Normally I agree with you that Hive goals such as HP, HBD, HE tokens etc. are partially out of the control of the users who set them (including myself), and as such not the best kind of goals, by definition.
They do have some qualities that still makes them useful:
- they represent a direction the user focuses on, and may use other resources to reach the targets or get as close to them as possible
- they can help keep the author consistent and on track; for some the public accountability is a motivation too
- they can be inspirational and motivational to others, and we've been told about this many times in comments on these posts
Otherwise, I agree the types of goals you mentioned could be more suitable and maybe even more helpful. I already have one regarding the number of comments. Will probably have others like that next year. Although not a declared goal, I've been posting daily for over a year and a half and intend to keep going as much as possible. And if, for whatever reason, I won't post some days in the future, it is my intention to keep going afterwards.