5
Goal Setting
Robin Burley-Spedding
University of the People
1.
The time when I had set a goal and did not accomplish it was when I decided to
lose weight during my New Year's resolution. I saw a video where I could lose 10 kgs in two
weeks. I told myself that I would lose 5 kgs of weight in one week and by the end of the
month, I would be good looking as an athlete. I could not achieve it because it was an
unrealistic goal. Even if I starved myself, my body would react while going through
starvation, stress and caused weakness, dizziness, and other related issues. In fact, after one
week of persistence, I had lost only 2 kgs and that could be water weight included. I was
demotivated and felt like it was impossible to be healthy again. I felt stuck
The time I had set a goal and accomplished it was when I desired to lose weight
again but this time, I adjusted things differently and the results could be noticed
It worked because I educated myself about weight loss, understood that starving
myself would not only work but increase cortisol levels. I learned that losing a maximum of
two pounds per week is healthy and does not cause damage internally. I also learned and
practiced every relevant thing slowly but surely. I experimented myself and found out what
worked for me. Not everyone's body is the same. Decreasing my calorie intake by maximum
300 Cal daily was sufficient to be healthy, energetic and be on track for a long-term goal.
2.
Learning is an infinite path that never stops. Every day we learn a new thing
Through educating ourselves, we will understand that setting realistic goals to achieve them
is fundamental.
Effective goal-setting is achieving goals realistically through patience, resilience and
persistence. It is the main difference between daydreaming/virtual life of desires and a life
spent realistically with all its ups and downs. Talking and writing are worthless without
acting. In other words, they are the accumulation of all the step by step - tiny puzzles that fall
in place to create the big picture.
Effective goal setting demands us acknowledgment and gives us clarity. We honestly
acknowledge a situation instead of letting our ego try cheat our way through. From that, we
know where we situate and we know what to do to achieve where we want to be. For
example, a student who is not good in math should not pretend to be or should not pretend to
know part of it. He or she should be honest and acknowledge it. From there, the student
begins step by step to improve. If the student insists and keeps going to actual classes, he or
she will still be confused over and over again because there is no strong base.
Effective goal setting allows us to take full responsibility for everything instead of
finding excuses. It helps us to stay focused, motivated and