Growing up your parents might have told you "you can be anything you want when you get older." Those very few words are true, you can. From that point on, maybe you started to imagine yourself as a teacher, doctor, nurse, musician, artist and maybe some other things. At that moment you may not have known what you were doing for yourself but at the time you were setting a goal. Goal setting is probably something you still do to this day and will continue to do for the rest of your life, which is awesome. By creating goals it can motivate you to better yourself for your future & accomplish many great things. Let's take a closer look into more information about goal setting.
Think about this question for a moment. Where do you want to be by the time graduation rolls around or what do you want to accomplish throughout your high school years? This may be an easy thing to think about for you or it may be a little difficult and that's okay. The point is that in high school there are a lot of distractions, life events, new people to meet, and a lot of time spent studying or doing homework. All not so easy things. However, setting small goals for yourself throughout your high school years can help you stay on track for your future. Any goal you set you want to make sure it's reachable and that just means it's a goal that can be met. A reachable goal is set with personal interests, commitment, and abilities in mind. Take a look at the steps below to help you set some reachable goals.
Name It: Think about some of the things you like to do, some of your interests or talents and something you want to accomplish. Then write it down.
Picture Yourself Reaching Your Goal: Create the image in your head of you successfully reaching your goal. Sometimes a clear picture of what you're working toward can help motivate you.
Say, "I Can.": Be your own cheerleader by saying positive messages to yourself that will help you accomplish what you set out to do.
Create Action Steps: Make a plan on how to accomplish your goal. Think about a few actions you may need to take to complete it.
Go for it: Once you have your action plan, start taking those steps until you reach it. When you reach it, celebrate your success & plan some new ones.
Above are overall steps that can be helpful to follow when trying to make a reachable goal. In step number 1, name it, there is different criteria that you can follow that will also help you manage a reachable goal.
The goal you name must be personal. Make a goal for yourself that is altered to you & not anyone else. Your goal includes your own personal interests.
Your goal must be possible. Know what you can and cannot do and use that to your advantage.
Your goal must be positive. State your goal as a positive action by saying things you will do and not what you won't. For example, "I will get a good grade on this next test" instead of "I won't fail this test."
Your goal must be specific. Any goal that you have set needs to be particular & measurable so you know what exactly you want to accomplish. Try to set a time frame & name specific details.
Revise some of your current goals & see if they follow the above details by being personal, positive, possible, and specific.
It's Not Always Easy
Goal setting is not always easy and reaching them can be a challenge too. Sometimes it can be difficult because we aren't super motivated, we give up easily, there isn't a lot of time, or we become distracted by other things. Being a teen right now trying to set goals is especially challenging because of all the change that has happened this year because of COVID. It has tremendously impacted your daily routines and changed the game for how you do certain things. Despite those impacts, now is the best time to demonstrate how resilient you are as a teen. One of those ways can simply be by seeing your goals be met. Preparing a new action plan for how to accomplish your goal may be one way or tweaking it a bit to make it more manageable/accomplished. Either way, this is a challenge that is considered external which means that it is out of your control.
On the opposite side, there are some challenges that can be internal like, poor time management. Internal obstacles can also slow you down when trying to reach your goals. See below for some tips on overcoming internal challenges:
Try to not procrastinate; keep a timeline
Limit the amount of distractions like TV, phones, social media
Set deadlines
Ask for help
Stay true to yourself & others
Get rid of clutter
Think positively
Internal challenges can be difficult but not impossible to overcome. It just takes a little bit of effort & motivation. You got this!