A Goal Without A Plan is Just A Wish

In honor of the new year coming up, I’d like to introduce my favorite quote: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” 

This quote was introduced to me by my dad’s oldest friend on a random day over the summer. Instantly it stuck with me and became my favorite quote. A lot of people, including myself, come up with goals but don’t have any plans to achieve them, making them just a wish. A few examples of “goals” that I once had but never fully achieved include learning to make clothes, learning to speak French, and joining two more clubs at UCSD. Most of these goals I looked into a few times but never fully followed through with. For example, I looked into multiple clubs at UCSD but never contacted the ones I liked. For the other two, I excused myself from achieving these goals because the “timing wasn’t right.” But the reality is there is no better time than today to come up with a plan and officially make your mere wish a goal. 

An example of a wish of mine becoming a goal was creating my blog! I had a note on my phone of post ideas, name ideas, and theme ideas. But that note lived untouched for almost a year. Until finally I decided it was time to commit. I watched YouTube videos that explained how to start a blog and they all said the same thing: It won’t be perfect but you just have to get started and post content. And that’s exactly what I did. There are plenty of things I’m planning on fixing one day, but I started and that’s the most important thing. I guess you could say fixing those things is still a wish because I haven’t come up with a plan yet. 

My most recent goal is to play the guitar. My dad is great at playing the guitar. He’s the lead guitarist in a band, and my brother knows how to play as well. The reason that I thought I should write this post now is because with a new goal, comes a new plan. So, I wanted to share how I tackle creating a plan. 

First, research

The first step for achieving the goal you don’t know anything about is researching. Luckily for me, I have plenty of people around me who know how to play the guitar and have the proper resources that I need to get started. However, researching apps that can help teach me and songs that I want to learn was part of this first step. 

When creating my blog, this looked like watching YouTube videos that informed me of how to create a website and reading other blogs to get a feel for different writing styles. I’m still doing research all the time and trying to find inspiration for my blog so this step is never fully completed but it’s the best way to get started. 

Next, dedicate time to your goal

The next step is to decide how much time you can give to achieving your goal. I try to play the guitar for at least 30 minutes a day and hopefully more if I can. Sometimes I just don’t stop until I’ve mastered a few new chords or a song. The most important thing here is consistency. It’s easy to get started on a goal but then stop working towards it. Dedicating time for your goal each day into your daily routine can keep you on track for completing your goal. 

You can achieve most goals on your own 

Something that I think stops a lot of people from achieving their goals is that they think they need to pay for lessons/classes but this isn’t true. While taking lessons is a great option, there are also free options. You could learn a musical instrument or a craft such as crocheting through classes but you also can learn through YouTube videos. There are also so many apps out there that are designed to help with learning new things. Don’t let money be the obstacle keeping you from achieving your goals! 

Even with my blog, there were many courses that I could take to learn how to grow my audience. I decided to make my blog without these courses, especially because who knows how long I will keep up with it. However, I can always take these courses in the future if I find them necessary. This is true for all other skills too. I can start crocheting on my own and if I want to master the skill at some point I can take lessons, and the same with guitar. 

Be resilient and follow through

Don’t give up on your goal once you get past the first step! For example, when learning the guitar I picked up chords pretty easily. I used the app Tabs to learn the chords for a lot of songs that I like. I wanted to move onto finger picking which didn’t come so easily to me. It was an obstacle that almost stopped me more than once. But I know that it’s a goal I care a lot about and hope to be good at someday. Achieving any new skill takes a lot of time and practice, and resilience is key when obstacles present themselves. Continuing to dedicate time to your goal and following through with your plan key. 

As the new year approaches, I implore everyone to come up with a plan that goes along with their New Year’s goals. If you’re planning to work out more, decide on a workout schedule. If you’re looking to learn a new language, figure out the YouTubers and apps that are going to help you as well as how much time you’re going to spend each day practicing the language. 

I hope this inspired some of you to be stricter with yourselves when coming up with wishes and turning them into goals. Always remember the quote “A goal without a plan is just a wish” when trying to learn new things because it just might keep you determined.

Sending virtual hugs and high-fives,

Chlo

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3 comments

  • Gus says:

    Kid – this is fantastic and I may have to steal that quote
    All the best for 2024!!!

    Reply
  • nancy j flickinger says:

    How true and it energizes going on to the next step rather than procrastinating.

    Reply