setting goals assignment quizlet

The Science & Psychology Of Goal-Setting 101

How would you feel?

Goal-setting in psychology is an essential tool for self-motivation and self-drivenness – both at personal and professional levels. It gives meaning to our actions and the purpose of achieving something higher.

By setting goals, we get a roadmap of where we are heading to and what is the right way that would lead us there. It is a plan that holds us in perspective – the more effectively we make the plan, the better are our chances of achieving what we aim to. Rick McDaniel (2015) had quoted,

“ Goal-setters see future possibilities and the big picture. ”

Setting goals are linked with higher motivation, self-esteem, self-confidence, and autonomy (Locke & Latham, 2006), and research has established a strong connection between goal-setting and success (Matthews, 2015).

This post is all about understanding the benefits of goal-setting and implementing that knowledge in our day-to-day lives. In the following sections, we will take an in-depth look into how goal-setting influences the mind to change for the better, and contribute to making smarter decisions for ourselves.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains:

What is goal setting a psychological definition.

• The Psychology of Goal Setting

How is Goal Setting Used in Psychology?

Goal setting and positive psychology.

• A Look at Goal Setting Theory
• Psychological Studies and Research on Goal Setting

3 Interesting Research Findings

3 goal setting case studies, goal setting and the brain: a look at neuroscience, a take-home message.

Goal setting in psychology refers to a successful plan of action that we set for ourselves. It guides us to choose the right moves, at the right time, and in the right way. In a study conducted on working professionals, Edwin A. Locke, a pioneer in the field of goal-setting, found that individuals who had highly ambitious goals had a better performance and output rate than those who didn’t (Locke, 1996).

Frank L. Smoll , a Ph.D. and a working psychologist at the University of Washington emphasized on three essential features of goal-setting, which he called the A-B-C of goals. Although his studies focused more on athletic and sports-oriented goal-setting, the findings held for peak performers across all professions.

ABC of Goals

Smoll said that effective goals are ones that are:

• A – Achievable
• B – Believable
• C – Committed

Goal-setting as a psychological tool for increasing productivity involves five rules or criterion, known as the S-M-A-R-T rule. George T. Doran coined this rule in 1981 in a management research paper of the Washington Power Company and it is by far one of the most popular propositions of the psychology of goals.

SMART Goals

S-M-A-R-T goals stand for:

• S (Specific) – They target a particular area of functioning and focus on building it.
• M (Measurable) -The results can be gauged quantitatively or at least indicated by some qualitative attributes. This helps in monitoring the progress after executing the plans.
• A (Attainable/Achievable) – The goals are targeted to suitable people and are individualized. They take into account the fact that no single rule suits all, and are flexible in that regard.
• R (Realistic) – They are practical and planned in a way that would be easy to implement in real life. The purpose of a smart goal is not just providing the plan, but also helping the person execute it.
• T (Time-bound) – An element of time makes the goal more focused. It also provides a time frame about task achievement.

SmartER Goals

While this was the golden rule of goal-setting, researchers have also added two more constituents to it, and call it the S-M-A-R-T-E-R rule.

The adjacents include:

• E (Evaluative/ethical) – The interventions and execution follow professional and personal ethics.
• R (Rewarding) – The end-results of the goal-setting comes with a positive reward and brings a feeling of accomplishment to the user.

Cecil Alec Mace was the first person to carry out empirical studies on goal-setting (Carson, Carson, & Heady, 1994). His work emphasized the importance of willingness to work and indicated that the right plans could be a sure shot predictor of professional success (Mace, 1935).

Locke continued his research on goal-setting from there, and in the 1960s, came up with the explanation of the usefulness of goals for a happier and more content life (Locke, 2002).

Today, planning goals is an essential part of educational and organizational psychology. Many organizations encourage employees to undergo screening for goal-setting and use the resources to measure their productivity at work (Kleingeld, van Mierlo, & Arends, 2011).

The Psychology Of Goal Setting

Tony Robbins, a world-famous motivational speaker, and coach had said that “ Setting goals is the first step from turning the invisible to visible. ”

Studies have shown that when we train our mind to think about what we want in life and work towards reaching it, the brain automatically rewires itself to acquire the ideal self-image and makes it an essential part of our identity. If we achieve the goal, we achieve fulfillment, and if we don’t, our brain keeps nudging us until we achieve it.

Psychologists and mental health researchers associate goals with a higher predictability of success, the reasons being:

Goals involve values

Effective goals base themselves on high values and ethics. Just like the S-M-A-R-T-E-R goals, they guide the person to understand his core values before embarking upon setting goals for success. Studies have shown that the more we align our core values and principles, the more likely we are to benefit from our goal plans (Erez, 1986).

Goals bind us to reality

A practical goal plan calls for a reality check. We become aware of our strengths and weaknesses and choose actions that are in line with our potentials. For example, a good orator should set goals to flourish as a speaker, while an expressive writer must aim to succeed as an author.

Realizing our abilities and accepting them is a vital aspect of goal-setting as it makes room for introspection and helps in setting realistic expectations from ourselves.

Goals call for self-evaluation

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4 Steps To Successful Goal-Setting

To break down goal setting, start with these four steps.

1. Make a plan

The first step to successful goal-setting is a brilliant plan.

Chalking out our goals by our strengths, aspirations, and affinities is an excellent way to build a working program. The plan makes habit formation easier – we know where to focus and how to implement the actions.

2. Explore resources

The more we educate ourselves about goal-setting and its benefits, the easier it becomes for us to stick to it. We can start building our knowledge base by taking expert advice, talking to supervisors at the workplace, or participating in self-assessments.

Assessments and interactions help us realize the knowledge gaps and educate ourselves in the areas concerned.

3. Be accountable

A crucial requisite of goal-setting is accountability. We tend to perform better when someone is watching over us, for example, it is easier to cheat on a diet or skip the gym when we are doing it alone.

But the moment we pair up with others or have a trainer to guide us through the process, there are increased chances of us sticking to the goals and succeeding in them.

4. Use rewards and feedbacks

Rewarding ourselves for our efforts and achievements makes sticking to the plan more comfortable for us. Managers who regularly provide feedback to their employees and teammates have better performance in their teams than ones who don’t interact with employees about their progress.

Setting goals gives our mind the power to imagine our ideal future, the way we want to see ourselves in years to come. By gaining insight into our wants and needs, we become aware of our reality and can set reasonable expectations.

Goal-setting impacts both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and this is why most successful athletes and business professionals rely on a sound plan of action before diving into any work.

There are many instances of how goal-setting is effectively used as a psychological intervention.

For example:

• Popular therapeutic practices like the CBT or Anger Management often use weekly goal planners or charts to record the progress of the clients and help them keep track of the exercises they are supposed to practice at home. Even in child therapies, counselors often use mood charts or set weekly exercises for the kid, and provide positive reinforcements to the child on accomplishing them.
• Almost all educational institutions today agree that setting clear goals makes it easier for the students to realize their strengths and work on building them. It boosts their self-confidence and lets them identify the broader targets in life .
• Goal-setting as a personal habit is also beneficial to hold ourselves in perspective. Personal goal-setting may be as simple as maintaining a daily to-do list or planning our career moves beforehand. As we have a clear vision of the end-goals, it becomes easier for us to advance towards them.

Types of goals

There are three main types of goals in psychology:

• The Process Goals These are the ones involving the execution of plans. For example, going to the gym in the morning or taking the health supplements on time, and repeating the same action every day is a process goal. The focus is to form the habit that will ultimately lead to achievement.
• The Performance Goals These goals help in tracking progress and give us a reason for continuing the hard work. For example, studying for no less than 6 hours a day or working out for at least 30 minutes per day can help us in quantifying our efforts and measuring the progress.
• The Outcome Goals Outcome goals are the successful implementations of process and performance goals. They keep us in perspective and help to stay focused on the bigger picture. Examples of outcome goals may include winning a sport, losing the desired amount of weight, or scoring a top rank in school.

The E-E-E Model Of Goal-Setting

The E-E-E Model of goal-setting was mentioned in a journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA, 2017). It is a person-centered approach that describes the way a successful roadmap contributes to bringing about the change.

Author Nowack (2017). stated that goal-setting ensures success by serving three purposes:

• Enlightening Us Providing meaningful insight into our abilities and weaknesses, and by helping us prioritize our goals depending on our needs.
• Encouraging Us It provides the motivation and courage to implement the goals and execute the plans efficiently.
• Enabling Us Goal-setting enables us to achieve the balance between our real and ideal self. By implementing the goals and succeeding from it, we regain self-confidence, social support, and can evaluate our achievements.

Goals direct our actions and open us to a host of new possibilities. They help us stick to the relevant activities and get rid of what is irrelevant for goal-satisfaction.

Martin Seligman ’s research and findings on positive psychology aimed to shift the focus of psychology from problems to solutions. His works emphasized on interventions that would increase managerial productivity and help leaders enhance their performance holistically (Luthans, 2002).

Positive psychology incorporates the principles of goal-setting in several ways:

• It commits to a specific set of actions for goal-setting.
• It considers individual ethics and core values before setting goals.
• It aligns actions to individual capacities and character strengths.
• It has space for introspection and insight into one’s thoughts, emotions, and perceptions.
• It helps in setting realistic goals and expectations, thereby aiming to boost self-confidence and energy by task accomplishments.

Professor Gary P. Latham (University of Toronto) emphasized the role of positive psychology and the interconnection of it to goal-setting in his groundbreaking work on life goals and psychology. He mentioned that optimistic people have a strong sense of self, which helps them derive the motivation to set goals and extend them for self-improvement.

Positive psychology, according to Latham, intersects with goal-setting in the sense that it calls for building self-efficacy and create a sense of mastery over our internal and external environments.

Author Doug Smith (1999), in his famous book “ Make Success Measurable! A Mindbook For Setting Goals And Taking Actions ” mentioned that successful goal-setting mainly involves asking three questions to the self:

• How important is the goal for us?
• How confident are we about reaching and accomplishing the goal?
• How consistent is the goal with our core values and beliefs?

Smith said that successful leaders and management professionals use this systematic approach when striving for goal accomplishments and use threads of positive psychology such as optimism, thought replacement, strength , and resilience .

The emerging field of positive psychology provides a stronger base for effective goal-setting and management.

A Look At Goal Setting Theory

Locke’s prime concern was to establish the power of setting accurate and measurable goals.

He believed that rather than focusing on general outcomes, professional goal-setting and management should focus on meticulousness of the tasks and address specific goals for each area of accomplishment. The goal-setting theory Locke designed, set an impetus to increased productivity and achievement.

Principles Of Locke’s Theory

Locke’s theory of goal-setting is the roadmap to today’s workplace motivation and skills to build it. In his argument, he mentioned that effective goal-setting directly contributes to productivity and increases employee satisfaction at all professional levels.

Locke believed that there are five key principles of goal-setting:

• Clarity – How specific and comprehensive the goal is.
• Challenge – How difficult the goal is and the degree to which it requires us to extend our abilities.
• Commitment – How dedicated we are to reach the goal and what value it renders to us.
• Feedback – How our achievements are perceived and recognized by others. Positive feedback increases satisfaction after achieving the target.
• Complexity – The difficulty of the tasks that we need to accomplish for reaching the ultimate goal.

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Core Concepts Of Goal-Setting Theory

Locke said that there are four core components of a goal that makes it useful. These are the key aspects that we should keep in mind before committing to a plan.

1. Difficulty

Difficult goals imply more significant achievements. Easy and comfortable goals are seldom productive, as we don’t have to exploit much of our abilities to achieve them.

Although while selecting a target, we may tend to shun away from choosing the harder ones, difficult goals are undoubtedly more motivating, energizing, and satisfying after accomplishment.

2. Specificity

Specific goals imply more certain task regulation. Before setting a goal plan, we must be clear to ourselves about the outcomes and which part of our personal or professional lives will the target achievement improve.

Having a vision of the result strengthens our intentions and helps to sustain focus.

3. Reward reminders

Locke emphasized the importance of following inspirational musings and motivational speeches for goal accomplishments. He said that the human mind is too used to getting reminders from its internal or external environment when it faces a lack of something.

For example, lack of food or water is triggered by feelings of hunger and thirst that motivates us to achieve the equilibrium again. But with professional targets or life goals, it is not absurd to lose motivation unless we keep reminding ourselves of why we should attain it.

4. Goal efficacy

The success of Locke’s theory owes to its cut-throat practical approach. While mentioning about optimism bias in his opinion, Locke said that we often tend to select goals that excite us temporarily.

For example, we may choose a profession by getting lured about the financial benefits of it, failing to notice the hard work that we will need to put in for enjoying the benefits. As a result, we are likely to fail motivation and lose commitment after delving into the reality of the work.

Thus, before setting goals, it is vital that we choose only the ones that are truly rewarding to us, no matter how much we need to push ourselves to achieve it.

Why the secret to success is setting the right goals – John Doerr

Psychological Studies And Research On Goal Setting

Goal-setting is an area in psychology whose roots lie in scientific data and empirical evidence. It is a flexible theory which is open to modifications according to the changing times, and yet serve the purpose of:

• Maximizing success.
• Minimizing failures and disappointments.
• Optimizing personal abilities (Latham & Locke, 2007)

A study on the effects of goal-setting on athletic rehabilitation and training revealed that groups that followed a solid plan of action were more prepared, had higher self-efficacy, and were more organized in their approach (Evans & Hardy, 2002).

The experimental population had three groups, only one of which received the goal-setting intervention. Post-experimental measures showed there was a significant difference in the levels of spirit and motivation among the group that received the goal-setting interventions and the other two groups.

George Wilson’s study on “ Value-Centred Approach To Goal-Setting And Action Planning ” also put forth some groundbreaking revelations. He based the survey of the seven practices Seligman had mentioned in his research on positive psychology and goal-setting (Kerns, 2005).

Wilson called them ‘key takeaways’ and urged organizations to consider these seven highlights while setting up their goal-management programs:

1. Values Commitment

Wilson coined five core values using a value-based checklist . His study showed that when goal-setting focus on the core values, it increased the likelihood of achieving success from the target plan.

The five core values he mentioned were – integrity, responsibility, fairness, hope, and achievement.

2. Goals and Values Alignment

Wilson set the goals in his study based on the core values, such that each goal satisfies at least one or more of the purposes mentioned above. Results showed that the goals which were associated with the values gave more satisfaction to the participants than the ones which were not.

3. Character Strengths and Actions

Seligman’s findings strongly stated that goal-setting and achievements must take into account the character strengths of the individual.

In the absence of character alignment, there will remain a chance of selecting actions that are too easy or way too complicated for the person to accomplish. Wilson extended his study based on this finding and used the Values in Action (VIA) inventory to rule out the strengths and abilities of the participants before choosing the right goals for them.

4. Self-confidence

Positive psychology research on goal-setting spoke about how confidence and goals tend to complement each other. Wilson’s study incorporated regular self-checks for one year post the survey to examine the level of self-confidence of the respondents and determine its influences on their achievements.

5. Persistence

Frequent investigations in the form of self-assessments, interviews, or feedbacks are essential in gauging whether the participants are consistent with their targets. Seligman and his colleagues considered perseverance and consistency hugely critical for ensuring successful execution of the target plans.

6. Realistic outlook

The importance of setting realistic expectations cannot be stressed enough when talking of successful goal-setting. Wilson’s research on goal-setting encouraged participants to take the Seligman Optimism Test for gaining insight into the self-perceptions and followed three approaches to maintain an optimistic perspective in the participants:

• Separating facts from negative thoughts and ruminations.
• Encouraging positive self-talk among the groups.
• Using at least one positive statement in each of the weekly reports where he mentioned the target plans and goals associated with it.

7. Self-resilience

Wilson suggested that measuring the Resilience Quotient ( RQ ) of participants before assigning goals to them is a great idea for optimizing success and promoting happiness (Kerns, 2005). On administering resilience scales to the respondents, the goal-setting and task assignment be came more accessible and guaranteed better outcomes.

There are even more interesting studies, and we share three interesting findings here.

1. A Study On The Interrelationships Among Employee Participation, Individual Differences, And Goal-Setting

Yukl and Latham published this research in 1978 where they explored the interconnections between goal-setting and individual personality factors.

For 10 weeks, 41 participants received goal plans that were either set by supervisors or chosen by the participants themselves, and the results revealed that:

• Participants with difficult goals achieved greater success than others.
• Participants with higher self-esteem did better on task accomplishments.
• Participants with a greater understanding of why the goal was necessary for them had more chances of being successful with the target plans.

2. Dr. Gail Matthews’ (2015) Study On Goal-Setting

A study conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University sought to find evidence for claims coming out of  Harvard Business School that well-planned and well-written goals impact students’ performance and achievements.

In this study, 267 participants were recruited from businesses and professional networking groups to take part. These participants were then divided into five groups:

• The first group set no goals and had no concrete plans.
• The second group set goals but did not prepare a plan to execute them.
• The third group prepared well-defined goals and plans of action to achieve them.
• The fourth group prepared well-defined goals and plans of action, then sent these to a supportive friend.
• The fifth group prepared well-defined goals and plans of action, then sent these to a supportive friend, together with weekly progress reports.

Results revealed that the fifth group, who had their goals written with concrete plans of action and drew on the support of a friend to hold them accountable, accomplished significantly more than all the other groups. This study serves to highlight the benefits of writing down goals and action plans, as well as the benefits of public commitment and accountability as drivers of goal achievement and success in life.

3. A Study On Success And Goals

This was a small enterprise-oriented study that explored how goal-setting and entrepreneurial qualities affected the productivity of the employees and the overall success of the organization. Results indicated the importance of marketing abilities of the organizational head to be a significant influence in the company’s goal-setting plans (Ioniţă, 2013).

1. A Case Study By Emily van Sonnenberg

Emily VanSonnenberg (2011), a psychologist specializing in positive psychology and happiness coach, presented her case study on undergraduates to explain the importance of having goals in life.

The target group of her research was young adults who came from a non-psychology background. She mentioned about starting each session with positive interventions like brief meditation, mindfulness, and task planning, and urged her subjects to journal the tidbits of these positive interventions daily.

Over a while, Emily found that individuals who kept a detailed record of their daily goals and planned their tasks accordingly were more productive, less bored, and showed signs of higher self-contentment than others.

She further mentioned that asking questions to the self like “ What do you intend to do today? ”, or “ What do you want to achieve in life? ”, etc., can clarify our motivations and help in setting our goals more effectively.

Although her study targeted only a particular age-group, the findings are valid for people across different ages and professional backgrounds.

2. A Goal-Setting Case Study By Redmond

This case study was based on professional goal-setting and the use of S-M-A-R-T-E-R goals in achieving success (Redmond, 2011). Following the critical findings of the book ‘ Contemporary Management ’ by Jones and George, researcher Brian F. Redmond suggested the participants create smart goals for them and report their progress to the supervisors regularly (Redmond, 2011).

One participant of the study, John, received a Professional Development Plan (PDP) intending to build his potentials and maximize his achievements. The PDP allowed him to evaluate his character strengths closely and identify the areas that needed improvement.

John set his goals based on his powers and kept reporting his progress and task accomplishments to his supervisors, who kept extending and modifying the targets based on whether or not they were achieved.

This individualized case study asserted the role of setting smart goals in achieving success and building personal skills.

3. Goal-Setting Case Study By Hardin

Deedra Hardin had published a valuable collection of fascinating case studies on goal-setting and success at different organizational levels.

Out of the series of studies,  one case research on the effectiveness of goal-setting in the military service is noteworthy to mention here (Hardin, 2013).

A group leader of a commander team, who was in charge of training over a hundred soldiers, had the responsibility of ensuring that his team members met the physical, systematic, and operational requirements of the top in their field. The goals that the commander set for his army focused a lot on physical fitness and set smart goals that would help his team achieve the same.

Hardin said that the reason why the commander succeeded in creating quick goals for his teams was his intuition and insight into the exact requirements for the team.

Extending the study from there, authors of the research stated that for successfully building a goal plan that can guarantee satisfaction for both the administrator and the respondent, it is vital to understand what the team precisely needs and how the goals can help them achieve so.

Furthermore, the study also indicated that goal-setting could only become successful after the results were reviewed and monitored by the authorities or the participants themselves (Hollenbeck & Klein, 1987).

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Goal-setting gives a boost to our Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) which makes us readily act on it (Granot, Stern, & Balcetis, 2017). When the goal is tricky and yet achievable, the SBP gets an enhanced spike that increases our zeal to act and achieve it.

Impossible or challenging goals, or the ones that make us question our abilities, are linked with low systolic thrust and they do not provide the spike for ready action. Extensive studies have shown how neural connections and the brain activities pump up our motivation to set and achieve goals.

For example, the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC) deals with the present orientation of the goal-setting process. The MPFC activation allows us to think about what we need to do right now to achieve our goals, and we set the targets accordingly.

If the goal seems too distant or is too future-oriented, the MPFC activation lowers significantly which is why we may lose interest in sticking to the goals or lose the vision of what might be the best ways to achieve them.

Usually, goals are the incidents that have not yet happened to us, but we want to make them happen. And since they cannot occur on their own, we follow a set of rules or a plan to ensure achievement (Balcetis & Dunning, 2010).

The sense of struggle and power testing that involves the goal-setting process is what makes it so engaging to us. For example, a primary drive or intrinsic motivation that forces us to do well on a new or challenging assignment is the ability to demonstrate and validate our skills (McClelland, 1985).

The underlying neurochemical changes that cause this motivation to keep burning is therefore vital to understand before we embark on setting the goals.

RAS And Goal Setting

Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a part of the brain that plays a crucial role in regulating our goal-setting actions. The RAS is a cluster of cells located at the base of the brain that processes all the information and sensory channels related to the things that need our attention right now.

An exciting fact about RAS activation is that it gives us signs. For example, a person whose goal is to start a family, is likely to see more couples and families around him.

This happens because of RAS activation. The RAS is aware that this is what the person is paying attention to at this very moment, and hence he chooses to register only the information related to it.

Before deciding to start a family, the RAS would naturally have filtered out any such information. The person may have seen so many couples walking past him earlier, but never really paid attention to them, until the time he decided to get married himself (Alvarez & Emory, 2006).

The reticular activation functions in two ways when it comes to goal-setting:

1. Writing goals

RAS gets activated by the simple act of putting our goals in pen and paper. Seeing our aims written in clear words before us, feeling the touch of the pen, or engaging in the thinking process of writing the targets trigger the RAS functions and ensures that we go for it.

2. Planning goals

The art of imagination is essential when it comes to goal-setting. Studies have shown that people who have the power to visualize their goals before setting their actions have a higher activation at the brain level.

Repeatedly imagining success and reminding ourselves of our targets maintains a steady stimulation in the RAS and promotes effective goal-setting (Berkman & Lieberman, 2009).

The RAS activation helps in focusing the mind to attend to only those pieces of information that are related to the goals we seek to achieve.

Neurologists working on the science of goal-setting have proved that the brain cannot distinguish between reality and imagined reality. So, when we give ourselves a picture of the goal we want to achieve, the mind starts believing it to be real.

Eventually, the brain begins driving us to take actions for making the state and hence, the goal-setting becomes a success  (Berkman, 2018).

As the famous saying goes, “ Begin with the end in mind. ” The most crucial aspect of goal-setting is to build an effective plan.

If we set goals by our character strengths, core values, level of motivation, and pledge on sticking to the plan until we reach the aim, there is no way that we won’t get there.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

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• Redmond, B. F. (2011). Goal setting case study. Retrieved from https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/Goal+Setting+Case+Study
• Smith, D. K. (1999).  Make success measurable! A mindbook-workbook for setting goals and taking action . New York, NY: Wiley.
• VanSonnenberg, E. (2011, January 3). Ready, set, goals! Positive Psychology News . Retrieved from https://positivepsychologynews.com/news/emily-vansonnenberg/2011010315821
• Yukl, G. A., & Latham, G. P. (1978). Interrelationships among employee participation, individual differences, goal difficulty, goal acceptance, goal instrumentality, and performance.  Personnel Psychology ,  31 (2), 305-323.

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Incredible article! Such powerful insight on goal setting and achieving. Saving this one everywhere with reminders to review each year.

This is such a great article. I have written a concise summary of this and that shall definitely help me set up for the future. “The brain cannot distinguish between reality and imagined reality”, I Have read that many times but for the first time understood its meaning.

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3 Goal Achievement Exercises Pack

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2.1 Setting and Reaching Goals

Learning objectives.

• Make short-, mid-, and long-term goals that are realistic and specific and commit to them.
• Set priorities for reaching your goals as a basis for time management.
• Develop an attitude for success.
• Learn to use strategies for staying focused and motivated.
• Network with other students to help ensure academic success.
• Solve problems and overcome setbacks that threaten your goals.

Some people are goal oriented and seem to easily make decisions that lead to achieving their goals , while others seem just to “go with the flow” and accept what life gives them. While the latter may sound pleasantly relaxed, moving through life without goals may not lead anywhere at all. The fact that you’re in college now shows you already have the major goal to complete your college program.

A goal is a result we intend to reach mostly through our own actions. Things we do may move us closer to or farther away from that result. Studying moves us closer to success in a difficult course, while sleeping through the final examination may completely prevent reaching that goal. That’s fairly obvious in an extreme case, yet still a lot of college students don’t reach their goal of graduating. The problem may be a lack of commitment to the goal, but often students have conflicting goals. One way to prevent problems is to think about all your goals and priorities and to learn ways to manage your time, your studies, and your social life to best reach your goals. Consider these four students:

To help his widowed mother, Juan went to work full time after high school but now, a few years later, he’s dissatisfied with the kinds of jobs he has been able to get and has begun taking computer programming courses in the evening. He’s often tired after work, however, and his mother would like him to spend more time at home. Sometimes he cuts class to stay home and spend time with her. In her senior year of college, Becky has just been elected president of her sorority and is excited about planning a major community service project. She knows she should be spending more time on her senior thesis, but she feels her community project may gain her contacts that can help her find a better job after graduation. Besides, the sorority project is a lot more fun, and she’s enjoying the esteem of her position. Even if she doesn’t do well on her thesis, she’s sure she’ll pass. After an easy time in high school, James is surprised his college classes are so hard. He’s got enough time to study for his first-year courses, but he also has a lot of friends and fun things to do. Sometimes he’s surprised to look up from his computer to see it’s midnight already, and he hasn’t started reading that chapter yet. Where does the time go? When he’s stressed, however, he can’t study well, so he tells himself he’ll get up early and read the chapter before class, and then he turns back to his computer to see who’s online. Sachito was successful in cutting back her hours at work to give her more time for her engineering classes, but it’s difficult for her to get much studying done at home. Her husband has been wonderful about taking care of their young daughter, but he can’t do everything, and lately he’s been hinting more about asking her sister to babysit so that the two of them can go out in the evening the way they used to. Lately, when she’s had to study on a weekend, he leaves with his friends, and Sachito ends up spending the day with her daughter—and not getting much studying done.

What do these very different students have in common? Each has goals that conflict in one or more ways. Each needs to develop strategies to meet their other goals without threatening their academic success. And all of them have time management issues to work through: three because they feel they don’t have enough time to do everything they want or need to do and one because even though he has enough time, he needs to learn how to manage it more effectively. For all four of them, motivation and attitude will be important as they develop strategies to achieve their goals.

It all begins with setting goals and thinking about priorities.

As you think about your own goals, think about more than just being a student. You’re also a person with individual needs and desires, hopes and dreams, plans and schemes. Your long-term goals likely include graduation and a career but may also involve social relationships with others, a romantic relationship, family, hobbies or other activities, where and how you live, and so on. While you are a student you may not be actively pursuing all your goals with the same fervor, but they remain goals and are still important in your life.

Goals also vary in terms of time. Short-term goals focus on today and the next few days and perhaps weeks. Midterm goals involve plans for this school year and the time you plan to remain in college. Long-term goals may begin with graduating college and everything you want to happen thereafter. Often your long-term goals (e.g., the kind of career you want) guide your midterm goals (getting the right education for that career), and your short-term goals (such as doing well on an exam) become steps for reaching those larger goals. Thinking about your goals in this way helps you realize how even the little things you do every day can keep you moving toward your most important long-term goals.

Write out your goals in Activity 1. You should literally write them down, because the act of finding the best words to describe your goals helps you think more clearly about them. Follow these guidelines:

• Goals should be realistic. It’s good to dream and to challenge yourself, but your goals should relate to your personal strengths and abilities.
• Goals should be specific. Don’t write, “I will become a great musician”; instead, write, “I will finish my music degree and be employed in a symphony orchestra.”
• Goals should have a time frame. You won’t feel very motivated if your goal is vaguely “to finish college someday.” If you’re realistic and specific in your goals, you should also be able to project a time frame for reaching the goal.
• You should really want to reach the goal. We’re willing to work hard to reach goals we really care about, but we’re likely to give up when we encounter obstacles if we don’t feel strongly about a goal. If you’re doing something only because your parents or someone else wants you to, then it’s not your own personal goal—and you may have some more thinking to do about your life.

Activity 1: Personal Goals

Write your goals in the following blanks. Be sure to consider all areas of your life—consider everything important that you want to do between this moment and old age. (While you might aim for three to eight goals in each section, remember that everyone is unique, and you may be just as passionate about just one or two goals or more than eight.)

Short-term goals (today, this week, and this month):

__________________________________________________________________

Midterm goals (this year and while in college):

Long-term goals (from college on):

Thinking about your goals gets you started, but it’s also important to think about priorities. We often use the word “priorities” to refer to how important something is to us. We might think, This is a really important goal, and that is less important. Try this experiment: go back to the goals you wrote in Activity 1 and see if you can rank each goal as a 1 (top priority), 2 (middle priority), or 3 (lowest priority).

It sounds easy, but do you actually feel comfortable doing that? Maybe you gave a priority 1 to passing your courses and a priority 3 to playing your guitar. So what does that mean—that you never play guitar again, or at least not while in college? Whenever you have an hour free between class and work, you have to study because that’s the higher priority? What about all your other goals—do you have to ignore everything that’s not a priority 1? And what happens when you have to choose among different goals that are both number 1 priorities?

In reality, priorities don’t work quite that way. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to rank goals as always more or less important. The question of priority is really a question of what is more important at a specific time. It is important to do well in your classes, but it’s also important to have a social life and enjoy your time off from studying. You shouldn’t have to choose between the two—except at any given time . Priorities always involve time: what is most important to do right now . As we’ll see later, time management is mostly a way to juggle priorities so you can meet all your goals.

When you manage your time well, you don’t have to ignore some goals completely in order to meet other goals. In other words, you don’t have to give up your life when you register for college—but you may need to work on managing your life more effectively.

But time management works only when you’re committed to your goals. Attitude and motivation are very important. If you haven’t yet developed an attitude for success, all the time management skills in the world won’t keep you focused and motivated to succeed.

An Attitude for Success

What’s your attitude right now —what started running through your mind as you saw the “An Attitude for Success” heading? Were you groaning to yourself, thinking, “No, not the attitude thing again!” Or, at the other extreme, maybe you were thinking, “This is great! Now I’m about to learn everything I need to get through college without a problem!” Those are two attitude extremes, one negative and skeptical, the other positive and hopeful. Most students are somewhere in between—but everyone has an attitude of one sort or another.

Everything people do and how they do it starts with attitude. One student gets up with the alarm clock and cheerfully prepares for the day, planning to study for a couple hours between classes, go jogging later, and see a friend at dinner. Another student oversleeps after partying too late last night, decides to skip his first class, somehow gets through later classes fueled by fast food and energy drinks while dreading tomorrow’s exam, and immediately accepts a friend’s suggestion to go out tonight instead of studying. Both students could have identical situations, classes, finances, and academic preparation. There could be just one significant difference—but it’s the one that matters.

Here are some characteristics associated with a positive attitude:

• Enthusiasm for and enjoyment of daily activities
• Acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions and feeling good about success
• Generally upbeat mood and positive emotions, cheerfulness with others, and satisfaction with oneself
• Motivation to get the job done
• Flexibility to make changes when needed
• Ability to make productive, effective use of time

And here are some characteristics associated with a negative attitude:

• Frequent complaining
• Blaming others for anything that goes wrong
• Often experiencing negative emotions: anger, depression, resentment
• Lack of motivation for work or studies
• Hesitant to change or seek improvement
• Unproductive use of time, procrastination

We started this chapter talking about goals, because people’s goals and priorities have a huge effect on their attitude. Someone who really wants to succeed in college is better motivated and can develop a more positive attitude to succeed. But what if you are committed to succeeding in college but still feel kind of doubtful or worried or even down on yourself—what can you do then? Can people really change their attitude? Aren’t people just “naturally” positive or negative or whatever?

While attitude is influenced by one’s personality, upbringing, and past experiences, there is no “attitude gene” that makes you one way or another. It’s not as simple as taking a pill, but attitude can be changed. If you’re committed to your goals, you can learn to adjust your attitude. The following are some things you can start doing.

Be More Upbeat with Yourself

We all have conversations with ourselves. I might do badly on a test, and I start thinking things like, “I’m just not smart enough” or “That teacher is so hard no one could pass that test.” The problem when we talk to ourselves this way is that we listen—and we start believing what we’re hearing. Think about what you’ve been saying to yourself since your first day at college. Have you been negative or making excuses, maybe because you’re afraid of not succeeding? You are smart enough or you wouldn’t be here. Even if you did poorly on a test, you can turn that around into a more positive attitude by taking responsibility. “OK, I goofed off too much when I should have been studying. I learned my lesson—now it’s time to buckle down and study for the next test. I’m going to ace this one!” Hear yourself saying that enough and guess what—you soon find out you can succeed even in your hardest classes.

Choose Whom You Spend Time With

We all know negative and positive people. Sometimes it’s fun to hang out with someone with a negative attitude, especially if their sarcasm is funny. And if we’ve just failed a test, we might enjoy being with someone else who also blames the instructor or “the system” for whatever goes wrong. As they say, misery loves company. But often being with negative people is one of the surest ways to stay negative yourself. You not only hear your own self-talk making excuses and blaming others and putting yourself down, but you hear other people saying it, too. After a while you’re convinced it’s true. You’ve developed a negative attitude that sets you up for failure.

College offers a great opportunity to make new friends. Friendships and other social relationships are important to all humans—and maybe to college students most of all, because of the stresses of college and the changes you’re likely experiencing. Later chapters in this book have some tips for making new friends and getting actively involved in campus life, if you’re not already there. Most important, try to choose friends with a positive attitude. It’s simply more fun to be with people who are upbeat and enjoying life, people whom you respect—and who, like you, are committed to their studies and are motivated. A positive attitude can really be contagious.

Overcome Resistance to Change

While it’s true that most people are more comfortable when their situation is not always changing, many kinds of change are good and should be welcomed. College is a big change from high school or working. Accepting that reality helps you be more positive about the differences. Sure, you have to study more, and the classes are harder. You may be working more and have less time for your personal life. But dwelling on those differences only reinforces a negative attitude. Look instead at the positive changes: the exciting and interesting people you’re meeting, the education you’re getting that will lead to a bright future, and the mental challenges and stimulation you’re feeling every day.

The first step may be simply to see yourself succeeding in your new life. Visualize yourself as a student taking control, enjoying classes, studying effectively, getting good grades. This book will help you do that in many ways. It all begins with the right attitude.

Overcome Fears

One of the most common fears of college students is a fear of failure—of not being able to make the grade. We all know that life is not all roses and that we’re not going to succeed at everything we try. Everyone experiences some sort of failure at some time—and everyone has fears. The question is what you do about it.

Again, think about your goals. You’ve enrolled in college for good reasons, and you’ve already shown your commitment by coming this far. If you still have any fear of failure, turn it around and use it in a positive way. If you’re afraid you may not do well on an upcoming exam, don’t mope around—sit down and schedule times to start studying well ahead of time. It’s mostly a matter of attitude adjustment.

Stay Focused and Motivated

Okay, you’ve got a positive attitude. But you’ve got a lot of reading for classes to do tonight, a test tomorrow, and a paper due the next day. Maybe you’re a little bored with one of your reading assignments. Maybe you’d rather play a computer game. Uh oh—now what? Attitude can change at almost any moment. One minute you’re enthusiastically starting a class project, and then maybe a friend drops by and suddenly all you want to do is close the books and relax a while, hang out with friends.

One of the characteristics of successful people is accepting that life is full of interruptions and change—and planning for it. Staying focused does not mean you become a boring person who does nothing but go to class and study all the time. You just need to make a plan.

Planning ahead is the single best way to stay focused and motivated to reach your goals. Don’t wait until the night before an exam. If you know you have a major exam in five days, start by reviewing the material and deciding how many hours of study you need. Then schedule those hours spread out over the next few days—at times when you are most alert and least likely to be distracted. Allow time for other activities, too, to reward yourself for successful studying. Then when the exam comes, you’re relaxed, you know the material, you’re in a good mood and confident, and you do well.

Planning is mostly a matter of managing your time well, as we’ll see later. Here are some other tips for staying focused and motivated:

• If you’re not feeling motivated, think about the results of your goals, not just the goals themselves. If just thinking about finishing college doesn’t sound all that exciting, then think instead about the great, high-paying career that comes afterward and the things you can do with that income.
• Say it aloud—to yourself or a friend with a positive attitude: “I’m going to study now for another hour before I take a break—and I’m getting an A on that test tomorrow!” It’s amazing how saying something aloud puts commitment in it and affirms that it can be true.
• Remember your successes, even small successes. As you begin a project or approach studying for a test, think about your past success on a different project or test. Remember how good it feels to succeed. Know you can succeed again.
• Focus on the here and now. For some people, looking ahead to goals, or to anything else, may lead to daydreaming that keeps them from focusing on what they need to do right now. Don’t worry about what you’re doing tomorrow or next week or month. If your mind keeps drifting off, however, you may need to reward or even trick yourself to focus on the here and now. For example, if you can’t stop thinking about the snack you’re going to have when you finish studying in a couple hours, change the plan. Tell yourself you’ll take a break in twenty minutes if you really need it—but only if you really work well first.
• If you just can’t focus in on what you should be doing because the task seems too big and daunting, break the task into smaller, manageable pieces. Don’t start out thinking, “I need to study the next four hours,” but think, “I’ll spend the next thirty minutes going through my class notes from the last three weeks and figure out what topics I need to spend more time on.” It’s a lot easier to stay focused when you’re sitting down for thirty minutes at a time.
• Never, ever multitask while studying! You may think that you can monitor e-mail and send text messages while studying, but in reality, these other activities lower the quality of your studying.
• Imitate successful people. Does a friend always seem better able to stick with studying or work until they get it done? What are they doing that you’re not? We all learn from observing others, and we can speed up that process by deliberately using the same strategies we see working with others. Visualize yourself studying in the same way and getting that same high grade on the test or paper.
• Separate yourself from unsuccessful people. This is the flip side of imitating successful people. If a roommate or a friend is always putting off things until the last minute or is distracted with other interests and activities, tell yourself how different you are. When you hear other students complaining about how hard a class is or bragging about not studying or attending class, visualize yourself as not being like them at all.
• Reward yourself when you complete a significant task—but only when you are done. Some people seem able to stay focused only when there’s a reward waiting.
• While some people work harder for the reward, others are motivated more by the price of failing. While some people are almost paralyzed by anxiety, others are moved by their fear to achieve their best.
• Get the important things done first. We’ll talk about managing your academic planner and to-do lists later in the chapter, but for now, to stay focused and motivated, concentrate on the things that matter most. You’re about to sit down to read a chapter in a book you’re not much enjoying, and you suddenly notice some clothing piled up on a chair. “I really should clean up this place,” you think. “And I’d better get my laundry done before I run out of things to wear.” Don’t try to fool yourself into feeling you’re accomplishing something by doing laundry rather than studying. Stay focused!

Network for Success

Making friends with people with positive attitudes not only helps you maintain a positive attitude yourself, but it gets you started networking with other students in ways that will help you succeed.

Did you study alone or with friends in high school? Because college classes are typically much more challenging, many college students discover they do better, and find it much more enjoyable, if they study with other students taking same course. This might mean organizing a study group or just getting together with a friend to review material before a test. It’s good to start thinking right away about networking with other students in your classes.

If you consider yourself an independent person and prefer studying and doing projects on your own rather than with others, think for a minute about how most people function in their careers and professions, what the business world is like. Most work today is done by teams or individuals working together in a collaborative way. Very few jobs involve a person always being and working alone. The more you learn to study and work with other students now, the more skills you are mastering for a successful career.

Studying with other students has immediate benefits. You can quiz each other to help ensure that everyone understands the course material; if you’re not clear about something, someone else can help teach it to you. You can read and respond to each other’s writing and other work. You can divide up the work in group projects. And through it all, you can often have more fun than if you were doing it on your own.

Studying together is also a great way to start networking—a topic we’ll discuss more in coming chapters. Networking has many potential benefits for your future. College students who feel they are part of a network on campus are more motivated and more successful in college.

Tips for Success: Staying Motivated

• Keep your eye on your long-term goals while working toward immediate goals.
• Keep your priorities straight—but also save some time for fun.
• Work on keeping your attitude positive.
• Keep the company of positive people; imitate successful people.
• Don’t let past habits drag you down.
• Plan ahead to avoid last-minute pressures.
• Focus on your successes.
• Break large projects down into smaller tasks or stages.
• Reward yourself for completing significant tasks.
• Avoid multitasking.
• Network with other students; form a study group.

Problem Solving: When Setbacks Happen

Even when you have clear goals and are motivated and focused to achieve them, problems sometimes happen. Accept that they will happen, since inevitably they do for everyone. The difference between those who succeed by solving the problem and moving on and those who get frustrated and give up is partly attitude and partly experience—and knowing how to cope when a problem occurs.

Lots of different kinds of setbacks may happen while you’re in college—just as to everyone in life. Here are a few examples:

• A financial crisis
• An illness or injury
• A crisis involving family members or loved ones
• Stress related to frequently feeling you don’t have enough time
• Stress related to relationship problems

Some things happen that we cannot prevent—such as some kinds of illness, losing one’s job because of a business slowdown, or crises involving family members. But many other kinds of problems can be prevented or made less likely to occur. You can take steps to stay healthy, as you’ll learn in Chapter 10 “Taking Control of Your Health” . You can take control of your finances and avoid most financial problems common among college students, as you’ll learn in Chapter 11 “Taking Control of Your Finances” . You can learn how to build successful social relationships and get along better with your instructors, with other students, and in personal relationships. You can learn time management techniques to ensure you use your time effectively for studying. Most of the chapters in this book also provide study tips and guidelines to help you do well in your classes with effective reading, note-taking, test-taking, and writing skills for classes. Preventing the problems that typically keep college students from succeeding is much of what this book is all about.

Not all problems can be avoided. Illness or a financial problem can significantly set one back—especially when you’re on a tight schedule and budget. Other problems, such as a social or relationship issue or an academic problem in a certain class, may be more complex and not easily prevented. What then?

First, work to resolve the immediate problem:

• Stay motivated and focused. Don’t let frustration, anxiety, or other negative emotions make the problem worse than it already is.
• Analyze the problem to consider all possible solutions. An unexpected financial setback doesn’t automatically mean you have to drop out of school—not when alternatives such as student loans, less expensive living arrangements, or other possible solutions may be available. Failing a midterm exam doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to fail the course—not when you make the effort to determine what went wrong, work with your instructor and others on an improved study plan, and use better strategies to prepare for the next test.
• Seek help when you need to. None of us gets through life alone, and it’s not a sign of weakness to see your academic advisor or a college counselor if you have a problem.
• When you’ve developed a plan for resolving the problem, work to follow through. If it will take a while before the problem is completely solved, track your progress in smaller steps so that you can see you really are succeeding. Every day will move you one step closer to putting it behind you.

After you’ve solved a problem, be sure to avoid it again in the future:

• Be honest with yourself: how did you contribute to the problem? Sometimes it’s obvious: a student who drank heavily at a party the night before a big test failed the exam because he was so hung over he couldn’t think straight. Sometimes the source of the problem is not as obvious but may become clearer the more you think about it. Another student did a lot of partying during the term but studied all day before the big test and was well rested and clearheaded at test time but still did poorly; he may not yet have learned good study skills. Another student has frequent colds and other mild illnesses that keep him from doing his best: how much better would he feel if he ate well, got plenty of exercise, and slept enough every night? If you don’t honestly explore the factors that led to the problem, it’s more likely to happen again.
• Take responsibility for your life and your role in what happens to you. Earlier we talked about people with negative attitudes, who are always blaming others, fate, or “the system” for their problems. It’s no coincidence that they keep on having problems. Unless you want to keep having problems, don’t keep blaming others.
• Taking responsibility doesn’t mean being down on yourself. Failing at something doesn’t mean you are a failure. We all fail at something, sometime. Adjust your attitude so you’re ready to get back on track and feel happy that you’ll never make that mistake again!
• Make a plan. You might still have a problem on that next big test if you don’t make an effective study plan and stick to it. You may need to change your behavior in some way, such as learning time management strategies. (Read on!)

Key Takeaways

• Goals should be realistic, specific, and time oriented, and you must be committed to them.
• Setting priorities helps keep you focused on your goals but doesn’t determine how you use your time at all times.
• Attitude is often the major reason students succeed or fail in college. Everyone can work on developing a more positive, motivating attitude.
• Planning, the essence of time management, is necessary to stay focused and continue moving toward your goals.
• Networking with other students helps you stay motivated as well as making studying more effective.
• Since problems and setbacks are inevitable, knowing how to solve problems is important for reaching goals. With a good attitude, most common student problems can be prevented.

Checkpoint Exercises

Which of the following goal statements is written in a way that shows the person has carefully considered what he or she wants to achieve?

• I will do better in my math course.
• I will earn at least a B on my next English paper.
• I will study more this term.

List ways in which a negative attitude can prevent students from being successful in college.

Think about your friends in college or other students you have observed in one of your classes. Choose one who usually seems positive and upbeat and one who sometimes or frequently shows a negative attitude about college. Visualize both their faces—side by side—as if you are talking to both of them. Now imagine yourself sitting down to study with one of them for a final exam. Describe how you would imagine that study session going.

Look back at the four students described at the beginning of the chapter. Each of them is experiencing some sort of problem that could interrupt their progress toward their goals. Think about each student and write down a solution for each problem that you would try to work out, if you were that person.

For Sachito:

List a few things you can do if you’re having trouble getting motivated to sit down to study.

College Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

4.1 Defining Values and Setting Goals

Questions to Consider:

• What beliefs help shape your decision-making and goals?
• How do you set manageable goals that will help you stay on track?

“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.” — Dr. Kathleen Hall, CEO of the Stress Institute and Mindful Living Network 1

A recent high school graduate, Mateo was considering his options for the future. He knew he wanted to go to college, but he wasn’t quite sure what he would study. At a family picnic to celebrate his graduation, he talked about his indecision with his two uncles. One uncle, his Uncle Nico, told him that his best bet was to find out what types of jobs would be hiring in a couple years at high enough salary for Mateo to afford to live however he desired. His other uncle, who rarely agreed with Uncle Nico, nodded and said, “Hey, that’s one way to look at it, but don’t you want to enjoy what you do every day regardless of how much money you make? You should do whatever interests you. After all, don’t they say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life?”

Mateo appreciated the advice of his uncles and realized that they might both be right. He wanted to do something that interested him, but he also wanted to be employable and to make money. Clarifying his interests and recognizing his values would be key to helping Mateo decide his path.

Values are the basic beliefs that guide our thinking and actions. Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, values influence both our attitudes and our actions. They help us determine what is important and what makes us happy. It is important to think about and reflect on your values, especially as you make decisions.

Determining Your Values

To begin to identify some of your personal values, consider the examples listed below. As a first step, select the five that you find most important, that bring you the greatest happiness, or that make you feel the most proud. Then, rank those five values in order of importance. Feel encouraged to write in other options that are relevant to you.

Another way to recognize the important influence of values is to consider if you have ever made a decision that you later regretted. Did you reflect on your values prior to making that choice? Sometimes others ask us to do things that are inconsistent with our values. Knowing what you value and making plans accordingly is an important effort to help you stay on track toward your goals.

Analysis Question

Recall a decision that you have recently made (for example, a smaller decision about how to spend your Saturday, or maybe a larger decision about where to apply for part-time work). Did the values you identified through this exercise influence that decision? If so, how?

Goals and Planning

Have you ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? Many people start by looking for the edge and corner pieces to assemble the border. Some will then group pieces with similar colors, while others just try to fit in new pieces as they pick them up. Regardless of strategy, a jigsaw puzzle is most easily solved when people have a picture to reference. When you know what the picture should look like, you can gauge your progress and avoid making mistakes. If you were to put a puzzle together facedown (cardboard side up, rather than picture side up), you could still connect the pieces, but it would take you much longer to understand how it should fit together. Your attempts, beyond the border, would be mostly by trial and error. Pursuing anything without goals and a plan is like putting together an upside-down puzzle. You can still finish, or get to where you’re meant to be, but it will take you much longer to determine your steps along the way.

In Chapter 3 , you learned about the SMART goal method for setting actionable goals, or goals that are planned and stated with enough clarity for the goal-setter to take realistic action toward meeting those goals. SMART goals help you focus on your priorities and manage your time while also providing a means of organizing your thinking and actions into manageable steps. Long- and short-term goals help to connect the action steps.

Long-Term Goals

Long-term goals are future goals that often take years to complete. An example of a long-term goal might be to complete a bachelor of arts degree within four years. Another example might be purchasing a home or running a marathon. While this chapter focuses on academic and career planning, long-term goals are not exclusive to these areas of your life. You might set long-term goals related to fitness, wellness, spirituality, and relationships, among many others. When you set a long-term goal in any aspect of your life, you are demonstrating a commitment to dedicate time and effort toward making progress in that area. Because of this commitment, it is important that your long-term goals are aligned with your values.

Short-Term Goals

Setting short-term goals helps you consider the necessary steps you’ll need to take, but it also helps to chunk a larger effort into smaller, more manageable tasks. Even when your long-term goals are SMART, it’s easier to stay focused and you’ll become less overwhelmed in the process of completing short-term goals.

You might assume that short-term and long-term goals are different goals that vary in the length of time they take to complete. Given this assumption, you might give the example of a long-term goal of learning how to create an app and a short-term goal of remembering to pay your cell phone bill this weekend. These are valid goals, but they don’t exactly demonstrate the intention of short- and long-term goals for the purposes of effective planning.

Instead of just being bound by the difference of time, short-term goals are the action steps that take less time to complete than a long-term goal, but that help you work toward your long-term goals. To determine your best degree option, it might make sense to do some research to determine what kind of career you’re most interested in pursuing. Or, if you recall that short-term goal of paying your cell phone bill this weekend, perhaps this short-term goal is related to a longer-term goal of learning how to better manage your budgeting and finances.

Setting Long- and Short-Term Goals

Sunil’s story provides an example of effective goal setting. While meeting with an academic advisor at his college to discuss his change of major, Sunil was tasked with setting long- and short-term goals aligned with that major. He selected a degree plan in business administration, sharing with his advisor his intention to work in business and hopefully human relations in particular. His advisor discussed with him how he could set short-term goals that would help his progress on that plan. Sunil wondered if he should be as specific as setting short-term goals week by week or for the successful completion of every homework assignment or exam. His advisor shared that he could certainly break his goals down into that level of specificity if it helped him to stay focused, but recommended that he start by outlining how many credits or courses he would hope to complete. Sunil drafted his goals and planned to meet again with his advisor in another week to discuss.

Sunil worried that his list of short-term goals looked more like a checklist of tasks than anything. His advisor reassured him, sharing that short-term goals can absolutely look like a checklist of tasks because their purpose is to break the long-term goal down into manageable chunks that are easier to focus on and complete. His advisor then recommended that Sunil add to his plan an additional note at the end of every other semester to “check in” with his advisor to make certain that he was on track.

Planning for Adjustments

You will recall from the SMART goals goal-setting model that goals should be both measurable and attainable. Far too often, however, we set goals with the best of intentions but then fail to keep track of our progress or adjust our short-term goals if they’re not helping us to progress as quickly as we’d like. When setting goals, the most successful planners also consider when they will evaluate their progress. At that time, perhaps after each short-term goal should have been met, they may reflect on the following:

• If so, celebrate!
• If not, you may want to additionally consider:
• If so, continue on your path.
• If not, reconsider the steps you need to take to meet your long-term goal. If you’ve gotten off track or if you’ve learned that other steps must be taken, set new short-term goals with timelines appropriate to each step. You may also want to seek some additional advice from others who have successfully met long-term goals that are similar to your own.
• If your goals are still relevant to your interests and values, then continue on your path, seeking advice and support as needed to stay on track.
• If your goals are no longer relevant or aligned with your values, give careful consideration to setting new goals.

While departing from your original goals may seem like a failure, taking the time to reflect on goals before you set them aside to develop new ones is a success. Pivoting from a goal to new, better-fitting goal involves increased self-awareness and increased knowledge about the processes surrounding your specific goal (such as the details of a college transfer, for example). With careful reflection and information seeking, your change in plans may even demonstrate learning and increased maturity!

Application

Take a moment to practice setting long- and short-term goals. Your short-term goal should help you progress toward your long-term goal. Include a plan for when and how you will know if you’re on track or if you need to adjust your goals to match new priorities.

Keep in mind that values and goals may change over time as you meet new people, your life circumstances change, and you gain more wisdom or self-awareness. In addition to setting goals and tracking your progress, you should also periodically reflect on your goals to ensure their consistency with your values.

Now that you’ve set some goals, what is your plan to track your progress on those goals? Can you identify a time you will set aside to intentionally reflect on your progress and whether you need to set any new short-term goals or perhaps adjust your larger plans?

• 1 Hall, Kathleen. Alter Your Life: Overbooked, Overworked, Overwhelmed? Oak Haven Press. Georgia. 2005.

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SMART goals for Students

A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:

*Who: Who is involved? *What: What do I want to accomplish? *Where: Identify a location. *When: Establish a time frame. *Which: Identify requirements and constraints. *Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."

M easurable

Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

A ttainable

When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal. 

A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs., when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

T can also stand for Tangible

A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

Retrieved from topachievement.com June 2, 2011

Suggested Activity/Discussion Topics for Goals Setting

First year students are often uncertain of their goals and may not have much experience in developing action plans to meet a goal. The suggestions below can be used to lead a discussion or provide guidelines for one or more small group or writing assignments.

1.   Long Term Goal - Encourage students to think long term about their goals. Even students unsure of their major will have an idea about their desired lifestyle and the level of success they want. Students can brainstorm answers to these questions and share them with a partner, small group, or the class as a whole.

• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
• What kind of work are you doing? What is the career you have?
• Why was choosing this goal important to you?
• What satisfaction does it provide, other than money?
• What relationship does this class have to reaching your goal?

2.   Intermediate Range Goals – Sometimes, students can’t see beyond a few years. In that case, encourage students to think more in terms of the UMD experience. They might write a journal entry to answer these questions:

• What do you need to accomplish in the next 2-5 years in order to reach your long-term goal or to help you formulate a long term goal? For example, do you need to explore one or more areas of interest? Who can help you do this? What kind of information will be helpful to you?
• What do you need to do to do this year to make progress toward defining a goal or toward focusing your efforts? For example, can you identify the resources available to help you make decisions?

3.   What is your short-term academic goal for this semester ? – one paragraph

• State at least one goal specifically: “I want to get an A- in ENG 101” or “I want to get a 2.5 GPA.” It is not acceptable to say, “I want to get good grades,” (because “good” is not specific) or “I want to learn as much as I can” (because that is not specific).
• Make sure the goal is something you can complete by the end of the semester. It is not acceptable to say, “I want to learn as much as I can at UMD” because you’d need more than one semester to accomplish the goal.
• Make sure the goal is measurable. For example, you could say, “I want to earn at least a C+ in Accounting” because you could measure your progress with each quiz/test grade. It is not acceptable to say, “I want to work as hard as I can” or “I want to earn good grades” because you can’t measure your progress (how much is “hard as I can”? If I get a 70 on a test, is that “good”?).

4.   Plan to Achieve Your Short –Term Semester Goal – one paragraph

• What strategies will you use to help you reach your goal? BE SPECIFIC.
• Study 2 hours every day
• Go to the Writing and Reading Center for help
• See my instructor during office hours
• Study with a friend
• Use the Cornell note taking method (info in Writing and Reading Center)
• Use content maps to organize information to study
• Create a monthly assignment calendar to plan to meet due dates for all courses.
• Create a weekly study schedule that lists specific courses/projects you will work on.

Personal Development Plan

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Student Name: __________________________        Date: __________________

There is a direct relationship between how well you follow a specific, four-year personal development plan and your ability to meet professional objectives upon graduation. The purpose of this project is to enable you to create, follow, and mark progress in college by using a personal development plan. Although you will complete this planning process during your first semester, you will be encouraged to follow through on implementing and revising your plans by utilizing the support network dedicated to sustaining your growth and success in the personal development process during each subsequent semester.

Write Your Vision Statement ( Image of the ideal. It is future looking, inspirational, and creates the most desirable scenario):

Write Your Mission Statement ( A brief, clear, concise statement of your purpose and desires, and the primary methods through which you intend to fulfill that purpose. It is somewhat uplifting but more practical than the vision.) 

First Year: Rank Number the top five tasks that fit your priorities this year:

Write 3 Goals for your first year including objectives and action plans for each goal

Goals: Statements of desired future states, long-term and possible, and based on mission and vision. Typically few in number, with a target date.

Objectives: Short-term, specific, measureable outcomes statements

Action Plans: Series of short-term tasks to be completed that will result in the achievement of the objectives or outcomes.

Second Year: Rank Number the top five tasks that fit your priorities this year:

Third Year: Rank Number the top five tasks that fit your priorities this year:

Fourth Year: Rank Number the top five tasks that fit your priorities this year:

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Discover a wide range of majors, minors, and graduate degrees designed to help you find your passion and achieve your career goals. Our expert faculty and supportive community provide hands-on learning and real-world experience, preparing you for success. Explore our programs and apply now to join our vibrant and innovative campus.

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20.6k plays, career research, 8th -  10th  , sociology education, 11th -  university  , memorial day quiz, lewis and clark.

EverFi Lesson 2: Preparing in High Schoo...

9th - 12th grade, social studies.

EverFi Lesson 2: Preparing in High School

10 questions

Introducing new   Paper mode

No student devices needed.   Know more

When you ____, you have all the materials needed to complete a task.

Manage your time

Are organized

How can goal setting help with academic performance?

It helps you focus on what needs to be done and why.

It is an effective study skill.

Writing goals down makes them happen.

They help you understand content better.

Which is the best example of someone growing their network while in high-school?

Setting goals and telling friends about them.

Planning time to meet with friends to go to a sporting event.

Having regular check-ins with teachers and counselors to discuss goals.

Sharing grades with friends and family.

4. Prioritization is an example of a skill that helps you reach long term goals because...

it helps organize classroom materials.

it allows you to have fun and relaxation which is important to success.

it focuses on the most important tasks first, which leads to accomplishing long term goals.

it is a study technique that helps with memorization.

Which is an example of an effective study skill?

Re-reading a chapter in a textbook.

Getting to bed early.

Reading over notes.

Making notecards and quizzing yourself.

Who is most likely able to help you accomplish goals?

Parents or caregivers

All of the above

What study skill is being used when taking a large project and breaking it down into smaller manageable tasks?

prioritizing

goal setting

telescoping

Why should you block time on a calendar to study on a regular basis?

Improving your time management helps you study regularly instead of cramming.

This study skill can keep your calendar balanced.

You don't need to if you just remember.

This organization trick fills up your calendar.

Which of the following can be considered an important part of time management?

Keeping papers in a binder with dividers for each class.

Highlighting times on a calendar.

Timing how long it takes to finish assignments and take quizzes.

Thinking about how much time to spend on each task, and in what order they

should be done.

Which is the best explanation for why organization can lead to academic and career success?

It allows you to locate materials, be aware of your assignments and plan time

to get things done

It forces you to focus on one thing at a time.

It enables you to be more creative with assignments.

It fosters good connections between you, your peers and your teachers.

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How to Set Financial Goals: 6 Steps

14 Min Read | Dec 29, 2023

Do you feel like you’re trying  so hard  to make the right decisions with your money but never seem to get ahead? Or have you been working your butt off, maybe even picking up a side hustle, but you don’t have much to show for it at the end of the month?

Sure, things like  inflation  and  recessions  are real and can feel like huge road blocks to your financial goals. But even when the economy isn’t going crazy, if you don’t set any goals for your money, you’ll definitely feel like you’re spinning your wheels.

If you want to make progress with your money (for real ), you need to set some financial goals. But don’t freak out. I’m going to help you figure out what your financial goals actually are —and share the steps to reach them. You’ve got this!

What Is a Financial Goal?

A financial goal is any plan you have for your money. You can have short-term financial goals (like saving up $1,000) or long-term financial goals (like buying a house or investing for retirement). It’s a good idea to set  goals for every area of your life , but having specific financial goals means you’re committing to what you want out of life by planning to save and spend money for those things.

But depending on your relationship with money, trying to decide what to do with it can feel as overwhelming as choosing what to watch on Netflix or as exciting as planning a vacation to Disneyland. There are so many options. But you can’t watch all the home makeover shows or ride all the rides at once. You’ve got to pick and choose, and I recommend tackling your goals in an order that’ll set you up for lifelong success. But first, let’s talk about how you can get in the mindset of setting goals.

6 Steps to Setting Financial Goals

Lots of things can influence the way you set your financial goals, including your motivations, values and dreams for the future. And the way your parents handled money and even your own spending and savings habits (which are unique to you) also has a major impact on how you handle money.

Goal planning takes intention and some self-awareness, so carve out time to think about your goals. Find a few minutes to sit down with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and get ready to dream—big! Once you have a list of goals for your money in mind, you’re ready to break them down into smaller, actionable steps. Here’s how:

1. Make your goal specific.

One reason people don’t hit their money goals is because they’re too vague. You might say, “I want to be better with money.” But what does that actually mean to you? Narrow it down. Or, “I want to upgrade my car someday.” Okay, fun! But what kind of car do you want, and when do you want to buy it?

What if you decided instead to  tackle your debt ? That’s a  specific  area of your money to focus on. Now, let’s talk about how to break this goal down even more.

2. Make your goal measurable.

Okay, so your goal is to pay off debt. Now it’s time to pick an exact amount—what you can measure to know if you hit your goal or not.

While being  completely debt-free  should be your ultimate goal, it’s a good idea to break down that goal into smaller chunks. That way, you have a vision of where you’re going before you get started.

Say you have $30,000 of total debt. You’ll want to start by paying off your smallest debt, like a $15,000 student loan, first. That’s what I mean by setting a measurable goal.

3. Give yourself a deadline.

Here’s the deal: It’s super easy to put off your goals when they aren’t time-sensitive. Stop saying you’ll start someday . You need to give yourself a deadline and make it reasonable—but also a little challenging.

Get a FREE customized plan for your money in 3 minutes! 

Back to the student loan example:  When  do you want to hit your goal? If you want to pay off $15,000 in one year, you’ll need to pay $1,250 each month. Is this possible but also a bit of a stretch? If so, good!

Now, some goals fall into the short- to mid-term category, and these can be tackled in less than five or so. Think of long-term goals as ones you’ll achieve in five years or more. Here are some examples of short- and long-term financial goals:

Short- and mid-term financial goals:

• Saving up an emergency fund
• Saving for a vacation
• Paying for books for an upcoming semester of school
• Buying a new kitchen appliance or renovation
• Saving for an engagement ring
• Putting down a deposit on an apartment lease
• Saving for upcoming medical or dental services
• Buying birthday or Christmas gifts
• Saving a house down-payment

Long-term financial goals:

• Buying a new car with cash
• Paying for your kid’s college in cash
• Saving for retirement
• Launching a business
• Traveling for several months at a time

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4. Make sure they’re your own goals.

When we  compare ourselves to other people , we’re playing a game we’ll never win. So, make sure you’re setting financial goals that make sense for  you . In other words, just because all your friends are taking out second mortgages to renovate their kitchens doesn’t mean you should. Is that one Instagram influencer taking another extravagant vacation? Hey, good for them. But that doesn’t mean you need to do the same thing—or that you’re behind in life if you’re not in the same place. Put the blinders on, focus on your goals, and stay in your lane. And be clear on  why  you’ve chosen the goals you have.

5. Write your goal down.

Did you know you’re more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down? Yep, it’s true—there’s something about putting pen to paper that helps you commit to the task at hand.

So, go ahead and write down your goals. Then, stick them in your car, to your desk, or on your bathroom mirror. Type them in a notes app on your phone, take a screenshot, and set it as your wallpaper so it’s the first thing you see when you pick up your phone. Keeping your goals where you can see them will keep you on track and motivated.

6. Get a goal accountability buddy.

To take your goals one step further, find a goal accountability buddy. This could be your spouse, a close friend or a community—anyone who will cheer you on and check in as you keep working on hitting your goal. Having a cheerleader in your corner and knowing you’re not alone can make a huge difference as you work toward your goals.

5 Examples of Financial Goals

With so much money “advice” floating around, it can be hard to know which financial goals you should aim for first. This is why I have to mention the  Baby Steps when I talk about setting financial goals. The Baby Steps will help you save for emergencies, pay off debt, and build wealth. But there’s a process to follow.

Should you pay off debt first? Save for your kids’ college? Buy a house? Invest for retirement? The 7 Baby Steps cut through all the confusion and give you a clear path to do  all those things . Following the steps will help you focus on one goal at a time so you can make more progress with your money and feel financial peace.

If you have no clue what financial goal to go after first, start by  taking this quick assessment  to find out what Baby Step you’re on.

Here are some more of the most common financial goals people set and tips for making them happen. Are any of these on your list?

1. Create and stick to a budget.

Not only is budgeting one of the top financial goals people set each new year, but it’s also the foundation you should build all your other money goals on.

A  budget  is  how  you make progress with your money. It’s a plan for what’s coming in (your income) and what’s going out (your expenses). You’re telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. When you have this plan for your money, you can feel confident you’re taking steps toward your goal every month.

Budgeting helps you gain momentum in  every  area of your finances. If you’re already budgeting, bravo! If not,  get started for free with EveryDollar .

2. Build up an emergency fund.

Life happens. But you   can be prepared for any money problems that come your way if   you’ve got enough money saved up. I’m talking car trouble, medical expenses and busted toilets (you know, some of the most inconvenient parts of being an adult). But when you’ve got an  emergency fund , you can rest well at night knowing you won’t have to go into debt to cover those moments.

Start with the financial goal of having  $1,000 in savings . Then, if you have debt, it’s time to knock that out. (I’ll talk more about that in a minute.) After that, you want to build up a fully funded emergency fund with 3–6 months of expenses. (Again, this is all covered in the  Baby Steps —the proven plan to help you take control of your money.)

When you’ve got an emergency fund, you’re ready for those “life happens” moments. Instead of being worried about what could happen next, you’ll feel confident that you’ve got money set aside to deal with it.

3. Get out of debt.

If you’ve got  debt , it’s time to get serious about paying it off. All of it. Yeah, I know that may seem impossible right now, especially if you’ve got some big numbers staring you in the face—student loans, credit cards, whatever makes up that debt. But here’s the ugly truth: Debt doesn’t move you forward. It   holds you back.  You can’t get ahead with your money if it’s always going to lender payments.

4. Save up for your dream retirement.

Let’s take a second to put on our imagination caps and picture the ideal retirement. Maybe that’s five, 10 or 30 years down the road. Do you want to pack up the grandkids and head to Disney every Christmas? Visit a new state with your spouse once a quarter? Stay home and read every book on your shelves? Take up a fun hobby or travel for international cooking lessons?

No matter what you’re dreaming for the future, you’ll need good retirement investments  now  to make it a reality. After you’re debt-free and have a fully funded emergency fund, I want you to start  investing 15% of your household income for retirement . And guess what? When you have zero debt, all that money you were spending on payments can go straight into your accounts to fund your retirement dreams.

5. Spend less and save more.

Tons of people whip goals out of the air, like “I want to spend less” or “I want to save more,” without thinking about what it means to actually do those things. People, you’ve got to be specific with your goals and intentional about your money habits .

Becoming successful with money is more about changing your behavior than anything else. This can look like creating and sticking to your budget every month, finding deals, using coupons, paying cash, making more money. And here’s a big one: You’ve got to learn how to say  no— even to yourself. I’m not saying never have fun. But if you want to save money, it’s going to take some planning and lifestyle adjusting.

And finally, here’s one of my favorite tips for  spending less  and  saving more : Plan your meals. Food is where most Americans overspend, and meal planning is how you rein that in. Check out my free  Weekly Meal Planner & Grocery Savings Guide  to see how to save time and money on food.

An Example of a Financial Goal in Action

Okay, so now that I’ve gone over the basics of financial goal planning, let me give you an example of how this can work in real life.

A while back, my husband, Winston, and I decided to build a house. Before that, all the extra income we brought in went straight to our general savings. But I knew building a house would cost a lot, and random, unexpected expenses were bound to pop up during the process.

So, we made it a goal to save up as much as we could—specifically toward our house. And while saving up that much money seemed almost impossible, breaking it down into monthly goals gave us so much momentum. Having a plan for our money not only made our dream possible, but it also made the process fun.

Having this goal for our money is also what kept my spending tendencies (aka  spendencies —trust me, it’s a thing) in check. Knowing my money was going toward something I really wanted (way more than any late-night Amazon purchases) motivated me to spend less. And even though there were moments when we felt fatigued—I mean, there were some days when all I wanted to do was relax and spend money—finding creative ways to hit our goal faster kept us on track each month.

Beyond that, it was character building. It’s a time in our marriage that we’ll always look back on and know we accomplished something hard together. It helped cultivate connection between us and  contentment  in my own heart. Now I realize those benefits of the process are worth more than the new house.

Why Is Setting Financial Goals Important?

Having a goal helps you be more future focused with your money. You’ll start to see how every decision you make adds up and makes a difference with your overall  financial health .

For example, if you don’t have financial goals, it’s no big deal to buy breakfast and coffee  every day . But let’s look at just how much that’s really costing you. You’ll typically spend  at least  $25 for just one workweek of lattes—that’s $100 a month! What else could you do with that money?

If you put $100 in an investment account every month for five years, your latte fund could grow into more than $8,000, thanks to the power of compound growth. That’s a whole semester of your kids’ college you’re drinking.

Imagine if you thought even  longer term and invested $100 a month for 15 years. Your latte savings could grow to over $45,000.

And if you invest your savings for 30 years? Your coffee money could grow to over $280,000. A latte a day or a quarter of a million dollars? You guys, I like a good cup of coffee—but not  that  much.

If you want to set yourself up to be  financially secure , find small (or large) sacrifices you can make right now. The everyday things you do with your money today will absolutely affect your future.

Goals Will Get You Where You Want to Be

Financial goals will help you change your mindset, your habits and ultimately your life.

When you’re intentional with every dollar you have, you’re able to make your money go further. That means you get to do more of the stuff you want to do and plan for the things you’ll do in the future.

You can do more than you ever thought possible, but you’ll need financial goals to help you get there. Decide what you want your future to look like and figure out what you need to do  today  to make it happen.

You  can  live on your terms instead of the bank’s.

You  can  get out of debt once and for all.

You  can  build wealth and pay for things that matter to you.

If you’re already planning ahead and dreaming up a vision for the future, check out our 2024 Goal Planner . It’ll help you create and track your goals and stay focused along the journey. Goal setting doesn’t have to be intimidating, and this planner will help keep you heading in the right direction.

And remember, any financial goal you have starts with a budget. This is the foundation. It’s how you get organized and intentional with your money. Go ahead and  start your free budget today with EveryDollar . Then, get moving on those six steps to setting and reaching your financial goals. No matter the time of year, you  can  turn these dreams into reality. Go get it! 

Start Setting Your Financial Goals Today

• If you’re already planning ahead and dreaming up a vision for the future, check out our  Goal Planner . It’ll help you create and track your goals and stay focused along the journey.
• Finally, get moving on those six steps I mentioned to setting and reaching your financial goals.
• Go ahead and start your free budget today with EveryDollar.

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About the author

Rachel Cruze

Rachel Cruze is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, financial expert, host of The Rachel Cruze Show, and co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour. Rachel writes and speaks on personal finance, budgeting, investing and money trends. As a co-host of The Ramsey Show, America’s second-largest talk radio show, Rachel reaches millions of weekly listeners with her personal finance advice. She’s appeared on Good Morning America and Fox News and been featured in TIME, REAL SIMPLE and Women’s Health, among others. Through her shows, books, syndicated columns and speaking events, Rachel shares fun, practical ways to take control of your money and create a life you love. Learn More.

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It’s natural to feel lost or overwhelmed as you begin to think about setting and balancing financial goals . Start by answering this question: How do you define success?

For some, success is a luxurious lifestyle complete with a big house and fancy car. For others, it’s having enough financial security to avoid stressing about money. Visualize where you want to be in the future and set aspirations that align with your values. Make sure to leave room for immediate goals as you form a plan.

Here’s how to set new money goals.

1. Find your inspiration

Think not just about what you want to do, but why you want to do it. Attaching reasons to your goals can put them in perspective and fuel motivation. For example:

Build up an emergency fund so you can afford to pay rent if you lose your job.

Get rid of credit card debt so you can put your income toward a wedding instead of interest payments.

2. Examine your situation

After giving it some thought, you may have multiple goals in mind and don’t know what to do next. Or maybe you don’t have specific goals. That’s OK. Looking at where you stand right now can help set you on the right trajectory, whether your ambitions are short term, long term or have yet to be identified.

Start by assessing your income, income tax situation , budget and net worth . “Having an understanding of these four things will help determine goals and prioritization of those goals,” says Steve Martin, wealth planning advisor at Oasis Wealth Planning Advisors in Nashville, Tennessee.

We’ve listed some example financial goals below, and recommend attacking them in this order:

Create a budget

If you don’t have a budget , make one. This can keep all your other goals on track by preventing overspending and under-saving. We suggest taking the 50/30/20 budgeting approach. That means allocating 50% of your income toward needs , 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings and debt repayment.

Build an emergency fund

A healthy emergency reserve acts as a safety net during financial shocks like an unexpected bill or job loss. You can start with aiming to have $500 on hand, which can cover many unexpected expenses. Over the long haul, it's ideal to save up enough to cover three to six months of your essential expenses — the needs portion of the 50/30/20 budget mentioned above.

Save for retirement

Retirement may be decades away, but it’s important to start saving as early as possible so that you have enough money to survive on when the time comes. Most experts recommend saving 15% of your gross income each year. If your employer offers a 401(k) and matches your contributions, take full advantage of that free money. Factor in whether you're managing money as a single person or working with a partner.

Pay off debt

Focus on paying down high-interest toxic debt first, like credit card debt or payday loans. Then, pay down lower-rate debt like student loans or a mortgage.

3. Think 'SMART'

Consider all the necessary pieces of a plan — not just the goal, but the steps you’ll take to reach it. Quentara Costa, a certified financial planner with Powwow in North Andover, Massachusetts, says a strong basis for setting any goal is to make sure it’s “SMART”:

Say you want to save for a vacation. Lay out the details before you move forward: Pick a destination, decide when you want to go and estimate the cost. Determine whether this goal is doable and practical given your income, savings and expenses. If the goal seems out of reach, try to make adjustments before scrapping the idea entirely.

Maybe you’re not on track to save enough for a trip in six months. Push your deadline back to a year, automate your savings , or open a new savings account with a higher interest rate and a sign-up bonus to speed up your progress.

4. Write them down

After you’ve identified and vetted your goals, mark them down. This can keep objectives clear, organized and tangible. Fill out a worksheet or spreadsheet, or use a notepad. Check in periodically and track your progress. Once you’ve crossed off one goal, move on to the next.

5. Treat yourself

Setting goals doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Reward yourself for making progress and completing objectives. Once you’ve tackled high-priority goals like building an emergency fund, saving for retirement and shrinking debt, you can focus on more exciting goals. These might include making more money, investing, working from home , starting a business or saving for a major purchase like a car or house.

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