I get all geeked up when it comes to goal planning and setting concrete goals that I have every intention of hitting. In fact, goal planning has become what my world revolves around. I goal plan for my health and fitness business, our family, my relationship with my husband, and my kids. I feel that if you aren’t aiming at a target (goal), then you are going nowhere…just remaining as is. Isn’t the point to continuously work toward bettering yourself?
When I goal plan specifically for my kids, I think about what it is they enjoy, desire to try, and want to accomplish. I keep them short term and attainable. We write them out and talk about them often. Starting the goal planning process at a young age gets them in the mindset that #1 what they put their mind to they can accomplish, #2 working hard pays off, #3 know what you are aiming for, #4 set goals you are able to accomplish, and #5 always work toward bettering yourself (even if in insignificant ways).
The best ways to goal plan with little ones is to use the SMART model. If you haven’t heard of the SMART goal planning model, here is a quick recap. The goals should be S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Attainable, R-Relevant, and T-Timely. SMART goal setting brings structure and track-ability into your goals and objectives. After my daughter and I chat a bit about what the goals she wants to accomplish are, she is free to draw a picture of each one…making it stick in the forefront of her mind. I then hang the picture up somewhere she sees it everyday and include it in our conversation on a daily basis. For example, my daughter really wanted to learn how to skip the right way (she is 5 and our goals are small and attainable). So we practiced each day until she got it. She had drawn a picture of herself skipping, we chatted about it often and she practiced her little heart out until she was skipping like a pro.
Would she have learned to skip without goal-setting…sure she would have. The point wasn’t to learn to skip in this case, it was teaching her that by setting goals, writing them out/drawing them, and working hard towards them, you are able to accomplish what you set out to do.
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