Goal setting software In search for the best goal setting systems

GoalBot review

Goalbot is a free, simple goal setter and planner with a social twist. Fairly solid in the basics department, but don't expect any waterworks.

Goal setting process - objectively

First impressions are promising. You can dive right in into "Learning" a goal, which is the Goalbot equivalent of setting said goal. You can choose from one of the popular goals or enter your own. If your goal is one of the popular ones (like "Lose weight" or "Start my own business") you will have a summary page that gives you some information about how to achieve it. The software will also present you with resources (books, websites, related goals) that will help you get more information and get you on your way.

The next step: "Plan" allows you to define steps for your goal. Each step can have a due date (or repeating schedule). If you want more options for planning - you picked the wrong service. Steps and due dates are all that Goalbot has to offer in this department.

The next section might very well be the distinguishing characteristic of Goalbot - the "Connect" section allows to share ones progress (in Twitter-like fashion), look for or ask questions regarding the goal and connect with other people with similar goals. Now isn't that fun?

The last part - the "Coach" section allows you to search for mentors that you can pay to help you with your goal. Just type in your goal and your location and you're set - if you're living in the right place and have a sufficiently standard goal that is.

Those were the facts - how does all this work put together?

Impressions

The basic assumption behind all social powered services is that there is someone that shares our interests and tastes. In this case this idea seems just a tad too far fetched for me. If your goal is non standard, Goalbot will just be a dead simple goal and step organizer with no particular advantages over pen and paper.

I also took the time to trace through how helpful would Goalbot be in the standard goal category. These would include the goals that you probably considered doing at one time or another. These would include:

• Lose Weight
• Start a Business
• Reduce my caloric intake
• Create an exercise plan
• Drink more water

The problem is - those goals already have vast amounts of attention from other media. There are numerous sites that address each of these issues in depth. Why then would I want to use the information and tools that GoalBot has to offer to "Lose weight", when there are terrific community websites loaded with tools (SparkPeople to name just one).

My first impression about Goalbot was that the most valuable tools would be the goal research stage, but when I wanted something less standard than weight loss, the results were pretty disappointing. Why would I want to replace my search engine with Goalbot? I can't think of a reason.

In my view, the only chance for Goalbot is to cover as much topics as possible and add resources, so it becomes sort a hub for goal setting research - but it would have to be really complex and good for me to replace the search engine.

Having said all that about the general concept of the service I would like to point out that, as a software developer, I really think the website is really well done. The interface is very intuitive and much work has been put in to not bug the user with anything superfluous. At the same time, all the features are neatly packed into spaces that they need to be (appearing when hovering over a linked item for example). In overall - the technical side of GoalBot is some fine programming and interface design woven into a user-friendly piece of software.

Web-sociopath disclaimer

It has to be stated here that I am probably not the target audience for Goalbot - I have yet to be motivated into following through with any goal by a Web-based social group. I do value the accountability boost and support that comes from my friends and family, but that's it. Therefore, the most distinguishing feature of Goalbot is pretty much useless to me - your experience may vary and you may want to give Goalbot a try - it doesn't cost you anything but a bit of time.

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