Effective goals set lofty objectives that require significant effort to accomplish. Without a measurable plan that breaks the objective into smaller, achievable steps, the mentee may feel overwhelmed. If this situation is left to fester, it may lead to abandoned goals and failure. It’s like having a destination without a map pointing the way forward.
To avoid this, build in steps, and define metrics for gauging success. For example, let’s imagine the goal is to get an internship for the summer. You might define weekly objectives to contact a certain number of companies about opportunities. This is measurable and achievable and provides a roadmap for completing the goal.
When goals are appropriately challenging, developed collaboratively, and subdivided into achievable steps, the chances for success increase dramatically. Setting them within this framework removes unnecessary impediments to their realization. When this is the case, goals can drive mentees to achieve remarkable things.