Teach Your Children How to Set Goals

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Setting Goals is an Essential Life Skill

Knowing how to set reasonable goals and striving for them is an important life skill. The earlier you encourage your children to think about what they want to accomplish, short term and long term, the better. Working toward a goal and receiving the reward for achieving it helps them understand how life works. There are rewards and there a consequences. It can also show them that sometimes, regardless of the effort put in, some goals will not be met. The key is to keep going, to continue to try, and in the end there will be more successes than failures.
 

Setting Goals is the Roadmap to Success

The Path to Success

The First Step 

Help your child determine what they want to achieve. Be sure it's something they want, not something you want. We can encourage them to explore different ideas but if the goal is not something your child really wants, he may give up before he even starts.

Learning how to set goals is a gift that will last a lifetime.

Set up a Plan 

The plan, as with the goal, has to be age appropriate. A small child will not be able to focus on a goal that will take years to achieve. Short term goals are better. Once the goal is met, build on the success with another goal.

Meauring Success 

How to measure success is different for everyone. When my son joined the cross-country team in high school, he knew he would not be winning any races. He wasn't a fast runner. His goal was to finish the race, even if he came in dead last. He loved to run and that's what mattered.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

Lou Holtz

Help Them Develop the Skills they Need 

Teach your children how to set goals and develop a plan for reaching them. It is a gift beyond price. As they grow, their ability to set goals and figure out how to reach them will grow as well. It will help them in school and in extra-curricular activities such as music and sports. "I can't do it! It's too hard," will not be a regular part of their vocabulary.

Give your children the tools they need to succeed.

Confident Children are Happy Children

Goal Setting for Students 

Review by Picky Reader Ann
As posted on Amazon.com
Goal Setting for Students

Goal Setting for Students

by: John Bishop

Amazon Price: $11.16 (as of 01/02/2010)Buy Now

Goal Setting for Students is a nice, 68 page book that will help every parent get his or her child started on goals and achievement. The layout is simple and easy-to-read, and each chapter offers questions, with do-able and interesting activities, plus a final review at the end to recap what was taught. The book encourages children and teens (the book is for 5-12 graders) to invest in themselves, and why.

Giving Children the Tools They Need 

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About the Author 

Lensmaster ElizabethJeanAllen has been a member since March 16 2008, has rated 4,037 lenses, favorited 445, and has created 205 lenses from scratch. Lizzy Jean donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "2009 Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments". See all my lenses

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