set a goal

Meaning

This expression means to decide on a specific target, objective, or achievement that you want to reach in the future. It is widely used in performance reviews, project planning, and personal development discussions.

Examples

• Every January, our department meets to set a goal for the upcoming fiscal year.

  Every January, our department meets to set a goal for the upcoming fiscal year.

• It is important to set a goal that is both realistic and challenging.

  It is important to set a goal that is both realistic and challenging.

• The manager helped her set a goal to increase sales by ten percent.

  The manager helped her set a goal to increase sales by ten percent.

• If you don't set a goal, it is very difficult to measure your professional progress.

  If you don't set a goal, it is very difficult to measure your professional progress.

• We need to set a goal for completing the software development phase.

  We need to set a goal for completing the software development phase.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to make a goal for the next quarter.

  ✓ We need to set a goal for the next quarter.

  While 'make' is sometimes understood, 'set' is the standard, highly preferred collocation in professional English for establishing targets.

• ✗ The team put a goal to finish the project early.

  ✓ The team set a goal to finish the project early.

  Do not use 'put' when establishing an objective; the correct verb is 'set'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Before starting the project, we should ___ for what we want to achieve.

  💡 establish a target

  Show answer

  set a goal

• It is much easier to succeed when you ___ that is realistic.

  💡 decide on an objective

  Show answer

  set a goal