The importance of goal setting

We all want to succeed. However, attaining success without first establishing goals is difficult.

Setting goals helps you plan out your life, and gives you purpose and motivation to overcome obstacles and challenges. Very few people, however, actually set goals. Research shows that less than 3 percent of adults have written goals, and less than one percent review and revise their goals daily.

Reasons for this may be that people find it difficult to create goals, others aren’t sure of what they want, and for most people it is a fear of failing. Nonetheless, it is important to create goals because they help you manage the uncertainty of the future. When you set a goal, you create a path for your future, helping you to stay on track. Once you decide and plan out what you want in life, achieving it becomes much easier.

Goal setting is not only important for financial success; goals help facilitate personal growth and provide the framework to succeed in everything you do. Creating congruence in your life — meaning to balance your work life, your home life, your financial life, etc. — requires that you set goals for every part of your life.

Despite the numerous benefits of goal setting, many people don’t understand the purpose or have been unsuccessful with goals in the past. The key to achieving goals is to understand the “why” behind them. According to Daniel Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” “Satisfaction depends not merely on having goals, but on having the right goals.”

Understanding why you have set certain goals helps you to judge whether they are the right goals for you. It is important to set realistic goals that align with your current state in life. Setting unattainable and unrelated goals will not help to initiate positive change, but rather will bring more frustration and disappointment. Setting the right goals helps ensure a better outcome.

As you begin to set and work toward your goals, the increase in efficiency, satisfaction and success that you experience in life may surprise you.