keystring My quick impression is that in the first one, the "goals" are not real goals. Passing a GPA isn't. Such a goal also does not reflect any interests (real goals) by a student - it's an externally created thing that works within an institution
To me, these are “outcome goals,” and as you say, are distinct from “process goals.” Achieving a particular GPA is, in my opinion, a fine goal to have. Just because it’s externally created doesn’t make it meaningless. For a high school student or college student, having a certain GPA is a necessary prerequisite for other things. For example, in our program, if a student wants to study abroad, their GPA has to be above a certain number or they simply will not be accepted to go abroad.
But without being accompanied by some process goals, it will make it harder for the person to figure out how to achieve that goal.
Maybe the GPA example isn’t the best example for our discussion here though…
To bring it back to piano, I have always had some goals, what I think of as “big picture goals,” but which are essentially outcome goals. One is to sightread well and another is to be able to perform, to play for others, without falling apart in a puddle of nerves.
Neither of these are externally created or externally motivated goals. But they are outcome goals, end points which don’t tell you how to reach the. So without process goals, I would be unlikely to get close to achieving either of them.
I think I have always made process goals for my piano playing. Somehow, instinctively, I think, I figured out very early on that what matters most is what I do every day. Then when I started a participating in piano forums, I learned more about goal setting and refined how I articulate my goals for myself, and that has continued to be beneficial.
But IMO there’s nothing wrong with a big picture goal, an outcome goal. It just has to be accompanied by some process goals in order to give the person something actionable to do while they’re plodding along in the big gulf between where they are now and where they want to be.