Setting goals helps in focusing and develops sense of perfection. With the Covid-19 pandemic spreading all over the world, setting the goals for school children becomes even more important to learn and then practice Goal Setting.
DEFINITION OF GOAL:
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, GOAL is the end toward which effort is directed. Goals are dreams and want, except a goal is more specific.
In simple words – it’s your aim and objective of your life for which you come to school to learn and pursue your studies.
Look at it like this:
Give a man a bow and arrow and tell him to, “SHOOT!” and his first response would be, “At what?” When there is no target there is no purpose for shooting. He could shoot the arrow anywhere and wherever the arrow ended up would be where the arrow ended up. Not much to it.
On the other hand, if you gave the archer a target and challenged him to hit the bull’s-eye – everything changes. You now gave him something to aim at, something to challenge his skills against, something to measure his progress with, and something that gives all of his effort – purpose. All by adding in a simple target – GOAL!
Now replace “shooter” as you-you are the shooter, aim/target as your goal, “bull’s-eye” as your specific goal and that’s what I am going to explain to you so as to help you make the most of this forced break.
THE PURPOSE OF GOALS
The purpose of your goals is to give you something that you want to enhance your life in some way, so the most important thing is that you need to know about the goals and you ought to have some.
TYPES OF GOALS
There are many types of goals, defined by time period, related to the purpose of your life, like it can be your educational goals, behavioral goals, sports goals etc. which I will explain later. Here, let me tell you about:
- Long term goals-10 years, 5 years, 1 year goals.
- Short term goals- goals for the next 9 months, 6 months, 3 months.
- Immediate goals- 1 – 30 days from now.
It’s important to understand that your immediate and short term goals can be the parts of your long term goals.
To make you understand; I am going to suggest to you that you set goals on what you what to achieve by the end of the current school session. First things first- You will decide on your target for the whole of this year. This first step will be your immediate goal, which is identifying & setting the goal. While setting the goal you will also keep a check mark to check the progress-this will be your short term goal. However, the improvement in your grades by the end of the school term, which I believe will be your final goal in this exercise, will be the long term goal for you.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF GOALS
There can be various types of goals in your life depending upon what you want to achieve. To name a few:
Physical Goals
– your personal body care/health, fitness goals.
Career/Professional Goals
– Where do you want to be after the school finishes? What career you want to pursue in your life?
Financial Goals
– by the age of 25, I want to be earning …… so much per month. Or, by the age of 30, I want to have …….crores as my bank balance, etc. could be your financial goals. I wish to own my own house, worth 2 crores, by the age of 30, maybe another one.
Relationships & Family goals
– socially these are very important goals which one has to set in life, to be considered successful. I want to be a dutiful child, I wish to be of help to my parents, financially from the age of 21, I wish to settle down with a well-educated (be specific about the qualification of the spouse), professional spouse by the age of 30.
Self-development goals
– I wish to acquire …….. qualification by the time I am 25 years old, I want to have a great personality, I should be a great public speaker or I want to be a great cricketer/athlete, whatever is your objective/goal in life.
Pleasure goals
– you must set goals for your enjoyment when you grow up. Once, every year, I want to travel to distant places for my enjoyment. I will take an annual holiday for taking my family to a different exotic place for a holiday, etc. I want to be able to paint well/I want to be an accomplished dancer/I want to be a playwright by the time I finish my college, are some more examples.
Social goals
– as we are part of society, we must also set goals to be a useful part of society. Your goal could be that I will be a responsible citizen and follow all the rules/regulations, I will pay my taxes as per the dues, I will help the authorities in any which way they want me to do, etc. I will train a minimum of 3 underprivileged children, at any given time, to help them earn a living. I will be a disciplined student in the class/school. I will work towards being selected as the monitor of the class. Or, head-boy/head-girl of the school.
It’s important to understand that you can set many goals simultaneously. Each serves a different purpose in our lives. One of the important skills that one must learn in life is to be able to multi-task.
I am suggesting that you set the following goals. (You are free to select and set goals of your own choice).
Physical goals
– set a time schedule and a measurable standard for your body conditioning. Each one of you will have different needs, someone may want to gain weight, someone may want to shed weight, someone wants to build up stamina to be able to participate in games of your like, etc. So you will, under the advice of the elders, start working on it and also make sure that you set specific goals.
Study goals
– most important for you at the moment. Do a self-analysis, identify your needs, what subject/topics you want to improve, and by when & how much.
Social goals
– I am sure you all want to be responsible students of your school, you want to be disciplined students when you come back to the school, you want to operate as a part of “the class team” and together achieve more! So set yourself the target of working as a team member, sometimes you will be a leader, at other times you will be a member of the team pursuing the team objective.
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” ~ Pablo Picasso
So, let us understand the route and the vehicle of a plan.
SMART GOALS FOR KIDS
Just setting Goals is not enough, we must set SMART goals.
What is this SMART goal? What are its five qualities?
S – Specific: Be clear and unambiguous when setting your goal. Don’t leave room for guessing.
M – Measurable: Set a goal that allows you measurement toward your goals progress.
A – Attainable: Ask yourself, “Is this realistic and attainable?” If not, back to the drawing board.
R – Relevant: Create a goal with importance and meaning. Make sure the effort is worth it to you.
T – Time-bound: Commit to a deadline. Open-ended goals tend to go forgotten.
So, be SMART!
BENEFITS OF SETTING GOALS
- You know where you are going. It gives you a direction in life.
- You suffer less from stress and anxiety attached to being directionless. (Can a boat cross the river without a rudder?)
- You are able to concentrate on the subject better.
- With the progress you make, you become more self-confident.
- Helps you to improve your self-image.
- Increases awareness of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Makes you feel happier.
besides these there are many other benefits.
PRINCIPLES OF SETTING GOALS
- Write down your goals.
- Display your goals where you can read it every day.
- Announce your goal to some other family members/class friends who you think will be of help to you.
- Within the goal, set a day goal. YES; every day. This will help you to stay focused and it will become your second nature. NO MATTER HOW YOU FEEL/NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE – you have to meet your day goal.
- Keep monitoring on a regular basis. In case of a deviation, set the course right immediately.
NOW, YOUR TASK DURING THIS PERIOD
Immediately do the following:
DAY 1: Your day 1 is the day you get to read this message.
Select an appropriate exercise book in which you normally write down your home-work.
First, visualize, what will be your goals. Write down minimum 3 of them. Say, 1. Physical. 2. School study related goals. 3. Sports/extracurricular activities related goals.
Write each goal clearly. Follow the SMART rule.
Keep working on it during the day, revise, if you must, however, by the end of the day, firm up on all the three goals.
While doing it, you may ask yourselves the following:
- I am good at…
- I am bad at…
- What I will improve?
- How will I make these improvements?
- What all I will have to do or I will need to achieve it?
It is important to remember the following;
- You must own the goals, i.e. it is your responsibility to ensure it succeeds.
- You must control it. Any deviation in its progress, you should be able to take the corrective measures.
- Work on it faithfully. Give it your best.
DAY 2:
For each of the goals, prepare a time table. What will be the day goal for each of the identified goals? What I need to do, every day, to achieve my long term goal?What facilities or help I need for achieving the goal? List out, in detail, anything and everything that you may need for achieving the goal. This includes, listing out the outside help that you think you will need.
By the end of the day 2, your road-map for achieving the goal should be clear.
DAY 3:
Write down clearly, your goals. Preferably on separate sheets of paper. For each of your goals, make copies and hang one next to the mirror in you room. One on the outside of your wardrobe, one for your school bag but keep it in such a way that you can access it easily. This you will need to do till it becomes a habit-part of your daily routine.
Share the same with the family member/s, class fellow/s or even the class teacher if it is related to the studies. Request for help, in case, you feel it necessary.
START WORKING ON IT.
Please remember to include the following in the goals:
- Immediate goal. By following the above suggestions you have already achieved your immediate goal.
- For monitoring, set short term goals within the goals. Review after every 3 months, or you link it with your school calendar, but, please do not leave it open ended. These will be your short term goals. Finally, you are progressing towards your long term goal, which can be linked to the annual exams, if it is school study goal, or with the annual sports day if it is related to sports, etc.
Please remember – YOU are the creator of your own destiny!
All the best.
V. N. Kashyap
Mentor – Winaum Learning
Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done
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