Personal goal setting is an important way of managing your life. It enables you to fix targets, and to find ways to achieve those targets. Since personal goals are more like lifetime goals it makes sense to start early.
It also makes sense to set goals by category. For instance, you need to define what you want to achieve in the field of education. Would you be happy with a plain graduation? Or would you like to earn a doctorate?
Incidentally, all your personal goals are interlinked. While setting your education goals you must keep in mind your career goals. There is no point in doing a doctorate in literature when you want to sell cars. Your goal in this case should be to get either a degree in automobile engineering or in business administration.
Another key goal that you need to set is with regard to your family. This goal needs to be set early. There are many individuals who don’t want to raise a family. But there are many more who would like to have a large family. Decide what you want.
Another field that cannot be ignored while setting your goals is finances. You have to decide how much you need to save for your bad days or for your old age. You also need to decide the minimum income you need to lead a life of your liking. Based on this, you may have to revise your career goals.
You can obviously not ignore health. This may not be an important issue when you are young, but it surely becomes a major issue as you grow old. You must make a provision for your health requirements besides working out the different exercises that you need to undertake to stay healthy.
These goals will then become your guide. You will have to break them into short-term goals and review your progress as you continue achieving the short-term goals. It is also possible that you may have to modify your goals because of changed circumstances. There is no harm in changing your goals. The best goals are those that are realistic, and achievable.