Do you think it is a good idea to set your goals too high?

Personal goals should stretch you, but not be so high as to be completely unachievable. And don’t forget that goals are changeable over time at your discretion.

@CaptainHarley Hi CaptainHarley, great answer. Your answer show in every way just how much power each of us has over decisions. I would say complete power, unless we stupidly delegate it to someone else.

Thank you, @Rangie !

I have a tendency to do this. I set the goals for myself really way too high. When I don’t attain them, I try again and again and again. When I really want something, I’m insanely tenacious. It can be exhausting.

G/Q

I achieved every goal I ever set for myself, but part of the problem was that I didn’t set my goals high enough, or didn’t set follow-on goals to strive for after I achieved my initial goals. Most people don’t even set goals, so those who do have a built-in advantage, especially if they do a bit of “backwards planning.” That means that they set a goal, then work backward, setting intermediate goals, until they know when they get up every day what they need to do THAT day to work toward their goals.

Sound a bit obssessive? Yes, but it surely works well! : )

@MrsDufresne

It may be that you’re just not setting intermediate goals. What do you need to achieve just before you reach your final goal? How about what you need to achieve before you reach THAT goal? Continue working backward until you know TODAY what you need to do to work toward your final goal.

One thing to remember is to put your goals in writing. A study done at Stanford showed that written goals were much more likely to be achieved.

I find unrealistically high goals to be a deterrent, rather than a motivator.

I find reasonable goals to be much more effective. If I am reaching that goal too quickly, then I raise my expectations.

@marinelife

Very true. Each time I started a new career ( I had four over the last 50 years ), I would pick someplace I thought would like to be in ten or 15 years, do considerable research ( including interviews of those in that postion already ), and then work backward, setting intermediate goals at achevable intervals… in writing.

I would print small notes that I would post around the house ( such as on the bathroom mirror, my desk, the refrigerator, etc ) stating what my very next goal was.

High, yes.
”..too high.”, no.

I’ll defer to the great poet, Robert Browning:

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Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for ?

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PS Please don’t let this go off track into a religion debate. The word heaven is used METAPHORICALLY. Debating whether its existence can be proven REALLY misses the point. Thank you.

@CaptainHarley Thank you. That is very good advice.

@MrsDufresne

Thank you! Like most of my so-called “advice,” it’s the end product of very hard experience over many years. : )

I find that humans, when vexed and abused by unreasonable and insane deadlines and goals, are at their finest. There’s something about catastrophe that brings out the best in us.

@Fenris

Excellent insight. I tend to agree, except for certain “nervous nellies,” who tend to totally wilt under deadlines and goals. In the military, they call short-term goals “missions,” and if you want to see dedication in action, watch what most military people do to accomplish their mission.

Once those same people who freak out mid-catastrophe are done, they make for excellent post-catastrophe personnel. there’s a place for all kinds, before, during and after a period of extreme collective stress.

I don’t like to set my goals too high. I am a firm believer in that if you expect the worse, you will never be disappointed. Despite what people think, it is not a pessimistic way to live.
I do not spend all day wearing black sitting in my basement eating cheetos.
It is a realistic way to live considering the state of today’s world.
I tend to get too carried away if I idealise.