Setting a goal is a good thing. We hear people talk about it all the time. There are professional business coaches who teach people how to set goals. I will be starting 9th grade next month and even for high school, they already have us meet with a counselor to set a four-year goal.

But setting a goal or being stuck on one goal can also be a bad thing.

You have probably heard at one point in your life that life is full of possibilities; you just need to take them. Sometimes when people set a goal, they get too focused on that one goal. While they are working toward their goal, many other opportunities may come up but they ignore them since they were focused on the goal. Or maybe they didn’t even see the opportunities at all because of their narrow focus on that one goal.

I am the first episode of the third season of PBS BizKid$ which coincidentally talks about different types of goals.  It is an entire episode devoted to goals.  I am fine with goals and I have had goals, but I believe that a plan is better.  Some may say it is just a change of a word but most people think a plan is not set in stone. If you said, “I PLAN to go to the mall tomorrow,” it’s probably not too big of deal if your PLAN changed. But if you said, “My GOAL is to go shopping tomorrow,” all of a sudden it changes the importance for some reason.

Goals are good to have because it gives people some direction. But make sure you keep your eyes open for opportunities that may be right beside you and be willing to change or make revisions to your goals if necessary. Just because you may not achieve your original goal does not mean you failed. It could actually mean you were smarter and took other opportunities that were much better than your goal.

In my new book, “Bitten by the Business Bug: Common Sense Tips for Business and Life from a Teen Entrepreneur” I have topics like this and many other things that are easily overlooked when people of all ages forget about the basics.