Its
never too early to teach children how to set and accomplish goals. Children of
every age have goals, --from learning to tie shoes, read or ride a bike, to
getting a driver’s license or landing that first job. When we take time to
teach our children how to visualize their goals and set a course of action for
attaining them, we give them a template for success that will enable them to
confidently tackle challenges throughout their lives. Making a resolution is
easy. Creating a workable plan of action is the key to success.
To
help your child set and reach goals, try the following:
Guide
your child in choosing a goal.
Depending
on your child's age, encourage her to establish personal goals in key aspects
of her life: Physical, Spiritual, Educational, Financial and Social (all relationships/friendships).
Give her freedom to articulate her goals. Does she want to earn an “A” in
English, make the basketball team or save money for a special toy? Avoid
telling her what you think her goals should be. Instead, guide her in choosing
goals that are reasonable and attainable within the year. For long term goals,
focus on milestones that can be met within the year.
Visualize
goals and develop strategies for achievement.
Bring
goals to life by creating a vision board. Have your child write down, draw or
cut and paste pictures representing his goals. Help him brainstorm concrete
steps necessary to accomplish them. Help him prioritize the steps into at least
three reasonable actions that he will take to reach his target. Write them
down. Have him think about the obstacles he is likely to encounter, and discuss
how he will overcome them. Place the vision board in a place where he will see
it and repeatedly be inspired.
Review
goals periodically.
Take
time to sit with your child to review her goals. Remember to encourage her by
acknowledging the progress she has made. Be specific when sharing your
observations. If progress has been difficult, reconsider the action steps. Were
they unreasonably difficult? Were there unforeseen challenges? Help her refine
her plan of action if necessary. Learning to adjust and problem solve while
remaining focused on her goal is an important life skill to develop.
When
a goal is attained...Celebrate! Acknowledgement of a job well done encourages
children and reinforces the lessons learned about the benefits of focused, hard
work.
~Sheila~
Copyright
© 2012 by Gardener Parenting Consultants, LLC
