So what is a goal?

You may not be aware of it but the chances are that even as you read this sentence you have at least one goal that’s controlling your behaviour. Let us ask you two simple questions:

• Is it more likely you’ll finish reading this sentence than not finish reading it?

• Did you start reading this chapter with the intention of not reading it all the way through to the end?

Our guess is that you answered YES to the first question and NO to the second. It just seems so pointless to start a chapter in a book with the intention of not finishing it. Even more strange would be to begin reading a sentence without wanting to get to the end of it. If our assumption is correct then it is fair to say that your behaviour is based on goals; specifically the goals to finish reading both a sentence and a chapter. If you scratch your arm in an attempt to relieve the itch from a mosquito bite, or when you drive a little too fast to get to a meeting on time you are also acting on the basis of goals. In this case the goals are to stop itching and to not be late for your meeting.

Put simply a goal is something we either consciously or unconsciously try to achieve or avoid. A goal is defined above all by two things. The first is that it lies ahead of us and is not something that’s happening right now or happened in the past. Saying “my goal is to reduce my waistline by five centimeters so I can fit into that turquoise shirt for last year’s midsummer party” highlights the problem of having goals that are set in the past.

The second element of any goal is that it describes a condition that we either wish to achieve, preserve or avoid. To try and “sell stuff for a million”, “repeat last year’s amazing results” and “reduce sick leave by ten percent” are all examples of this. The opposite of these are the occasions when we act with a ‘wait and see’ mentality. Failing to book a holiday because we adopt a carefree attitude of ‘seeing where the wind takes us’ is an example of acting aimlessly and without any clear goals.

It may actually be positive to act rather aimlessly now and then. It creates a sense of openness and provides an opportunity to do virtually anything that seems appropriate in the current situation. Our private lives usually provide more freedom for such a spontaneous approach than is the case in our working lives or in other organised contexts (such as sports).

People also seem to differ greatly in the extent to which they actively set clear goals for themselves and then plan a course of action to achieve them. Some people want goals for almost everything they do, while others seem to be less goal-focused.

Clear differences can be seen, for example, in:

• how you create goals.

• how much awareness you have of one or more specific goals when you do something.

• how carefully you plan and structure your time and resources to reach your goals.

• how long and patiently you work to achieve your goals.

• how clear and specific your goals are.

• how many goals you have and how far in the future they are set.