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Why Goal Setting is Important for Personal Development


I find goals, direction, and plans to reach them a bit overwhelming.

One evening, after submitting a writing project for a publication, I was about to get off my desk when a thought occurred to me.    

"Unless I plan what to do next. I won’t either procrastinate or scroll, but spend time scrolling through reels.

This simple thought got me thinking. In that moment, I realized how important it is to have goals—both big and small. And by goals, I don’t just mean major ones like career milestones or life events. Even everyday things like going for a walk or cooking a special dinner count too.

My goal that evening was to "reach a place" away from the desk, which I did.
Where and how I wanted to achieve was the point. Sitting on that chair was definitely not going to help me get there.

This is a simple demonstration of why the goal-setting process is important.

If I have to apply this in my everyday life, both personal and professional, it would happen somewhat in this manner.

Assuming my goal is to get a driver’s license, my next logical step would be to buy a guide, study and take the level one test. Next is training on a simulator, followed by hands-on driving lessons. Finally, I'd take the test and earn my license.

In this case, success at each step is linked to reaching the next level. And as you can see, progress depends on preparation.


That's how most goals work.
In the beginning, a goal starts off as an idea. But for that idea to take shape, it must go through these stages, planning, practicing and forging ahead with direction, determination, and discipline.

In simple terms:
To reach. To achieve. To gain. 
We first need to desire it, to want it so bad that we dream about it. 
But that dream? 
It's just a starting point.

That intangible "something" has to become tangible. And to make that happen, I needed to signal my mind to work to start working toward clear goals.

But this is where I stumbled, like so many others.  

I could see and understand how the mechanism worked.
But implementation? That was my stumbling block.

I realized my imagination wasn't the issue because mine was rich and well-developed. But it did not help much.
I needed my mind to work better and help me turn my intangibles into tangibles.

Years of mundane, unproductive routine had blunted my mental sharpness. I had unintentionally lost track of the basic essentials for the upkeep of my mind and its health.

So, I took the first step and signed up for a few writing courses. Yes, I had professional experience before I fell off track, somehow I knew this was essential to reboot and rewire my mind and thinking.

Working on writing prompts and solving test papers gave my mind a big boost, and my confidence level soared, too.

There was no stopping after that because I had opened doors previously shut and I was able to unlock my untapped potential.

I learned these things:

  • ·      The mind is a tool; never let it get blunted
  • ·      There will be no replacement if the sharpness is lost
  • ·      Learn a skill, no matter how small
  • ·      Work on quizzes and puzzles
  • ·      Keep the mind active--an idle mind is a devil's workshop
  • ·      Replace negativity with purpose


Ranga Iyer 

 1: Photo by Peter Fogden on Unsplash 
 2: Photo by Ember + Ivory on Unsplash 
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