Goals –> Planning –> Decisions

Planning and goal setting are closely connected to decision-making because they provide direction, structure, and criteria for making choices. Here’s how the process works: ^[1]

1. Goals define the destination

When you set a goal, you clarify what you’re trying to achieve. This gives you a clear purpose and helps you filter your options.

For example, your goal in getting a degree may be to work in human services.  That goal helps to narrow the focus of your degree to something such as Addiction Studies or Community & Human Services Administration, as opposed to the many other ways a degree can be focused (e.g.,  Accounting, History, Management, Literature).

2. Planning outlines the path

Planning breaks a big goal into smaller steps and helps you see what resources and actions are needed. It creates a framework for what to do and when to do it.

For example, if you also know that a long-term goal is to work as an agency administrator in the addictions field, and also to teach at your local community college, you understand that part of your framework will be to go to graduate school for a master’s degree.  So part of your undergraduate planning might include taking specific courses that a graduate school requires as background. Or your plan may include turning your volunteer experience into a supervised internship experience to use as credit toward your undergraduate degree.

3. Decisions support the plan

With a goal and plan in place, decision-making becomes easier and more focused.

For example, you may have an easier experience choosing courses to take for your degree, since you can ask about each course, “Does this move me closer to my goal?”

Summary