Introduction
Thesis Statement
Having personal goals is important because it provides a clear guidance in successfully achieving ones objectives
Goal setting is an important process when thinking about the ideal future that motivates people to turn their vision of the future into reality. The process basically helps in knowing the areas that require more effort and the distractions to avoid when one is seeking to achieve his or her dreams. The purpose of this study is to determine the number of people who set personal goals for themselves especially among the students and the youth in general to find out how many of these people work hard to achieve their goals. This paper will therefore review the existing literature on the topic, stating the methodology that will be used, a prediction of the expected results during the study and, an analysis of the results obtained from the research.
Literature Review
Setting personal goals enable the youth and students to concentrate and improve from their current to their desired state. This is because goals consist of short-term motivation components and the long-term vision. One should set goals according to the specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and, time-bound (SMART) format to make them more precise and achievable. Goal-setting mainly helps in time organization which later leads to self-confidence. To create achievable and precise goals, it is advisable to create a bigger picture of the goal before breaking it into smaller portions and targets to reach before reaching the major goal. It is also important for one to have a passion for the goals to enhance the dedication process which will make the goal attainable.
There are various benefits of setting goals depending on the urgency of the need to accomplish the goal. Goals provide a clear focus on a person’s intentions hence motivating the person to do better. In addition to that, having goals enhances an optimum use of resources by enabling one to optimize the available resources and time. Having goals and consistently sticking to them provides clarity during the thinking process hence enabling one to make good decisions. It is also advisable for one to use the SMART when setting goals since it is an effective way of measuring how far one is from achieving their goals.
There are various articles and books on the topic of setting life goals produced by various learning institutions such as the ‘Teaching Community where teachers meet and learn’ and the ‘Mind Tool’ website. Most of the articles reveal the different types of goals one can have in a lifetime some which include: career, financial, education and, artistic goals. Most of these articles suggest that one should set performance goals rather than concentrating on the outcome goals to avoid long-term discouragements.
Hypothesis
Most young people in the age brackets (16-22) set personal goals mainly because of the pressure from their parents and tutors in school. However, young people between the ages (23-30) have a hard time setting sticking to their goals because of the many attachments they have in their lives.
Rationale
The main aim of this paper is to determine the number of youth and students who commit to achieving their personal goals in life and also the number of people who actually participate in setting personal goals. The research is mainly going to target people between the age brackets of 16-30 years. If the hypothesis is confirmed, then it signifies that students mainly set personal goals because of pressure from parents and tutors which should not be encouraged. This is evident due to the fact that as soon as most students leave high school and their respective colleges, they easily let go of their personal goals. An explanation for this result is that most young people from college are involved in very many life activities, trying to find themselves to keep their lives together.
Methodology
The main method applicable to this study is the use of questionnaires, both hand-written and one-on one. The researchers will hand out the questionnaires to students in high schools and colleges and the young adults in the job market and those trying to find one. This method is the most appropriate for the study since it gives out direct answers to the questions, targeting the right audience. The method also allows for a one-on-one confrontation with the people under study hence determining their reactions during the interview. The study decided on this particular age group because people make a lot of life-changing decisions in the above stated ages. Using students and the young adults fresh from school is significant due to the fact that most of them are not economically-established. The students, however, have no establishments whatsoever apart from their ongoing education. This makes them prone to making many more decisions in their lifetime hence the need for personal goals.
To make the method applicable for either approving or disapproving the hypothesis, the questions in the questionnaire will be more applicable to the course of the hypothesis. Asking questions about parents’ involvement in their children’s lives would help with the hypothesis. In addition to that, to make the study more appropriate, determining the various activities the young adults are involved through the questions in the questionnaire is also important when analyzing the results of the hypothesis. To confirm the hypothesis, the data collected should be able to support the hypothesis by confirming that most young adults are not actively involved in making personal life goals. The hypothesis would be disapproved if the reverse of the statement is true.
To accurately control the study, the research will sample a variety of age differences within the age bracket under study since concentrating on similar age groups may disorient the results. The study will also minimize the sample size to improve the accuracy of the results by minimizing the diversity. In case the results confirm the hypothesis, it will show how much the young generation need guidance in their lives. Parents should continuously encourage their lives throughout their youth to help them make better decisions in life through proper planning. On the other hand, the outcome will be positive if the results disapprove the hypothesis since it will be an indication that the young people in the society are determined to achieve their goals in life.
The study does not require a very complex procedure because of its general simplicity. The participants simply have to politely approach the test subjects and ask the specified questions. In some cases, however, the test subjects have to manually answer the questions in the questionnaires. The participants have to be careful during the one-on-one sessions to note the subjects’ reactions during the interview which will help in analyzing the results. The results will be carefully analyzed by a group of panel to avoid mistakes during the recording.
Significance and Conclusion
The research is significant when analyzing the general thinking capability of students and young adults in the society. In a deeper way, the tests are a way of proving whether the education system is well equipped both in the formal and the informal setting. Schools should train students how to personally depend on themselves without pressure either from guardians or tutors. Students who are holy-educated have the ability of knowing their main goals in life and devising ways of achieving the goals. Setting goals are a positive way of leading the young in the right directions. This is because having personal goals helps one to avoid distractions such as drug and alcohol abuse in life which also helpful health wise.
In conclusion, setting personal goals is not only a way of achieving ones goal in life but also a way of avoiding the dangerous distractions mainly caused by peer influence. Encouraging the young people to voluntarily set personal goals can therefore, be a way of reducing drug and alcohol abuse among the young in the society. There are also other crimes in the society which can be minimized by publicly educating people on the benefits of personal goals. Encouraging students to set goals in their mid-age develops a continuous culture throughout their lives after realizing the benefits of having goals. In school, goals enable students to improve their academic performance hence increasing their motivation to achieve more in life. Raising proud children who are satisfied with their work and achievements develops a goal-oriented generation of children which is good for the society.