Welcome back for the start of another great semester at West Point. As we begin the next leg of this journey as Staff, Faculty or Cadets, I thought it would be appropriate to refresh our memories on goal setting. The performance enhancement literature is full of success stories on goal setting and goal achievement. Goal setting is one of the most useful motivational techniques for enhancing performance and productivity in the military, business, education, and sport. Goals direct the performers attention .
Goals help the performer mobilize effort .
Goals help prolong effort and increase persistence . Setting goals helps performers develop and employ new learning strategies . The purpose of goals is to focus our attention. The mind will not reach toward achievement until it has clear objective. The magic begins when we set goals.