Critical Thinking Skills Success - Setting Goals

W
HAT ARE GOALS
? Goals are clear statements of things you want to accomplish or solve
in the future. They can be about personal, educational, or career aims, such as “I want
to become a better soccer player,” or “I will work toward getting a raise in the next six
months,” or “I should refinance my mortgage.” They include the specific steps you must take in order to
achieve them, creating a strategic plan for you to follow. Goals also identify the obstacles you must over-
come and things you might need to acquire, such as knowledge or help from others.
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Why Set Goals?
You have learned how to define and clearly understand problems in Lessons 1 through 3, and how to brain-
storm possible solutions in Lesson 4. Goal setting is the next important skill that takes you from being faced
with problems and decisions, to solving them effectively.
LESSON
Setting Goals
LESSON SUMMARY
This lesson is about making a plan to get you from problem to solu-
tion. That plan takes shape when you set a goal. The clearer you are
about where you want to be, and the steps you need to take in order
to get there, the more likely you are to attain your goals.
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understand problem clearly brainstorm solutions set goals to achieve solution
(Lessons 1–3) (Lesson 4) (this lesson)
Setting goals helps you make things happen. Goals give you a focus, and even a map, showing how to get
from where you are to where you want to be.
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SETTING GOALS
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Five Qualities of a
Valuable Goal
Valuable goals are:
■
in writing—create a document of your goal
■
specific—use as much detail as possible to
explain what you want to accomplish
■
measurable—describe your goal in terms that
can be clearly evaluated
■
realistic—don’t set the goal too high or too
low; you must be capable of reaching it with
time and effort
■
deadline-oriented—determine a completion
date; the achievement of your goal must hap-
pen in a reasonable time, not “in a few weeks,”
or “some time in the future”
The Goal Setting Chart below is a guideline.
Depending on your goal, you may not need to fill out
each section, or you may need to add a section or sec-
tions. Be flexible, but keep in mind the five qualities
described above.
For example, your grades are not good, and you
know you can do better. Following Lessons 1–3, you
have a clear understanding of the problem. Following
Lesson 4, you have brainstormed possible solutions by
creating a Problem/Solution Outline that looks like this

(next page):
Goal Setting Chart
Goal:
What is in my way:
How I will achieve my goal:
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
What I need to accomplish goal:
Timeline for accomplishing goal:
Daily:
Weekly:
When needed:
Monthly or long term:
What I will get from goal:
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SETTING GOALS
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too much time
socializing;
study skills
weak
grades are not good
limit time on phone and computer after school, pay better attention in class, buy and use workbook on improving
study skills
parents upset, don’t make
honor roll, can’t get into
advanced level courses
Possible Solutions

Causes Problem Effects
To create a goal based on this problem, you will need to focus on the solutions you brainstormed, and cre-
ate a plan to implement them effectively.
Goal Setting Chart
Goal: to get no grade below a B next marking period (which ends March 14)
What is in my way: too much socializing, poor study skills
How I will achieve my goal:
Step 1: cut back on socializing: do not sit with friends during class; no phone calls or computer until
homework is done
Step 2: improve study skills; buy workbook on study skills and complete one practice exercise every
day; keep notebooks organized by cleaning them out every day after school; make a file folder at home
for each class; do homework every day at desk; ask teacher(s) for help if I don’t understand something
What I need to accomplish goal: study skills workbook, file folders
Timeline for accomplishing goal:
Daily: no socializing in class or after school until homework is done; study skills workbook, clean out
notebooks; complete all homework assignments
Weekly: file assignments, tests, and quizzes
When needed: ask teacher for help; complete missing assignments
Long term: keep up plan for getting better grades
What I will get from goal: better education; feeling of accomplishment; name on honor roll; respect of par-
ents and teachers
Practice
Let’s go back to an example from Lesson 4. You were trying to save $50 a month but had trouble limiting your
spending of discretionary income. Using a web, you brainstormed possible solutions. Now, make the monthly
investment a goal and use any or all of your possible solutions to complete the following goal chart.
Goal Setting Chart
Goal:
What is in my way:
How I will achieve my goal:
Step 1:

Step 2:
Step 3:
What I need to accomplish goal:
Timeline for accomplishing goal:
Daily:
Weekly:
When needed:
Monthly or long term:
What I will get from goal:
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SETTING GOALS
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Answer
Answers will vary depending on brainstormed possible solutions. Using the answer from Lesson 4, the goal chart
looks like this:
Goal Setting Chart
Goal: to save $50 a month
What is in my way: spending too much so I do not have the money to invest (habits I need to break)
How I will achieve my goal:
Step 1: limit restaurant meals to two times a week; buy takeout from supermarket other nights; buy
cookbook and pick out one recipe a week to try
Step 2: rent one movie a week, put in briefcase when done watching it so I will return it on way to work
Step 3: limit clothing purchases to $100 a month; watch ads for sales and shop them
What I need to accomplish goal: willpower to change habits!
Timeline for accomplishing goal:
Daily: read newspaper for ads for clothing sales; shop for and/or eat dinner according to weekly plan
Weekly: rent one movie and return it the next day; make a plan for each night’s dinner (restaurant, take
out, cooking)
When needed: shop for clothes on sale

Monthly or long term: set up investment account, and have $50 automatically withdrawn for bank
account each month
What I will get from goal: money to use for long-term goals and/or emergencies
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SETTING GOALS
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What Becomes a Goal?
When you are brainstorming, you come up with vari-
ous possible solutions to a problem. But which one is
worth pursuing? Goal setting is about choosing the best
solution and creating a plan to make it happen. To do
this, you need to clearly define your goal. What is it,
exactly, that you wish for an outcome? Since every pos-
sible solution is different (by varying degrees) it can
lead to different outcomes. Evaluate the ideas you came
up with during brainstorming based on the specific cri-
teria you set for your goal.
Example
You work for a company that manufactures run-
ning shoes. Compared to figures from a year ago,
profits and sales are slumping. You are asked to
come up with a solution that will increase both.
While brainstorming, you come up with three
possible solutions:
a. start a major marketing campaign
b. limit the availability of the product/service
to increase demand
c. lower costs so that profit margins are

increased