The task of finding your story goals begins with your character’s inner life: the problems they face and the personality quirks that stop them from solving them, the life lessons they need to learn and, most importantly, their goals. A good way to discover and define these elements is to brainstorm with a mind-map or spider drawing like mine below, where I worked up the protagonist for my middle school novel, Iggy’s World.

To get to know your character better, doodle a spider drawing focusing on these main questions:
 
What personality flaws does your protagonist have?
 
Is your hero vain or arrogant? Hot-tempered? Are they irresponsible or have bad or potentionally dangerous habits? Maybe they have some growing up to do. Or an old emotional wound that has never quite healed. Do they feel guilty for something they did in the past? Or are they simply unsure of themselves?
 
What problems does your protagonist face?
 
Is your protagonist failing at work or school? Can't find friends or a romantic partner? Can't find a job? Doesn't have money to take care of their kids, or go to university? Is bullied? Doesn't get along with their family? Finds themselves an outsider in their community? Remember, success can bring it's own problems. Is your character a successful actor who is targeted in social media, for example, or faces a lack of privacy?
 
Your answers to this question will form the basis of your situation, that hot mess you throw your protagonist into.
 
What does your protagonist want? What are their goals?
 
To get rich? To find a lost family member? To win the game? To find friends? To impress the girl? To find acceptance? To forge a new identity after the loss of a job or loved one?
 
What life lesson does your character need to learn? How will that life lesson change your character through the events of the story?
 
Do they need to learn that anger or revenge won't solve their problems? Or that they need to take responsibility for their actions? Or that they should accept themselves the way they are?

The answers to these questions, that you'll find while brainstorming using a mind map, form the basis for story goals, the engine that drives your fiction project.

Here's more on how to find your story goals.