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A notebook with a list of goals.

What is goal setting?

Goal setting is the process of creating a step-by-step plan to achieve a certain desired outcome. They’re different from dreams, wishes, or ideas, although they can stem from them. Goals require action within a certain time frame, regardless of success or failure.

Why is goal setting important?

The importance of goal setting comes from the clarity and focus it provides. Aligning your choices with your goals and values lets you be proactive in shaping your path. The alternative is to simply react to circumstances.

Setting goals can give you a sense of agency and increase your self-esteem. Achieving small goals can help you feel more confident setting and reaching larger goals. And achieving personal goals can help you feel more capable of accomplishment in other areas, like work or school.

Goal setting can also be an opportunity to reflect on what’s truly important to you. Your family, community, or culture may attempt to set goals for you in areas of your life. This may include marriage, homeownership, parenthood, or income.

But striving for goals that don’t fit your desires or values can harm your mental health. Set your own goals to prioritize your happiness and fulfillment, rather than performing to meet others’ expectations.

Factors in goal setting

The goals you choose to set for yourself will be influenced by a large number of internal and external factors. Three important elements to keep in mind as you set a goal are:

  • The area(s) of life you want to focus on
  • Your timeline for achieving your goals
  • Your personal definition of success

Goal setting and the areas of your life

You can set goals in many areas of your life. Different types of goals will usually fall into one or more of the following categories: 

  • Personal: Many goals you set will have a personal aspect, but some focus specifically on self-improvement. For instance, you might aim to read a certain number of books every year for personal growth, rather than for school or work.
  • Academic: School teaches you to set and achieve short-term goals like completing assignments on time. It also teaches you long-term goals like attaining a target GPA.
  • Professional: Work environments have ample opportunities for short- and long-term goal setting. Simple, everyday professional goals include arriving on time or finishing a project before its deadline. Then there are long-term goals like meeting performance objectives or annual projections. You will likely need to set goals no matter where you work.
  • Financial: Setting financial goals helps you use your money in ways that suit your values. It can help you avoid overspending, mismanaging debt, or missing lucrative opportunities.
  • Relationship: Relationships rely on a certain amount of chance and opportunity, as well as the commitment of another person. However, you can still work to improve your relational health and happiness. Setting relationship goals can help you socialize more effectively and communicate better with your friends and family.
  • Spiritual: Our spiritual beliefs can determine what goals we set. Spiritual goals could include reading a sacred text, doing good works, praying, singing, making art, or being in nature more regularly.
  • Physical health: Goals are key in maintaining and improving your physical health. However, it’s important to choose goals that aren’t damaging. For instance, size and weight aren’t always good health indicators. Focusing on them too much can be physically and mentally harmful.
  • Mental health: Setting goals allows you to visualize and plan for a healthier future. You can set mental health goals on your own or with the help of a therapist.

Some goals may cross over into multiple areas. For example, a personal goal to get up earlier may allow you to pack lunch at home instead of buying it at lunchtime. This could help you meet a financial goal of saving money.

Goal setting and timelines

The timelines you set for your goals will influence them. Your time management skills also matter. A goal’s complexity and its importance to you can affect how long you take to achieve it. Goals can range from small and daily, to an overarching lifetime goal.

Remember to consider how your goals interact, regardless of their timelines. For example, a monthly goal of saving $500 may be at odds with a goal of getting coffee with friends every morning. Similarly, a five-year goal of buying a house may make an annual goal of vacationing internationally unrealistic.

Goal setting and defining success

Your definition of success will affect your goal setting. For example, let’s say you want to learn Italian before traveling to Rome. Does success look like memorizing common phrases, or being conversationally fluent?

Defining success for yourself may even determine what type of goal you set. For example:

  • Mastery goals measure success as either becoming competent in a skill or gaining mastery over it.1
  • Performance goals tend to be measurable and focus on outperforming others or attaining a specific accomplishment.2
  • Process goals focus on the act of learning, often with the intent of performing a personal best.

Goal-setting strategies

Before you pick an area of life to focus on, determine a timeline, or settle on your definition of success, you’ll need to decide what your goal is. Three common strategies can help you choose achievable goals: Locke and Latham’s principles, SMART goals, and SMARTER goals.

Locke and Latham’s principles

Psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham began researching the factors that influence human motivation in the late 1960s.3 By the 1990s, they’d developed a goal-setting theory that has survived ever since.

Based on their research, we now know it’s important that goals:

  • Are clearly defined : Clearly specify what you want to achieve.
  • Are challenging: Choose a goal that challenges you but is still achievable.
  • Match your level of commitment: Honestly determine how committed you are to achieving your goal.
  • Are realistically complex: Structure the goal so you aren’t overwhelmed by rigid standards or unrealistic expectations.
  • Can be measured: Create a system in which you review your progress and make changes if necessary.

SMART goal setting

Setting SMART goals is perhaps the most widely taught goal-setting strategy in schools. “SMART” is an acronym for a set of simple standards goals should meet.

  • Specific: You make sure your goal is clear and well-defined.
  • Measurable: You use tangible metrics to track your progress.
  • Achievable: You set a goal you can realistically achieve.
  • Relevant: The goal is in line with your desires and values.
  • Time-based: You set a deadline for achieving the goal.

SMARTER goals

New methods of goal setting have updated the SMART acronym to “SMARTER,” adding additional standards for the “e” and the “r.” These words vary depending on who’s teaching the strategy, but common additions are: 

  • Ethical: Your goal is moral.
  • Exciting: You’re already internally motivated to achieve your goal.
  • Rewarding: Accomplishing the goal gives you a sense of happiness or fulfillment.
  • Readjustable: You build in opportunities to adjust the goal as needed.
  • Recorded: You write down the goal or tell it to someone who’ll hold you accountable for achieving it. 

Why is it important to set realistic goals?

It’s important to set realistic goals for several reasons:

  • Realistic goals keep you motivated. When goals are achievable, you’re more likely to stay committed and work towards them consistently.
  • Setting realistic goals increases motivation. Each small win or realistic goal attained provides encouragement, confidence, and the drive to carry on.
  • Setting realistic goals involves breaking them down into manageable steps. This makes the goals less overwhelming and easier to work towards.
  • Realistic, attainable objectives are more flexible. You’ll probably find it easier to make necessary changes to your plans without getting disappointed or defeated.
  • Setting realistic goals minimizes stress and maximizes success. You’re less likely to feel like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster and more likely to focus on taking action.

What is the most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals?

The most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals is that you will give up and not reach the goal.4 Difficult goals can lead to burnout or a lack of motivation when progress is slow or setbacks occur.

Failure to meet unrealistic goals can erode self-esteem, potentially causing individuals to give up on goal setting altogether. You may be less likely to attempt something in the future if you think you can’t accomplish it. This decrease in confidence can spill over into other areas of life.

Why is it so hard to achieve your goals?

People who experience executive dysfunction may struggle with goal setting. Setting goals makes use of executive function skills such as: 

  • Planning
  • Starting and following through on tasks
  • Managing time effectively
  • Organizing
  • Adapting to new information
  • Resisting temptations or impulsive behavior

Mental health disorders and other conditions that can result in executive dysfunction include:

External factors can also limit a person’s ability to change their circumstances, regardless of their level of motivation. This includes societal discrimination based on race, class, gender, disability, or sexuality.

Goal setting for your mental health

Goal setting can be a key component to protecting and prioritizing your mental health. Consider setting the following mental health goals:

  • Find a therapist: If you’re struggling with your mental health, you’re not alone. Browse our provider directory to find a specialist near you.
  • Prioritize self-care: Learn how to set boundaries and invest in a strong foundation for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
  • Practice stress management: Take specific actions to respond to stress in ways that fit your goals and values.

About the author

The editorial team at therapist.com works with the world’s leading clinical experts to bring you accessible, insightful information about mental health topics and trends.