
A goal is the anticipated result of an action. An objective is an action that drives you towards your goal. You might use the terms goals and objectives alternatively, but there is a significant difference that holds them back to their courts.
You have many short terms and long term targets in life. And to achieve these targets, you have step completion action plans in place. All these finite, precise, and measurable actions that you take to ultimately reach your bigger target in life are defined as your objectives. Once you keep progressing and parallel marking the completion of all such actions and reach your target horizon, that is what is referred to as a goal.
“The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”– Michelle Obama
Basically, goals are your broader targets in life. Objectives are your aims that help your goals turn fruitful. Goals and objectives are generally clashing terms that you use interchangeably in various instances. However, there are a couple of aspects that mark their differentiation. Stated below are a few to help you get more insight into the same.
1. Goals are the bigger tasks in life. Objectives are the smaller sub-tasks in life.
2. Goals are usually achieved by working over a length of time. Objectives are as small as being achievable in a couple of hours to just about a few days.
3. Goals define and determine your lifestyle. Objectives showcase your moment, rather your today or tomorrow.
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins
4. Goals are intangible and are hard to measure. Objectives are often tangible and have a confined measurement.
5. You need to master a lot of patience to achieve your goals. You can achieve your objectives as they form part of your operational activities in life.
6. The goal decides your future. Objectives explain how to plan to decide for your future.
7. The goal is the general focus or direction or a specific intention backed by reasons. Objectives are precise and very specific and are backed by your actions.
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau
8. Goals are broad in scope, while objectives are narrow in scope.
9. Goals are a compilation of a bunch of varied activities marking your success. Objectives are smaller chunks of actionable tasks and are just a part of the whole activity that leads you to success.
10. Goals are generally reviewed once a month or so. Objectives are reviewed and measured every day as they form the core of your operational day-to-day tasks.
11. A goal could be commonly set for a group of people, while an objective is specific to each individual.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” – Bruce Lee
12. Goals are typically critical in nature and need a lot of work out and varied skills and resources to fall in place. Objectives are part of your daily routine and confine themselves to limited resources and skillset.
13. You cannot achieve your goals without associated objectives. And objectives without the ultimate goal will never take you to where you really wanted to mark your presence. Understanding that both goals and objectives are separate and yet so very correlated is often used interchangeably.
14. A goal is how you describe your eventual destination. An objective is the unit of measurement of your journey towards this intended destination.
“I believe the last thing I read at night will likely manifest when I'm sleeping. You become what you think about the most.” - Daymond John
15. You undertake generic actions to achieve your goals. But for objectives, your actions are concrete, well-structured, and specific.
16. Your ideas motivate you to set your goals. Your actions and facts decide your objectives.
17. You need to spend the whole life to achieve a goal at times. But, objectives are specific milestones that you can achieve within a limited and pre-defined time frame.
“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
18. Goals are comparatively difficult to measure, whereas objectives are easy to measure and compare with parameters of your other objectives in life.
19. Primarily, goals can be achieved by triggering continuous actions that you need to take in a particular direction. Objectives are kind of sub-goals that you can achieve in a far less span of time.
20. Goals and objectives are entirely different concepts. However, goals and objectives work in harmony, hand in hand, to help you achieve your desired results.
“It’s up to you to make your life. Take what you have and stack it up like a tower of teetering blocks. Build your dream around that.” – Cheryl Strayed
Needless to say, goals involve your lifelong contribution and effort. Goals define your future and your philosophies in life. When you break your goal into smaller sub-goals, you refer to them as your objectives.
You are reviewing your progress on goals. This means you are actually taking the feedback from your objectives to direct them to attain your goals. You cannot measure your goals statistically, but yes, you can quantify and review the objectives that ultimately take you towards your life goals.
Maria Bonita
Enhance your skills
Goals vs objectives
We all have specific goals in our lives. Without goals, there is no purpose. But we should be fully aware of what our goals are. There should be distinct and clear thoughts about the same.
Goals and objectives may be considered two sides of the same coin. But there are certain differences between the two. Objectives and goals are terms that are usually used in the education and business sectors and are often confused with each other. Both terms may sound the same, but they have a big difference in them. Objectives need particular actions, whereas goals need common actions to obtain it.
Difference between goals and objectives
Goals and objectives may be considered two sides of the same coin. But there are certain differences between the two.
Below are some of the differences between goals and objectives:
1
Goals are long-term and denote outcomes of a project.
Objectives are the supportive short-term entities required to achieve goals.
2
Goals are a broader concept
Objectives are a narrower concept
3
Goals cannot be measured
Objectives can be measured
4
Goals are based on ideas and conceptualization
Objectives are based on facts and practical approach for project
5
Goals are generic
Objectives are specific
Will goals give a target?
Goals give us direction in life. Target is like a platform where we want to hit. Proper goal setting allows us to go on the right path and “shoot” at our targets.
Consider target like a runway on an airport and plane like our goal. A plane has to make a proper landing on the runway. Similarly, the goal has to reach the target. And for this, we need to set proper goals.
Different types of goals
Although “goals” is a broader and generic concept, by categorizing those, we can have some order and structure for goals.
Following are the 10 different types of goals:
1) Education Goals
Education is important in all walks of life. It starts with our school life, and later as we grow up, branches into colleges, universities, vocational courses, professional degrees, postgraduate, masters, etc.
There is no age limit for education. Anyone from a small kid to an old grandpa can keep on learning new things and skills in life. This goal helps to expand our mind and also enable us to be professionally competent.
2) Physical and Health Goals
You may have detected that a “Healthy body and a healthy mind cause a happier life!” It is true. Our mind and body health together contribute to the status of our lives and our goals. This goal varies with age to some degree. Children and young people are more energetic. They have good grasping power.
These youngsters may push themselves more to achieve a physical fitness goal like football or cricket. Middle-aged people may keep their goals like desk work in a normal range and stick to it for a long time. Old age people may set their goal to recreation activities and minimizing the medicines, doctor checkups, etc.
3) Relationship Goals
The people we come across during our lifetime have a massive role in our development, our accomplishments, and our feelings. These goals are not only for your good but for others as well.
Relationships do not always mean husband and wife but also other people around us like our friends, family, and relatives. As we grow up and become mature, giving equal time to everyone is the key. This also has an impact on work/life balance.
4) Personal Development Goals
Our personality shapes who we are. We should always strive to become a better version of ourselves. This goal is more focused on the “personal” aspect of our life.
Sometimes we feel like learning a new skill: maybe some new recipe, a musical instrument, or mastering some new technique, etc. These goals broaden our minds and make us connect with our inner selves.
5) Career Goals
Career is important to progress in our life. But this goal is strongly connected to Education Goals. One is incomplete without the other. For this goal, we first need to find what we like the most.
In which area lies our main interest? Are we ready to take that path and make a great career out of it? One may feel to start his or her own business; others may feel to get a promotion in the current job.
There should be a master plan in place for Career Goals, as this is a long-term goal.
6) Financial Goals
A great person from a finance background had once said, “It’s not about having lots of money. It knows how to manage it.”
We have to admit the fact that money is essential. It is a vital entity to make our lives better, if not the best. Everyone works for the ultimate aim of making more money.
All of us have individual dreams, and many of them are dependent on finances. It is in knowing how to do savings at the right time. How to manage assets already present and in the future. For example, if you wish to buy an expensive car, then all the effort should be put in to save money and manage finances to make this dream a reality.
7) Spiritual Goals
All human beings have souls. This soul is encompassed by spirituality. Whether we believe in a particular faith or religion, this goal also helps to improve our previous two goals – Personal Development and Relationships.
Give the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you. Donate a part of whatever you can to the needy. Pay it forward.
Give charities. It does not necessarily involve money. You can donate food, old unused clothes, and other resources to help the poor and needy sustain their lives.
8) Psychological Goals
Our experiences strongly depend on our minds. Whatever we perceive around us – the good and the bad – first goes through our minds. Hence, we need to set some goals to calibrate our beliefs, our attitude towards others, our mindset. Remain calm in stressful situations.
Be a good listener. Don’t react quickly. Be open-minded and lookout for opportunities that are presented. “Make hay when the sun shines.”
9) External Goals
These goals are somewhat similar to Spiritual Goals but extend further. Live your life in a way that others don’t suffer. This may include becoming vegetarian or using only recyclable materials to minimize the impact on the environment.
The focus of this goal may be inside your own home – helping your best friend or sibling through a financial crisis or supporting them when they lose their loved ones.
10) Experiential Goals
These goals are based on our experiences that we encounter in our daily lives. They are focused on practical things and desires. If you want to watch a movie, plan and watch it. If you're going to travel around the world, manage finances and work leaves, and achieve it.
Why are goals and objectives important?
Goals and objectives are essential to keep us on the right path. Our life needs a purpose, and these two provide us with one.
If goals and objectives didn’t exist, our lives would have been meaningless, and there would be no place for us in a civilized society. Think of these two like a weighing scale or a see-saw where both are required to maintain the equilibrium.
Why do goals matter?
Goals matter because they enable you to have the kind of future you want to have. They help to shape your life, provided a purpose, make you focused on achieving your dreams. Goals help you to keep track of your journey towards the destination. They continuously keep a check on your subconscious and remind you of your next step.
Goals make you commit something, make you promise yourself, challenge yourself. Of course, there would be sacrifices, but in the end, you will know that struggle feels good!
Conclusion
Let's sum up by saying that Objectives are the stepping stone that a person takes to obtain their goal. So, it is not wrong to say that objectives are a part of the Goal. In simple words, you can say the objective is a type of action plan, whereas a goal is a type of dream. They both define things an individual may wish to accomplish but they have different meanings in relative terms.