at least 5 minutes doing something I truly love and in that 5 minutes I don't have to worry about anything at all. I often take this up to 30 minutes. So that 30 minutes each day I am caring for myself and doing what I want..not what I might have to do.'
@roseisnotaplant. I had Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potato with this yummy sauce. I'll post up the recipe and pictures on my food for thought thread 😄
I set goals that relate to different aspects of my life; my job, uni, eating, sleeping, exercise and just general life. Some examples include:
A. Attend all uni classes to the best of my ability.
B. If I can't attend my uni classes, speak to a friend and/or teacher to catch up on what I missed.
A. Every Sunday plan 2 meals that I want to cook for the week and get the groceries for those meals.
B. If I can't cook 2 meals, try to cook at least one meal.
C. If I can't cook at all or get groceries, get a healthy take-out or go to a friends/family's house for dinner.
It's really important that I attend my classes so that I can keep up to date with my uni work and not fall behind on understanding concepts. Being at uni means I can socialise with friends and also ask the teacher for any help that I may need.
My second goal is a high priority because NOT eating healthy causes serious problems with my mood and energy levels which effects my ability to concentrate among other things. It's important that I focus on achieving these goals because it shows me that I can look after myself and I am working towards my career goal too. 🙂
We're still gonna do a 2 hour sesh @j95 🙂
@Meowkins that is a very good goal! I am learning about this too. I think it's something that like you said can take a while, perhaps in some senses we're all always learning more about it!
It'd be cool to make a thread about assertiveness and knowing your needs (which i reckon go hand in hand).
