Goal Setting Assignment: Achieving Goals in College Success - UMN

This assignment focuses on the importance of goal setting for personal and professional development, particularly within the context of college success. The student reflects on their past experiences with goal setting, including failures and successes, highlighting the lessons learned from each. The assignment then delves into the benefits of effective goal setting, such as providing direction, clarity in decision-making, motivation, and a sense of control over one's future. It outlines the characteristics of an effective goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-oriented) and differentiates between short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. The student provides examples of each type of goal, demonstrating an understanding of how to apply these concepts to their own life. The assignment concludes with a list of references supporting the concepts discussed. This assignment is a valuable resource for students seeking to improve their goal-setting skills and achieve their academic and personal aspirations.

Running head: GOAL SETTING
Goal setting
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1GOAL SETTING
At the time of my first interview, I set a goal to be successful in that but due to lack of
experience and proper guidance, I failed to achieve that goal.
At the time of my next interview, I set a goal again and became successful in that.
This time I got success because the first failure opens up my eyes. As we all know that failure
is a great teacher itself. The previous failure attempt teaches me what does not work for me
and I kept that thing in mind and try not to repeat that again.
Goal setting effectiveness in achieving goals of an individual
An individual gets benefited in achieving their goals of life by making an effective goal
set and stick to the same for a long period of time (McEwan et al., 2016). The benefits of goal
setting are: -
 It provides direction
 Gives clarity in any effective decision-making process
 It gives you a control over your future
 It provides motivation
 It gives you a sense that will help you to give personal satisfaction (Locke & Latham,
2013).
Characteristics of an effective goal
 Specific – The goal of an individual has to be a specific one.
 Measurable – The goal one is setting has to be a measurable one. One has to be keen
to measure their progress with directly indicative as well as meaningful accessible
numbers to their chase.
 Achievable – The goal has to be a achievable one, so that one can achieve their
personal goals.

2GOAL SETTING
 Realistic – At a particular time, when an individual is looking at their performance as
well as growth of the past and thinking about whether that was successful or not. As
they only serve the purpose to frustrate a team of great potentiality (Mann, De Ridder
& Fujita, 2013).
 Time oriented – Making your goals into a measurable, achievable and most
importantly a realistic one within a certain period of time that provides a roadmap to
the team for the smooth progression.
Short term goal
It means a goal which is of shorter period of time probably for a day. My goal is to be
productive all day long. Avoid time consuming work that has a less probable outcome on a
daily basis.
Mid-term goal
It refers to the goal to build a bridge to fill up the gap which is present in between the short-
term goal and the long-term goal. My mid term goal is to buy a house within 2-3 years and
live my life happily ever after.
Long term goal
It refers to the goal that we made to achieve in our future. My long-term goal is to achieve
those short term as well as mid-term goals and hope for a better future.

3GOAL SETTING
References
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013). New developments in goal setting and task
performance. Routledge.
Mann, T., De Ridder, D., & Fujita, K. (2013). Self-regulation of health behavior: social
psychological approaches to goal setting and goal striving. Health Psychology, 32(5),
487.
McEwan, D., Harden, S. M., Zumbo, B. D., Sylvester, B. D., Kaulius, M., Ruissen, G. R., ...
& Beauchamp, M. R. (2016). The effectiveness of multi-component goal setting
interventions for changing physical activity behaviour: a systematic review and meta-
analysis. Health psychology review, 10(1), 67-88.