From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishset (somebody) a goalset (somebody) a goal (also set (somebody) a task/challenge British English)TRY TO DO OR GET something to say what you or someone else will or must try to achieve It’s best to set realistic goals that you can achieve. He set himself the task of learning Japanese. → set
Examples from the Corpus
set (somebody) a goal• The economist, on the other hand, likes to set definite goals.• They are responsible for the long range planning activities of the firm and they will set the overall goals.• Timetables for implementation should be established, setting out specific goals and actions that allow responsibility to be allocated and achievement monitored.• But Mrs Harris said I must set a goal for myself.• Both set sports goals for their daughters before their daughters knew what goals were.• In setting performance goals, pay attention to the context.• If so you will find it helpful to set some goals to give short-range guidance.• This is better than setting a goal to lose the entire twenty pounds, which you may not be able to do. 