Goal-setting allows you to decide what you want to accomplish and to set the guidelines for how you plan to get there. Other people often tell us what we need to do or what is expected of us, but goal-setting comes from your personal desire to improve and it ends with your effort and willingness to work for the outcome of choice.

Goal-setting simplifies and makes possible the attainment of a seemingly impossible dream. For example, it may seem unrealistic to say, "I want to run a marathon." However, it is feasible to say, "Tomorrow I will run 3 miles and Tuesday I will run 5 miles, until eventually I build up to the 26.1 miles." Eventually you will reach your goal, but the in-between steps are less grandiose and overwhelming.

The process of setting a goal also makes the possibility for success real because you are not only telling yourself, "This is what I want to do", but you also are telling other people, thereby making it concrete. By setting a goal publicly, you may increase your willingness to work through the tough times.

Goal-setting also aids in improving your focus on the important details that you need to address before achieving a goal. We are so busy, and it is so easy to lose focus or become distracted and focus on other responsibilities, thus abandoning our goals. However, by setting a goal and writing out the steps needed, you make your goal a priority.

Therefore, goal-setting puts the power in your hands to achieve an outcome you desire by focusing your attention, simplifying a seemingly large feat and by transforming some abstract wish into specific, daily, conquerable behaviors.