Do you have a particular goal that you aspire to? It could be as simple as landing that new job, getting back in shape, or as grandiose as opening a string of free health clinics in a third world country.
Imagine how boring life would be if you knew right now exactly how and when every one of your plans would come to fruition. I mean exactly how. The time, the date, and every single detail of how the entire process would play out – you knew them all right now. What I just said might sound strange to you at first. You might think I’m crazy, because of course it would be wonderful if things worked out exactly the way we plan them, every single time! But humor me for a moment and consider the proposition.
First of all, let me say that I definitely believe in the importance of setting goals. Clearly defined goals that are quantified in terms of end result and are time bound, including milestones to measure performance along the way. So now I’ve said it. We should have detailed plans of how to accomplish the things we set out to do, but I don’t believe that we would like it if our plans always came to fruition exactly in the manner that we envisioned them.
It has been said that no plan survives contact with the real world. Some people lament this fact, but in actuality, the process of striving, reaching, readjusting along the way is what makes the act of goal setting so incredibly rewarding in the way of personal growth. It is in the challenges, the setbacks, and the overcoming of obstacles that we experience the most growth. No challenge, no new experiences equal no new learning opportunities and therefore no new growth. If everything went exactly as planned, you would come out the other side of your goal setting experience no wiser, and with no greater sense of fulfillment than when you started. Exactly what you knew before is what you would know when you achieved your outcome. The only thing that would change is that you would be older, and OK, depending on your goal, maybe a litter richer and/or better looking 
, but not any wiser because you didn’t learn anything you didn’t already know, you didn’t encounter anything unexpected, and therefore you did not experience any personal growth along the way.
A key component of personal growth is to set goals that challenge you, and then to learn from the experiences you have along the way. To learn more about yourself and the world around you. Variety being the spice of life, if every goal you set was achieved in exactly the manner that you conceived it, you would probably become bored with the process and wonder what the point was of setting goals in the first place. We would all become jaded rather quickly, and life would become a TIVO like experience where we all fast forwarded to the end of a favorite program like American Idol or a sporting telecast to get to the “good” part that really matters. Life is not just about end results - there is something to rejoice about and learn from in each moment as long as we decide to open ourselves up to the opportunity.
Goals are valuable when we use them to achieve definite and worthy purposes, to stretch our capabilities, and to test the limits of our vision. What we experience along the way is where life actually takes place, and where a great deal (or sometimes even a small amount of) personal growth can occur as we make changes in reaction to the variables in our environment.
As a small example, I awoke this morning with the goal of writing a new post for my blog by 8am EST, because I know a lot of people begin to come to the site around that time in the morning. I meditated before writing, as I always do, and sat down to the computer with a general idea of what I would write about. But as soon as I put my fingers to the keyboard another idea came to me, the idea that ignorance is bliss and that we can be happy, even thrive, in the uncertainty of life while in pursuit of our goals. The result of that idea became this article. My goal was defined as writing a post that would resonate with people and provide helpful insight in the area of self improvement and personal growth. My time limitation was 8am. I even overcame a few very minor “obstacles” along the way. My son woke up while I was writing and needed help with a few things while getting ready for school, and my computer system kept updating itself and bogging things down along the way. But here it is not quite 8am and I am done. The process didn’t go exactly as planned, but I learned more about how to write under deadline, overcoming system issues, and dealing with distractions. I actually like it this way, because I did stretch myself with the time limitation, and I learned a little more about multitasking. I love it when a plan comes together, especially when it’s not in the exact manner that we intend!
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