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There's a phrase I generally dislike, perhaps for its cutesy abrasiveness about reaching for the moon because if you fail you'll be among the stars. The phrase is just catchy enough to be used by supportive moms and kindergarten teachers everywhere, but doesn't take into account how tragic miscalculations can leave you a sad little dreamcicle as you are doomed to orbit Earth because you forgot to prepare for the vacuum of space, metaphorically speaking of course. Despite my contempt for the not quite folksy saying there was a more grounded variation used by White House spokesman Jay Carney, "If you got through a year and you achieved everything on your list then you probably didn't aim high enough." In content it's the same phrase, just without all the saccharin condescension. The thing is, it's not wrong.
The point of setting goals isn't simply so we complete tasks, because we could all just set our goals very low and do the bare minimum to survive. The point of setting goals is to set your sights on things you don't necessarily think you're capable of completing, sometimes things that are vastly beyond what you expect your capabilities are. In fact, in general people might not set their goals high enough. They may be so dependent upon little achievements and so afraid of the sting of failure that they might not recognize the triumph of "almost." Almost is a powerful thing. It lets you know that you might be able to meet that goal with another try. Almost gets you back on that horse you fell off of (most likely metaphorically again).
Look over those goals that were just out of reach last year and put them back in your sights, then add in some new ones that are even tougher. You know yourself better than you did last year and know more of what you're capable of. Even with all that knowledge if you accomplish one of those goals you secretly thought you couldn't do you still might manage to find a way to surprise yourself.
/rant
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