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Set a Goal... Make a Plan... and Go For It!
 Have you ever had dreams about
what you would like to be when you grow up, how you will
play in your next game, how you will do on your test, or how
you could learn to play an instrument? You may not have
those particular dreams, but you likely dream about
something in your life. Well, just dreaming about it won't
make it happen. What you can do is set some goals, and work
out how you're going to make it happen.
Goal setting is essential for
building a successful life and it is a life-long skill. It
helps you to focus your unique gifts and talents, and it
helps to build and strengthen your self-worth. Goal setting
equips you to lead a life full of meaning, purpose and
direction - regardless of the personal or professional paths
you choose. You're never too young to start setting goals
for yourself!
In order for something to be a goal:
 It has to be important to you, personally.
It has to be within your means and abilities.
It has to be something you have a reasonable chance of
achieving.
It must be clearly defined and have a specific plan of
action.
There are many areas to consider
when setting goals, such as:
Career - school grades; skill development; future plan
(ambition).
Personal - character development; personal growth
(self-image,
sense of responsibility, ability, self-esteem);
appearance.
Health - exercise; diet; over-all well-being; balance.
Community - commitment to serving others (volunteer work).
Financial - understanding the value of money; earning;
saving.
Friends - expanding your circle of friends; choosing
friends wisely.
Household - chores; contribution to building home life.
Recreation - hobbies; relaxation; fun (movies, parties,
etc.)
When aiming for a goal it's
important to focus on performance, not perfection! It's when
you're reaching for goals that you begin to see the
possibilities that exist for your life. You learn about your
strengths and non-strengths, and about what you can
accomplish in life.
Here are some things to consider
before you start setting goals...
Think about yourself:
What sort of person are you?
What do you look like?
What impression do you give others?
How do you feel about yourself?
Make a list of all the positive things you can think of,
such as:
I'm a neat writer
I'm a happy person
I'm kind
to others
I care about animals
Now think about the things you can do,
such as:
I can run well
I can cook
I can sew or knit
I can
sing or play an instrument
Finally, think about your appearance.
I'm in good shape
I eat healthy
I take care of my teeth, hair, nails, etc.
I dress neat and appropriate
So, now you have a list of all the personal
"assets" (or positive stuff) that make
up your wonderful, unique self. Think about what you can do
with those assets, and sort through your dreams to see which
could come true one day if you work towards them. Be
realistic. If you cannot sing a note, it is unlikely
that you would become a popular singer!
Now it's time to set
some goals to help you get to your dreams. You
need to write some goals down, sort out which are the most
important goals, and then decide what are the steps to take
to help you get there. These "steps" should be little steps,
not gigantic leaps! If you were to have a goal of running
across the United States, you wouldn't begin the steps
by writing, "Tomorrow I will run across my home state". That would be too big of a step!
You would want to begin by doing some easy jogging...
working up to some local fun runs... and slowly developing
your running abilities over many months and years. Then, after
many years of
building your endurance abilities consistently and acquiring experience
in health and fitness,
you would set up a training schedule to specifically prepare for a run
across the United States.
You're going to want to
decide what is your most important goal. Then, write down all of the good things about reaching
that goal. If you run into a problem, sit down and think
about how you're going to work around it, or over it or
through it. Don't give up. Keep trying! Also, it's always
smart to tell friends, family members or
teachers about your goals. They'll likely encourage you!
 If you meet a
problem on the way to your goal, look back at your steps and add in
as many steps as needed to keep you going. It doesn't matter if
they're small steps. You might decide that putting a copy
of the multiplication (times) table all
around the house will help you learn it faster. You might ask
your Mom or Dad, or your friends, to test the table with you in the car, on the bus, or when you're at the playground. Many times
when a person has success in reaching a goal it's due to
the help of others.
Important things to
remember as you work toward your goal:
Be realistic. Set small goals to start with. You can move to
the
bigger stuff when you get better at setting and reaching
goals.
Keep feeling positive. Don't let other people bring you
down.
Check your steps every day and read through your goal
again.
Believe you can do it. Doubt will keep your goal out of
reach!
Keep adding more small steps if it doesn't look like you're
making
much progress.
Tell someone you trust about what you're doing. Talking
about it
will: (1) keep you feeling good;
(2) help you work out your steps;
(3) help
you learn how to reach your goal; and, (4) encourage you.
Don't stress. Learn to relax so that you have the energy to
work
through the steps.
Have fun and enjoy the adventure toward your goal!
Never forget that the ultimate goal is doing your very best.
 Take time to think about it...
Use the following questions below to think more about goals
and what you might want to aim for. You should
write your answers down so that you can keep your words to
look back on later.
If
you could become anything you wanted, or accomplish anything
you wanted in life, what would it be? What can you do to
make that happen? Are you doing it? (If not, why not?)
Think of three things you'd like to accomplish in the
next several months. These must be things that are truly
important to you and within your ability to accomplish. For
each one, describe in detail what you will need to do in
order to succeed and lay out a plan for doing it (including
deadlines). Now that you have set three goals, try carrying
out your plans.
Write about a time when you succeeded at something
because you made it a goal and were committed to it.
- Describe what happened.
- How did that make you feel?
- What
did you learn from that experience?
Sometimes, despite our best plans and efforts, we fail
anyway. Write about a time when you tried to accomplish
something but came up short.
- Describe what happened.
- How did you deal with it?
- What did you learn from it?
- Did
anything positive come out of it? |
