Why Set Goals?

A goal acts like a map

Why set goals anyway?

Setting goals helps us turn our dreams into reality. I’ve always said that a goal is a dream that you’ve written down.

Goals help to keep you accountable and help you to stay on track. Written goals are like your road map on a long trip, you locate your destination, plot your route, and check the map along the way to make sure you’re still headed in the right direction.

Be S.M.A.R.T in your goals

When you’re setting goals, you want to make sure they will actually take you somewhere, so they need to be smart goals.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timely

So here’s how that looks. If I want to help my child set a goal for this school year, I wouldn’t want them to say “My goal is to do well this year”. You would want them to to phrase the goal in this way:

I will pass all my classes with a B average and a 3.5 GPA in the 2013 – 2014 school year.

This goal is specific (all courses, B average, 3.5 GPA), measurable (you can easily measure grades and GPA), achievable (my child is smart enough and has the resources he needs), relevant (this fits within his life), and timely (2013-2014 school year).

And now what?

Your next step would be to break that large goal down into smaller stepping-stone goals. Think of them as reference points on your map to your final destination. “Bites of the elephant”

Making, writing, and activating goals will help take you from STUCK to SUCCESS.