Setting goals

What is it that you would like to achieve in the near or distant future? Success in your school or Uni work? Winning the grand final? Greater confidence? More energy? Better relationships?

Whatever it is that you want, making it into a goal is one of the best ways of getting there. Goals keep you focussed and motivated, and increase your likelihood of getting the things you want.

Take a little time to think about some of the things that you would like to achieve in the next year. If you can't think of anything, close your eyes and imagine how you would like things to be in one, two, or three years time. What do you hope will be different? Here are some of the areas that you might consider.

Areas for setting goals:

• personal qualities
• friendships/relationships
• family
• work / study / career
• physical health
• interests/Hobbies
• attitudes
• other areas

CASE STUDIES

Take a look at the goals that were identified by Casey and Liam when they did this exercise:

GOALS FOR CASEY

What I would like to achieve within two years:

• Work/study/career: I would like to be studying Arts at Uni.
• Friendships/relationships: I would like to have at least four close friends that I can rely on.
• Physical health: I would like to do some type of exercise at least five times a week.
• Personal qualities: I would like to be more positive.

GOALS FOR LIAM

What I would like to achieve within two years:

• Personal qualities: I would like to get over my depression.
• Interests/hobbies: I would like to be a competent surfer.
• Work / study/career: I would like to be working in web design.

Over to you

Take a look at the suggested 'Areas for Setting Goals' listed above. Think about which of these areas are important to you, and write down a goal next to one, two or three of these headings. For the rest of this fact sheet we'll look at strategies that you can use to work towards achieving these goals.

Working towards your goals involves three basic steps:

1. Define your goal
2. Set subgoals
3. Work through a plan of action

Step 1: Define your goal

Think about exactly what you would like to achieve and write it down.

Make your goal specific

Defining your goal in specific rather than vague language helps you to monitor your progress and increases your likelihood of success. For instance 'to be happy' is a vague goal and is difficult to measure. It is also hard to know when you've achieved it because there are no clear endpoints.

To make your goal specific, you could ask yourself 'What things do I need in order to be happy?' The answer may lie in things such as to be working in a job that I enjoy, to have some interests that I love, to meet new people, and to be exercising on a daily basis.

With specific goals like these, you can clearly see whether or not you have achieved them. This helps you to stay on track. It also means that you can then celebrate when you reach each milestone and when you have achieved your goal.

Include a time frame

Giving yourself a deadline is important because it keeps you on the go and helps you to stay motivated. Without a deadline you might find yourself putting things off and eventually forgetting about your goal altogether. Try to make sure it is a realistic span of time.

Make your goals realistic

It is important not to set your sights too low when you are setting goals. Most people have the capacity to achieve a lot more than they actually do, and sometimes it's good to push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

On the other hand, it's also important not to set goals that are unachievable. Having unrealistically high expectations increases your likelihood of failure which will decrease your enthusiasm. It can also cause you lots of stress and anxiety.

For example, if you like sport, aiming to be playing for Australia may be unrealistic. However, aiming to get into your local team may be a realistic goal. While this goal will keep you motivated, it is far less likely to cause major stress, panic, and burn out that aiming to play for Australia.

You may also find that talking to someone you trust about your goal helps to keep it achievable. You might want to talk to a teacher, lecturer, sports coach or counsellor. If you are working you might be able speak with someone in your workplace.

Keep focussed on your goals

Writing down your goal and keeping it in a place where you can see it may also help you remain focused. Maybe you could write it in your diary or stick it on your bedroom wall.

Step 2: Set subgoals

Subgoals are the specific steps that you take along the way in order to achieve your main goal. When you write down your subgoals, it gives you a path to follow. Once you start working through your subgoals you get the sense that you are making progress, and this gives you a boost. This is important, particularly for the larger goals that take a long time to achieve.

Below are examples of specific goals that were selected by Liam and Casey, and the subgoals that they set for each goal.

Liam's goal: Get over my depression by the end of this month.

Liam's subgoals:

• Monitor my self-talk every day.
• Whenever I find myself feeling overwhelmed or depressed stop and ask: 'What am I telling myself about this situation?'
• Practice challenging my self-talk by going through the ABCD of the situation whenever I'm feeling down (check out the fact sheets on Self-talk and Challenging negative self-talk for more info).
• Keep a diary by my bed and each night before I go to sleep write down five things that were good about my day or that I did well.
• Join the local cricket team.
• Do three things that give me a sense of achievement every day.
• If I find myself getting low again, talk to Mum and Dad, or Sophie (friend).

Casey's goal: Have at least four close friends that I can rely on by the end of the year.

Casey's subgoals:

• Make more of an effort to stay in touch with my existing friends, e.g. call Tom or Kim at least once at week.
• Return people's calls when they phone me.
• Invite friends to hang out, watch a video, and have a BBQ.
• Go along to at least one event per month where I will meet new people (e.g. join a club, play sport, etc.)
• Try to be more open and honest when I'm talking to people that I like.

Step 3: Plan of action

The third stage is to write a step-by-step plan for achieving your subgoals, and ultimately your main goal. Check out the fact sheet Putting your goals into action for more info on how to develop your plan of action.

Acknowledgement:

This fact sheet comes from:
Taking Charge! A Guide for Teenagers: Practical Ways to Overcome Stress, Hassles and Upsetting Emotions.
By: Dr Sarah Edelman and Louise Rémond
Foundation for Life Sciences (2005)
www.fls.org.au