At
the beginning of the year, there is usually, an avalanche of discussions on
goals setting. It is a regular ritual at the start of the year. Lately,
it seems clear that the several attempts at new year resolutions have produced very little
positive results, so much so that the contributors have moved from just teaching ‘Goal Setting’
to providing ideas on achieving the goals.
A
lot of the time, teenagers have the impression that only adults set goals at
the beginning of the year or even set goals at all. That’s not true. You
see, teenagers work towards developing their talents, skills, learning
abilities, and dreams in order to achieve success
in their future ambition but one vital tool is missing – goal setting. With
goal setting, a teenager will focus on the skills necessary to help their dreams
become reality.
First,
every serious-minded teenager needs to have a periodic goal-defining session. You
need to sit down with a piece of paper, be as honest and open as possible and
take as much time as you need to answer questions like the following;
- What
do I want out of life?
- What
do I most enjoy doing?
- What
gives me joy?
- What
do I value?
- Who
is someone I admire and what characteristics do they have?
- If
I could solve a world problem, what would it be?
- What
am I good at?
- What
makes me motivated?
- Where
do I see myself in 5 years, 10, 15, 20?
- Where
would I like to go?
These
and similar questions can help a teenager produce a goal-setting profile and
encourage them to begin to set goals in their life.
Second,
teenagers need to engage in some goal-setting strategies. There are some
specific steps to setting goals.
- Define your goals (wishes are not necessarily goals because some are not probable or even possible to achieve, i.e. “I wish to go to the moon right now.”)
- Discuss
and brainstorm, with a small and trusted group of family and friends, the steps needed to achieve your goals. Do this step for
each individual goal. If needed, research the goal online or at the
library or talk to your parents/school counselors for guidance on how to
reach the goal.
- Go
over the possible roadblocks to accomplishing the goals and how to deal
with them. For example, are their financial problems or time constraints or
potential parental resistance to accomplishing the goal?
- Make
deadlines. Don’t be overwhelmed by large goals, set small goals to help
meet the large goals.
- And
finally, have an accountability partner to whom you can report on your
progress every now and again. Your relationship with God is a way to make Him your accountability partner. There, you will receive great guidance and direction and the objectives of your goals will be Kingdom-focused. For instance, you may set a goal to develop great and positive self-esteem this year by answering the questions around the "Why"? and "How"?
In
connection with the final step, a good idea is to set goals and evaluations to
work around your Christian life and the other important milestones of your growth, for instance, the church and school programs. For example, active participation in the church and the community can reveal the spirit of volunteerism, teamwork and leadership; grades can show academic success;
or sports programs can show physical prowess. Also, set the kind of rewards you
desire for accomplishing goals. Talk about how good it would feel to meet your goals
and the rewards that will come.
Goals
are critical. They keep you focused on what is important and allow you to make
the best use of your 24 hours each day. When goals are tackled correctly, they
force you out of your comfort zone and help you grow more than you would
without them.
And,
perhaps most importantly, they give us control of our destiny. Just by setting
a goal, you are taking an active role in driving new and better results in your
life. What could be more important than that?
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