Why Should I Set Goals For Myself? What’s the Big Deal?

According to Seligman’s PERMA model, having a sense of accomplishment is one of the most important factors of human flourishing. This means that a crucial building block of your well-being is goal achievement. So one brief answer to the question, “Why should I set goals for myself?” is: it’s important if you want to thrive and enhance your well-being.

But if you don’t have any goals to work towards, you are less likely to have a sense of accomplishment. You’re more likely to feel like a deflated tire, lacking motivation. You may even feel like you have no control over anything in your life and take on a victim role. However, once you begin to achieve goals, the narrative changes.

Benefits of Goal Achievement

It feels really good when you work towards something and reach it. Experiences like finishing a cool project or mastering a skill reinforce your belief in your ability to succeed. Hence you become more confident, committed, persevering, and resilient.

Also, once you begin to set goals and work towards them you become better at it. Not only do you believe you can make things happen, but you get better at figuring out how to reach your goal. So even amid setbacks and difficulties, you don’t give up. Rather you find a new way to reach your goal or if necessary, adjust your goal. In Psychology this willpower and way-power is referred to as hope.

Research shows hope correlates with numerous positive outcomes:

• Stronger sense of meaning in life
• More positive emotions
• Less depression and anxiety
• Academic success – hope is even a better predictor of academic success than intelligence, previous academic performance, or personality
• More productivity at work – hope accounts for about 14% of work productivity, which is even more than intelligence, optimism, or self-efficacy. This means high hope individuals get about 1 hour more of work done per day than those who are less hopeful
• Longer life expectancy

It is also worth noting that achieving intrinsic goals (such as growth and connection) are more beneficial to your well-being than external goals such as money or fame. Goals that are intrinsically motivating are enjoyable, interesting, and meaningful for you. These kinds of goals unleash your best performance and are not linked to external pressures or incentives. In other words, you do something for the sake of doing it.

All in all, it is worthwhile to set goals. Don’t worry about failing. Even if you experience a set-back you win. Gaining more experience with goal setting will ultimately facilitate your growth, so keep practicing.