Setting Healthy Goals

I have a very strong suspicion that you've been told to write goals before. It's like a map, it's a plan, a pilot can't fly until they know where they're going, etc. Yes? But, have you been instructed on HOW to actually write them by thinking into the future, imagining all of the possibilities, and then backwards mapping them back to the present moment? If you have, I want to hear from you in your journal.

Journal topic: What is your experience with writing goals? If you have done it, did you like it? Was it worthwhile? Did it seem pointless? Was it too tedious? If you haven't done it, why not? Were you told to do it and just decided not to? Did you try, but it was too confusing or hard? What has your goal writing experience been like?


My journal from yesterday:
I have had many opportunities to speak my mind. I do it daily in my family, within my job, and with my friends. As I think back to my high school days, I see that I was not an assertive person, I was fairly passive. I would tend to let everyone else talk and not say much myself, in social situations. When I was one on one though, I would definitely speak up an have more opinions about things.
I remember one time a friend of mine tried to get me to sneak out of my house one night. He told me he was going to come pick me up and we would drive around. I remember being scared because neither of us had a driver's license, and so not only did I not trust him to keep us safe, I knew that I would get in a lot of trouble if we got caught. I told him no (we were on the phone) and that I didn't want to get in trouble. He said "There's no way we'll get caught, I've been watching my parents and I know their routines. I'll be over there around 1:00am". He was very pushy, but I just said "this is not a good idea, I don't want to do that." I secretly hoped he would not try to follow through with his plan.

The next day was a Saturday, and one of my chores was to mow the lawn. As I was mowing the front yard, I saw my friend's parents car parked in front of my next door neighbors' house. Puzzled, I went inside and asked my Mom "Are Nate's parents here?" She said "No, why?". I said "I see his Mom's car parked next door, did they stop by?". "No, that's strange." she said.

I called my friend on the phone, and he said, "I'm grounded for a month. My dad heard me sneak out of the house and he followed me in his other car. When I got to your house, he pulled up and took me home."