MICHELANGELO:

 

   "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

 

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Now, what goal(s) do you think old Mikey had in mind?
--Sistine Chapel? check.
--David?.............check.
--Go down in history as one of the greatest...? I'm bettin NOPE on this one--it's not measurable/attainable, and reeks of narcissism.

 

But, isn't every creative person a narcissist? Ya know, "PLEEZ, look at ME and what great stuff I've painted/sculpted/composed/written!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![etc.]"

 

Anyhoo, back to setting goals...I read this a long time ago: good goals are S-M-A-R-T goals:
S--SIMPLE: you can state it inna few words, no more than a ppgh.
M--MEASURABLE: there's something you can objectively measure/assess, as in "Write 100 pages a day. Paint the south side of the barn today. Run a marathon this weekend."
A--ACHIEVABLE: you don't have to be Superman or Wonder Woman...guess that eliminates the hunnerd pages a day, huh?
R--RELEVANT: if you don't really care and nobody else does--what kinda goal is that? "Hi, I wanna be irrelevant today. Vote for me for Congress."
T--TIMELY (or, TIME-COURSE): "I wanna build the best typewriters in the world" just aint gonna cut it anymore...or, it's gotta time-line that works...such as, "I'll finish writing this chapter of my book in ten days, take a day off, write the outline for the next chapter the next day, edit for the following morning, then start the first draft of chapter two that aft."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria