Goal Setting

Do we always meet or exceed our goals or do we ‘set our expectations too high’ and hence not meet them?

Setting up goals is important because it helps us organize and motivate ourselves. It is what drives us, allows us to go from failure to success, from one milestone to the next. But why do we fail to meet those goals?

Often, we find that students' goals are extrinsically driven as opposed to intrinsically. especially in the academic setting. For instance, “I want to earn straight A’s”.  When asked why they want to earn straight A’s or how they plan to earn straight A’s, they are unable to give a response other than “my parents want me to earn straight A’s and shoulder shrug for the how question.  They are motivated and influenced by the adults they want to please therefore, the goals are less meaningful and often forgotten after they earn their first letter grade lower than an A. 

Through active listening and mentorship, the goal setting process can ask the student tough questions that reveal goals that they are committed to accomplishing and feel confident in working towards it.  

 Here are few other goals worth revisiting: 

 “I don’t want to procrastinate starting extended projects” 

“I will ask my teacher to help me chunk my extended projects to keep on task.” 

“I can’t get any C’s in Calculus this year” 

“If I earn a grade lower than a B in Calculus, I will ask for help.” 

“I don’t want to take an ACT/ SAT prep class”

“I need to improve my score. For the next eight weeks, I will spend at least five hours every week practicing the test to make sure I am ready for the test”

Avoidance goals tend to focus on negative patterns of behavior and tend to backfire. Turning them into actionable items make them concrete, relatable, and manageable.