Research has shown that goal-setting is a highly effective way of making progress towards

achieving a particular result or set of results (4 Characteristics of a Powerful Goal-Setting

Process, 2016). Goal-setting skills as I have realized are a very effective tool for almost anything
a person decides to do in his/her life as it helps identify what you want to achieve be it short-
term, mid-term or long-term goal.

A couple of years ago, I gained admission into a university here in Nigeria to study Bio-
Chemistry and it got me so excited that I couldn’t wait to start since most of my peers were
already in other various institutions nationwide but I did not have a set goal for myself on how to
go about paying my tuition since I was going to be footing the tuition and other fees on my own.
I managed to pay the first semester tuition fee and it felt real cool doing what I wanted, the
reality soon set in when I could not afford to meet up with payment for the second semester nor
could I afford to buy the required study handouts and sometimes I even missed classes because I
couldn’t afford transportation to school. Things got so bad that I had to drop out of school for not
being able to pay my tuition anymore and that was all due to poor goal setting.

I remember a time when all I wanted was to study martial arts being inspired by Bruce Lee and
later Jackie Chan, I had no one to teach me nor an idea how to go about learning so I practiced
on my own after watching any martial art movie which was really popular in those days. Finally
I met someone who I learnt was into Taekwondo and after much persuasion, he took me to his
training center but before then he had told me that Taekwondo was an expensive and difficult art
to learn and master. I then set a series of goals for myself both short-term and long-term goals to
buy my uniform which was prerequisite, pay my training dues regularly and to study and practice
effectively so as to attain the black belt level. I had to save almost every penny I was given and
even had to do some odd jobs to receive little tips with which I paid for my first Taekwondo
uniform, continued to pay my training dues and grading fees. Today I have achieved my goals
and I am a 4th degree black-belt holder in Taekwondo.

I was unsuccessful in paying my tuition and achieving my dream of being a Bio-Chemistry

graduate due to lack of effective goal-setting skills which made me unable to prioritize my goals.

I was successful in achieving my Taekwondo dreams because I had developed my goal-setting

skills and was able to prioritize my needs ranging from uniform to training dues and grading. In
the end it paid off.

Effective goal-setting is critical to success as they help you stay focused, helps you beat
procrastination, have clarity of what you want to achieve, makes you self-responsible for the
outcome of your goals, makes you take actions to achieve your goal(s), helps you track your
progress which motivates you more as you realize you are gradually getting closer to your goals.

“People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them.”
as was found (Robbins, NA, as cited in Alvesteffer, 2017). The characteristics of good goals
include being specific, challenges you to be better, has a time frame for everything, they are
measureable and they should be updated to remain relevant

With my knowledge of goal-setting now, I would love to set the following goals:

 Short-Term Goal: Study smart and improve my grades this term and I intend to do that
managing my time properly, using peer learning resources available to me and
intrinsically motivating myself more knowing I can achieve anything I put my mind to.

 Mid-Term Goal: To obtain a degree in computer science from the prestigious University
of the People in the next 4 years while also getting a hands-on job in programming to
help me perfect my programming skills and better prepare me for my future in the
industry upon graduation.

 Long-Term Goal: To start up my own computer programming company and build ground
breaking applications that would be useful in the medical field.

Reference

Alvesteffer, R. (2017, December 2). 6 Characteristics of Great Goals. The Service Express Way.
https://ronalvesteffer.com/6-characteristics-of-great-goals/

4 Characteristics of a Powerful Goal-Setting Process. (2016, May 24). Reflektive.

https://www.reflektive.com/blog/goal-setting-process/

Word Count: 740