Ready, Set, Goal!
A new year means another chance to refresh, reset, and reevaluate our goals and priorities. While parents may have a system that works well for them, what about the students? No matter their goal, many valuable resources offer advice on the best ways to set and achieve any number of goals. Below, we list five tips that have served us well and will set students up for success as we enter another great year. So, get your marker out and get ready to start checking things off your list!
Achieve Your 2025 Goals By Following These Five Tips!
1. Make it Creative
This first tip allows students and parents alike to kick off their new year goal-setting in style and it’s pretty simple: find a creative way to track, display, or create your goal! What does that look like? It can be different for each person. Maybe you host a goal-setting night, where everyone in your family or friend group brainstorms and decorates their goal chart over snacks, fun music, and community support.
You could even draft 2025 bingo cards with small, less serious goals for the year. Maybe you treat your goal like a fundraiser–coloring in a giant meter on the wall for every step completed. No matter your goal, get creative and find a fun way to make your goals feel less daunting and more exciting!
2. Make it Personal
When it comes to goals, the most successful, and achievable ones have something in common: they are personal. Think about it, if you don’t think something is important, why would you do it? As you figure out your goal, ask yourself a few questions: 1.) What is my reason for setting this goal? 2.) Why does it matter to me? 3.) How will I feel when I achieve this?
If you don’t have a strong “why” it may be difficult to see the goal through. Remembering why you began a task in the first place is a powerful motivator a few months later when you get to the difficult part of your goal-setting plan and feel like throwing in the towel.
This is one of the reasons why goals should be set by the student, not by parents, teachers, or other figures in their life. While these people can be great supporters– offering advice on where to start, helping iron out the logistics, and so forth– they are not the ones who have to do the work. Let your student feel proud of their goal, and have a personal stake in their success, and it will encourage them to see it through!
3. Make it Specific
In addition to making it personal, you are more likely to achieve your goal if you have specific metrics to measure your success by. For example, if your student’s goal is to invite more movement into their life, there are some key ways you can break that down into specific, measurable tasks.
You could start by listing the overall amount of time they want to be active per day or week. Then, you could create a board listing the movement options they have, like going to the park, walking, swimming, team practice, etc. As they complete each day, they can add a sticker, move a magnet, or check off a box. Anything that allows them to see they are actively heading toward their goal.
These specific targets are visual reminders as well as motivators that give your student a framework to achieve their goal. Specificity removes the goal from its pedestal and brings it down to a manageable level, one that your student knows they can reach!
4. Make it Flexible
While it may work for some to have strict deadlines– those who love a challenge and thrive under pressure–for others, it can cause roadblocks to success. Let me explain. If your student has a goal of reading 3 books a month, but the third month passes and they are already behind, that can make some people feel discouraged. Why should they continue if they have already failed?
Instead, they could reframe their goal: 36 books for the year. This way, they can spread the reading out over 12 months, allowing for 4 books in one month and only 2 for others. Alternatively, they could have a range (30-36 books). Having some flexibility in your goals can set you up for success by giving you multiple routes to your destination! After all, sometimes life throws you unexpected detours. Better to be prepared than to turn around and head home!
5. Make it Special
With this tip, we aren’t saying the goal itself needs to be overly special. What we are really saying is to celebrate your wins! Do something to make each milestone feel special and your overall goal will continue to feel special too.
Sometimes we will achieve our goal quickly and with ease, other times it can be a battle, with ups and downs along the way. Remember, even setbacks are steps toward success! Try to impart this to your students if they feel discouraged from time to time.
You can celebrate setbacks just as much as successes! When our students try, even if they fail, they have learned something important. We want to encourage them to keep trying, and build their curiosity and resilience, which will help them move forward to achieve their overall goals!
At Clackamas Middle College, our goal is to prepare students for college, careers, and life beyond! Visit our website to see how we use these goal-setting strategies to ensure all of our students find success.