Setting goals

Goal setting has been proven time and again to be a powerful way to improve your outcomes. However, there's a debate among the goal-setting nerds: Should you set a goal you can reach or a goal that stretches you?

Some say that the point of a goal is to accomplish the goal, so why would you set a goal you don't know how to make happen?

Some say that the point of a goal is to motivate you to improve, to be better than you would have been if you just kept going as you are. So, why would you set a goal that doesn't require new thinking or behavior?

I say both types of goals are valuable, so I set two-level goals. First, I set the baseline goal that I have to hit to be okay--and it's usually not a crazy stretch. If I keep working hard, I can likely hit that. Then I set the stretch goal (the second level), which would require me to find better ways of working to hit it. That way, I can chase the big improvement but still know where my foundation is.

Some examples:

-My team and I need to at least sign-up X number of consulting projects this quarter, but we are going to try some new marketing tools to see if we can get Y number of people to sign up.

-I need to lose weight so that by the end of the month I am below X, but I am going to try to be below Y.

Historically, have you been more in the camp of setting clearly achievable goals or uncertain stretch goals? Have you set multi-level goals? Can you share some examples of goals that have worked for you (and share why you picked that approach)?