setting goals and solving problems

1. SETTING GOALS &
SOLVING PROBLEMS
INSTRUCTOR: NOMAN BIN SAFDAR

2. GOALS & VALUES
• Setting goals is
knowing what is
important to you.
• Values are
underlying
thoughts of a
person.
• No goal can be set
which disagrees
with someone’s
principles.
• As the example on
the left shows, goal
bases upon values
and those values let
you set a
framework to
follow, which is
termed as
behaviour.

3. HOW TO DEVELOP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
• Building positive attitude is
necessary to succeed because if
someone develops a negative
attitude they fall into the illusion
that success is not possible.
• Negative attitude makes you feel
helpless, reduces your self-esteem
and destroys your confidence. Thus
it stops you to utilize your potential.
• In order to develop a positive approach,
you must:
• Visualize yourself being successful.
• Control your inner voice, (telling
yourself that you can do it).
• Reward yourself for doing well (go to a
lunch, watch a movie).
• Be a positive listener & speaker, (listen
& speak to others about how they
mastered their issues).
• Be persistent, (Einstein, Muhammad

4. SHORT TERM VS LONG TERM GOALS
• A goal is a desired outcome. One who
sets goals makes things happen
instead of things happening to them.
• Short term & Long term are related
ideas whose meaning may change
depending upon context.
• Generally, short term goals are
building blocks of achieving long
term goals.
• Choosing a major may be a short
term goal when graduating from
college is the long term goal.
• LT: Completing Literary Criticism
course with an A – ST: Taking notes of
every lecture, finding a partner who
knows Literary Criticism to take help.
• LT: To be a famous writer – ST:
Reading famous writers’ works,
improve my writing by help of tutors,
etc.

5. TYPES OF GOALS
• There are 3 main types of goals:
• Personal goals are the desired targets one
sets to achieve in their personal life, like
planning to go to Amalfi beach or going on a
pilgrimage, losing 5 kg weight during
Ramadan.
• Academic goals are those that one intends to
achieve in one’s school, or university studies,
like securing top position in your class,
reading 5 hours a day all the week.
• Career goals are the ones that people want to
achieve in their professional life, like,
becoming a doctor or a cricketer, maintaining
a resume, visiting college counselling centre.

6. SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF REACHABLE
GOALS
• 1. Realistic.
• It has to be realistic in the sense that if you
dread Maths while you like English novels,
then, of course your choice must be in line
with your abilities & interests.
• 2. Believable & Possible.
• Any goal that you set must be both of these
things, like buying an Apple IPhone 12 Pro.
You will calculate how much money you need,
and set the timeframe accordingly.
• 3. Measurable.
• It has to be measurable in the sense that you
will know what you want, when you shall
achieve it, & when it will be enough.
• You must be flexible in achieving your goal,
like if your goal is to complete a degree but
you fail in a course, that should not
discourage you now that you have to invest 6
extra months in it.
• 5. Controllable.
• Control your goals according to your mood &
style. Let’s say you have to pass a course, for
which your friend suggests to read a few
hours before the exam, while you feel like
giving it two days before exam, then, do what
you can control.
• 6. Ethical.
• It must not cause any hurt to anyone around.
Cloning is banned because of ethical

7. FOLLOW AN ACTION PLAN
• Action Plan
• A written plan of action, or a strategy
which establishes a timeframe and
steps for accomplishing a pre-
determined goal.
• It lets you focus & commit yourself
to a task.
• It sets the lines, following which you
are bound to succeed.
• It is like following a specific diet
plan to get smarter.
• Setting an action plan, you must
have clarity about your goals, like
achieving better CGPA than previous
semester.
• Then you must set your short term
as well as long term goals, and see
whether your plan of action fits six
characteristics of reachable goals or
not.

8. COPE STRATEGY
• Wading through a problem in order reach solution
requires a consistent method, like scientists follow
protocols to conduct lab experiments, like people are
required to follow SOPs when they go outdoor during
Corona pandemic, etc.
• You should adapt COPE strategy;
• To make difficult decisions
• To solve the problems
• 1. Some people think of a problem as an obstacle because
of negative thinking, but they must take it as a challenge,
asking themselves what is the problem? How is it hurting
me? What do I have to do?
• 2. Then, go through different alternatives to reach the best
option weighing all pros and cons of all the available
options. (Consult the figure below)
• 3. Then, write an action plan & follow it to reach your
destination, what do you want in a career? How can you
acquire those skills required for a job? What others do in
that job?
• 4. Evaluate your plan by questions like, is my plan
working? How close I am to solution? What more can I do?

9. HOW TO WEIGH AN OPTION