8 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important

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What are goals?

A goal is an objective or end result that a person is trying to reach or achieve.

Having a clear goal is like getting into a car and knowing where and how to get there. Have you ever gotten into a car driving without a clear direction or destination? I can tell you I have done it a couple of times. It wasn’t a very productive drive; I drove around my neighborhood for hours and ended up right where I started each time.

Life without setting clear goals is like driving around your neighborhood for hours and ending up right where you started. You run around in circles, spending a lot of time and energy without achieving anything or having anything to show.

Quoting an inspirational quote by Tony Robbins, who said, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.“

It doesn’t matter if it’s a short-term or long-term goal; I believe having a clear purpose can help shape your life and reach self-actualization.

This article will show how important goal setting is in achieving your dreams and living a fulfilling life.

Why is Goal Setting Important? Here Are 8 Reasons

1. Goals support our Vision

Setting a goal in life can help you have a clear direction on what and where you are going.

When you want to achieve something in life, you ask yourself these questions:

What is my purpose in life?
What I want to become?
What do I want to achieve in the future?

These questions help you understand yourself better. You became connected with your deeper inner self, become aware of what you value in life, who you want to be and what you want your future to look like.

Have you heard this saying, “The future is now.”? It means you have control over what and how you want your future to look like. And the moment of creation of your future is always in the present moment.

I challenge you today and write down three things you want to achieve in a year or in the next three months and break them into small actionable plans. Write what you want to achieve, How you want to achieve it, when you want to achieve it, and the steps you will take to achieve your set goal.

By setting this in motion, you are no longer wishful thinking, but now you have a strategy behind achieving them. The only thing left is committing yourself daily to implementing at least one thing to make your dream a reality.

2. Goals Set Our Focus on what we are trying to achieve.

Writing down SMART goals helps you have a clear intent and focus; you become more aware of your actions and decisions, and it is easier to decide what you want to do, when, and how to do it.

Your time, energy, and actions are then focused on achieving the set goals. You will not be easily side tracked or make spur-of-the-moment decisions just because something interests you. You are intentional with your choices because you know what you want and where you are going.

3. Goals can help you accomplish more and live the life you want

Since I started setting daily goals, I can attest that my days have become more manageable. I can accomplish everything I want to achieve in a day without feeling overwhelmed.

When you write down your goals, you can classify them from what is urgent to what you can do later. You then start checking off what is urgent and needed within a specific time to what is less critical and can take more time; this way, you can accomplish many small tasks that will add to your final goal.

4. Goals Encourage You to Take Action and Avoid Procrastination

Knowing what to do within a specific time makes you work hard. If you know that you have to pick up laundry at 12.30 pm, you will plan your day such that at 12.30 pm, you are at the laundry shop picking up laundry.

Your subconscious mind becomes acquainted with what you need to achieve at a specific time. Your mind becomes wired such that all decisions and actions you take moving forward are to help you accomplish a particular goal. You stop procrastinating and start living in the now rather than wishing for things to happen to you.

5. Goals challenge us and support our growth

The Locke Goal Setting Theory states that “goal setting is essentially linked to task performance.” It further explains that giving specific, challenging goals and then having feedback provides direction on what is required to achieve higher and better task performance.

The everyday problem is no longer giving you sleepless nights, but it has become like a new challenge or puzzle waiting for you to solve and let you grow your mind further. You should think outside the box and devise a solution when you have a challenging goal presented to you. After a short while, your mind will become accustomed and quick to solve complex problems.

Once you have achieved a specific task or goal, the feeling you get is like no other. You start seeing yourself in a new light—someone who is a doer and able to succeed in anything when you set your mind to it. Seeing how capable you are in solving problems builds your confidence and self-worth. Most of all, you start trusting yourself more, which feeds into achieving bigger and better goals and creating success.

6. Keeps us responsible and accountable

I’m sure we have all, at one point or another, said or heard someone say, “I want to lose weight and get back in shape,”, especially at the beginning of the year. We have to agree that not many people achieve this goal. It has now become a song that most people sing at the beginning of the year and not do anything afterward.

Just mentioning that you want to lose weight doesn’t mean anything unless you have an actionable plan. It is better to clearly define your SMART goal like I want to lose 10 kg within four months. I will be walking or going to the gym five times a week. I will exercise for 30 minutes every morning and add 10 min every week after that.

You have broken the grand goal of losing weight to small achievable goals of exercising 30 minutes every morning for five days a week and adding 10 minutes afterward. This goal is now easy to keep account of; all you need is to work out for five days every day for the next four months.

7. Achieving Goals Make You Feel Good

Being able to accomplish something feels good.

Take the weight goal example. It’s four months, and you have reached your weight goal for summer.

Wouldn’t you feel great getting your summer clothes ready and having a happy dance?

Our brain has a way of rewarding us when we achieve something. The brain releases a dopamine chemical, which makes us happy and motivated. This good feeling makes you look forward to your new challenge.

8. Goals can help you be more positive

Goals give you a different outlook on life. When you are unsure what you want in life, you make excuses, blame, and complain about everything. It can feel like the universe is working against you.

Like how difficult running a marathon on mud is, life without setting a goal is equally challenging. It’s easy to be taken off course when you do not see what you have done or feel the effort you put in does not equal results.

A SMART goal shows you precisely what you have done so far to achieve your goal. You can equate and see what you have done so far. Life starts to have a positive outlook when you visit the little progress and celebrate the small wins.

You start looking at life as the small steps and milestones you achieve daily. Your mind is also celebrating with you your wins. You start becoming a true conscious creator of your life.

Summary

Everybody wants to achieve their dreams and live a successful life. What differentiates us is what we are willing to do to get what we want.

Setting goals in life can help us achieve a lot in life. Goals give us a clear direction and destination of where we are going. You become clear and intentional in everything you do.

Your life becomes meaningful, and you look forward to your next milestone of achievement, whether a daily goal or a lifetime one.

Having SMART goals makes you accountable and focused on your life.

These are but a few benefits of goal setting.

It doesn’t matter what area of your life you want to improve. It can be a personal, relationship, or career goal that you are looking to accomplish. You do not need to take my word for it, but I challenge you to try it and set a SMART goal today.

I can guarantee you that you will be amazed at how your life will change. You will start noticing things about yourself that you never considered. You will also be surprised how capable you are and how your days are more manageable with less stress when you have goals.

There is no better feeling than belief and trust in yourself and knowing that you can do anything in life if you set your goal and intention.