Goal Setting: Youth Program
"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there"
—Lewis Carroll Goals are important to psychological health!
Setting the 'right' goals--goals that satisfy basic psychological needs and goals that are important and personally valuable--will enhance youth's well-being. Setting goals can lead teens to their broader life dreams that are related to:
- Increased happiness--GOALS ALLOW US TO PURSUE HAPPINESS WHILE PURSUING OTHER THINGS (as opposed to chasing happiness)
- Increased life satisfaction
- Greater sense of purpose and meaning in life
Setting goals:
- Gives teens clarity: When teens set goals, they become aware of the direction they are heading. As a result, they know what they need to do to achieve their goals.
- Guides teens to focus on what really counts: With many distractions, it is easy to get sidetracked. Clearly laid out goals allow youth to focus on their objectives and to ignore diversions.
- Motivates teens to keep moving: Even teens experience days when they don't feel like doing much. Goals, however, are constant reminders of what they want to accomplish and they propel them forward.
- Provides personal accountability: Having specific goals allows teens to check if they are living up to their expectations. If not, they can correct their behaviour and put themselves back on track.
- Allows teens to be the best they can be: Goals will help teens reach their maximum potential. They will challenge youth to step outside their comfort zones to try new experiences that will get them closer to accomplishing their goals.
Benefits of Goal Setting
"People with goals succeed because they know where they are going"
—Earl Nightingale
Whether teens want to succeed in school, work, or in extracurricular activities, setting goals is crucial to success. Without set objectives, youth will feel directionless, confused, and will tend to count on 'luck' for everything to work out. Research has demonstrated that teens with goals are more likely to achieve their desires and overall feel better about themselves. Setting goals comes with many other benefits:
- Improved concentration and performance
- Increased pride, self-worth, self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-respect
- Improved time management and strategy planning
- Increased sense of responsibility and accomplishment
- Increased motivation and probability of success
- Become success oriented/ focused
- Reduced stress, anxiety, and depression
Successful goal-setting is not a skill anyone is born with. Although it is never too late to learn how to set goals, it is valuable to learn the skill earlier in life as opposed to later. With proper training, teens and young adults can learn how to choose ambitious and fulfilling goals.
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