Importance of Goal-Setting

Have you ever had a feeling of sleepwalking through life where you literally had no idea what do you want to do? Perhaps you know exactly what you want to achieve, but have no idea how to get there? That’s where goal-setting comes in.

Why Goal-Setting is Important?

• Goal setting is effective and often critical to success. It give us direction by focusing attention on goal-relevant behavior and away from irrelevant tasks (Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez-Pons, 1992)
• The setting of goals has been shown to increase employee motivation and organizational commitment (Latham, 2004)
• Schunk (1985) found that participation in goal-setting promotes a search for new strategies to help success. Finding new ways to utilize our skills and push our abilities increases task-relevant knowledge while enhancing self-confidence and self-efficacy
• MacLeod, Coates & Hetherton (2008) found that skill-oriented planning and goal setting significantly improved subjective well-being in those who took part in a goal setting intervention program in a research study
• The capacity to plan positively impacts our perceived control over goal outcomes and our future. Thinking positively improves our ability to create goals and consider the actions required to achieve them (Vincent, Boddana, & MacLeod, 2004)

Goal-setting is the first step towards planning for the future. It also plays a vital role in various facets of your life. Understanding the importance of goal-setting paves the way for success. How are you going to turn your goal setting into goal getting?