How do you set goals?

Image by penguinbush via FlickrI am sitting down working on my goal list for January. One of the things that always strikes me about goal lists I see is that they all seem so... achievable. I suppose setting a goal that you know you can reach isn't a bad thing, per se, but isn't the whole point behind goals to make you strive to achieve something that doesn't come easily to you? Each month I struggle with whether to set realistic goals so that I can reach them and pat myself on the back or set outrageous goals so I have something to strive for.

When I make a to-do list, oftentimes I will add things that I have already done that day, or things that I will do anyway, like "brush teeth before bed". It always seemed motivating to cross things off of the list, but now I wonder if it isn't counter productive. The ultimate goal of a to-do list is to complete a set list of tasks, not cross items off of a list.

The same thing happens with my goal lists. "Talk to mom 3 times a month" is a goal I know I will meet. Maybe changing my goal to "Reach out to someone in need 3 times a month" would be a better goal to set.

Of course, me being me, I have been thinking about this a lot lately. (It is me. Stress is what I do.) Maybe it is the "New year, new you" feeling most of us get this time of year, or maybe it is just that goal lists seem so unmotivating lately.

Of course, outrageous goals need to be something possibly attainable. If I set the goal of curing cancer in January, there is a better than 99% chance that this homeschooling mom from Mississippi is going to fail. Setting the goal of paying an additional $1500 on our auto loan is well within what we could do if we put our minds to it.

So starting January, I am going to start planning outrageous but attainable goals. How does the old saying go? "Aim for the moon, if you miss at least you will be among the stars."

So how do you set goals? Are they realistic and definitely attainable or outrageous and possibly attainable?