How to Tell Whether a Goal Is Worth Pursuing

Writing down a list of goals takes about five minutes. Plotting a rough plan for each one takes a few more. That ease is part of the problem, because not every goal deserves your attention, and chasing weak ones pulls energy away from the handful that would actually change your life. What helps is a small checklist you run through before committing to anything new. Use it over a couple of days rather than in a single sitting. The waiting period matters: it gives you room to think and to judge whether now is the right moment to begin.

Start with the question of fit. Does the goal match the person you are trying to become? A goal that moves you forward should also develop you along the way, so that reaching it changes both your circumstances and your character. One simple way to test this is a pros and cons list, except you tie each entry to a personality trait you want to build or strengthen. If the pros keep pointing at traits you don't much care about, that tells you something.

Next, try to argue yourself out of it. Set the goal aside for a day, then come back and deliberately make the case against it. If you can talk yourself out of it without much effort, the timing probably isn't right. That's not a verdict against the goal forever. Shelve it, pick something you feel more strongly about, and leave the door open to return later. Passion is a decent predictor here: the goals you feel in your gut tend to be the ones you finish.

Then take stock of what the goal demands. Almost anything worth doing needs some combination of money, time, and other resources, and the mix depends entirely on the goal itself. Spend a few minutes writing the goal out in plain terms. The act of describing it usually surfaces what pursuing it will actually cost.

Related to cost is risk. Some goals ask you to bet something real, and you have to be honest about whether you can absorb the downside right now. If the risk is too steep at this point, a smaller version of the goal can set you up for the bigger one. Say your aim is a degree but the full commitment isn't feasible yet. Taking one or two classes that will later count toward it keeps you moving and makes the larger target easier to reach when the time comes.

Finally, think about how long the goal has been with you. Something you've wanted for years is usually viable, worth taking seriously. A goal that appeared over dinner last night probably shouldn't jump the queue ahead of the ones you've carried for a long time. Giving priority to the older, more durable goals keeps your focus where it belongs.

This checklist suits any goal, but it earns its keep most with the impulsive ones. You're at lunch, you decide on the spot to sign up for a gym membership, and nothing has really been thought through. Before you commit, work out whether the goal fits your life as it is now and whether reaching it is even plausible from where you stand. Sometimes the answer isn't to drop the goal but to adjust it into a shape you can actually carry to completion.

Rosemary Kitchen. Source consulted: Mind Tools (2015), Personal Goal Setting, retrieved March 20, 2015.