set goals and achieve them

8/14/2019 Set Goals and Achieve Them

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Set Goals and Achieve

Them

Compiled by:


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Table of Contents

Set Realistic Goals

Achieve Your Goals

Make a Goal Journal

Use Affirmations and Visualization

Get Help from a Mentor

Overcome Procrastination and Get the Job Done

"Get These Goals in Line" Challenge

From Dreams to Goals: An Introduction to Goal Setting and Success

Want a Long, Healthy Life? Stay in School

www.EduGuide2 ONLINE EDUGUIDE


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Set Goals and Achieve ThemDo I need this EduGuide?

Yes, if you wonder whether your goals are worthwhile and realistic and you'd like help to achieve them.

How does it work?

l Articles give you the background information you need to make decisions.

l ShortCuts help you take immediate action. Choose one or go through them all.

What will I learn?

l How to use my dreams to state my goals

l How to set realistic goals

l How to reach my goals: plans, tools, and people

Quick Solutions

l What can I do in an hour? Use several of the suggestions in "Make a Goal Journal" to brainstorm possible goals.

l What can I do in a few hours? Use "Achieve Your Goals" to help you figure out a plan to get where you want to be.

http://www.eduguide.org/Parents/Library/Detail/tabid/304/id/2144/Achieve-Your-Goals.aspxhttp://www.eduguide.org/Parents/Library/Detail/tabid/304/id/2148/Make-a-Goal-Journal.aspx


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Set Realistic Goals"A goal properly set is halfway reached." Abraham Lincoln

Take the following steps to properly" find goals to set and keep them realistic:

Brainstorm

l Free-write. Jot down ideas as they come to you without evaluating or editing them until all possible smart goal setting has

been captured.

l Make an idea web. Ideas go in the center circle, details in the smaller circles.

l Experiment with mind-mapping software such as FreeMind, MindNode, or MyMind, all of which you can download from the

Internet for free.

Goals To Set

Pick a goal. Thats right, just one. Once you accomplish your first goal, you can celebrate and move on to the next goal.

Goal Setting and Success

All right all you goal setting students: select a goal that you can accomplish in weeks or months, not years. For example, if your long-

term goal is to become a ballet dancer, set a goal of practicing for an hour a day for a month. Assess your progress after a month and

then set the next goal.

Be Specific When You Have Goals To Set

The goal I will be nicer to my sister is nt specific enough. Ask yourself the question, How? Answer: I will invite my sister to go

shopping or to a movie at least once a week. For help focusing on your goals, take the "'Get These Goals in Line' Challenge."

Measure It!

A realistic goal is one that can be measured, either by time or amount.

Getting Motivated

A goal that is too hard can be discouraging. Breaking a challenging goal down into steps (see EduGuide ShortCut: "Achieve YourGoals") can help keep your spirits up and give you the mini-successes you need to stay focused.

Stay Positive

Positive goals are motivating (see EduGuide ShortCut: "Use Affirmations and Visualization"). Word your goal in a positive way: I will

get a B in English instead of Ill stop flunking English.

Write it Down

http://www.eduguide.org/Students-Articles/Achieving-Your-Dreams-Affirmations-Visualization-2147.aspxhttp://www.eduguide.org/Students-Articles/Really-Achieving-Your-Dreams-2144.aspxhttp://www.eduguide.org/Parents/Library/Detail/tabid/304/id/2285/Get-These-Goals-in-Line.aspx


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Make your goal real by writing it down, perhaps in your goal journal if you are keeping one (see EduGuide ShortCut: "Make a Goal

Journal").

Need practice writing realistic goal statements? Try the Get These Goals in Line! Challenge.

Sources: it-career-coach.net calpoly.edu careerplanning.about.com

timethoughts.com/timemanagement

http://www.timethoughts.com/time-management.htmhttp://careerplanning.about.com/http://www.calpoly.edu/http://www.it-career-coach.net/http://www.eduguide.org/Students-Articles/Goal-Setting-Students-Goal-Journal-2148.aspx


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Achieve Your Goals"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it." Rene Descartes

Youve got goals to set and youre all fired up about them. Youve told some people (friends, family members, a teacher?), and theyre

cheering you on. Congratulations! Now what?

Making a plan is smart goal setting

Are there deadlines? What tools do you need? Do you need to accommodate other peoples schedules (if you dont drive, for example,

and need a ride).

Once you figure out what has to happen first, build out the sequence of steps, dividing your plan into actionable or measurable steps.How you build your plansuch as the extent and nature of the steps, where and how you record them, etc.depends on what your

goal is (simple or complex) and what kind of a person you are (detail oriented or big picture).

It might help to imagine your goal as the top rung of a ladder. Each rung on the ladder is one step closer to achieving your dreams.

Keep it in front of you

Keep it real by writing it on a calendar, in a To Do list, or goal journal. Need help? See EduGuide ShortCut: "All Goal Setting Students

Need a Goal Journal" or EduGuide ShortCut: "Want Help Achieving Your Dreams? Use Affirmations and Visualizations."

Launch it

The sooner the better. Need help? See EduGuide ShortCut: "Overcome Procrastination and Get the Job Done."

Review your progress toward your goal regularly. Modify your plan if you need to.



http://www.timethoughts.com/time-management.htmhttp://careerplanning.about.com/http://www.calpoly.edu/http://www.it-career-coach.net/http://www.eduguide.org/Parents/Library/Detail/tabid/304/id/2194/Help-Teen-Beat-Procrastination.aspxhttp://www.eduguide.org/Students-Articles/Achieving-Your-Dreams-Affirmations-Visualization-2147.aspxhttp://www.eduguide.org/Students-Articles/Goal-Setting-Students-Goal-Journal-2148.aspx


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Make a Goal JournalGet Your Goals Down in Black and White

Smart goal setting involves using a goal journal to:

l Help you identify your goals

l Make a plan to achieve them

l Track your progress

Writing is a great way to get to know yourself better and match your goals to the person you really arenot the person other people

want you to be or think you should be.

How will you go about achieving your dreams What are your talents, and values? Not sure? Answer the following questions to helpgive you goals to set. Write as much or as little as you like, and have fun. There are no right or wrong answers, and you dont have to

worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation either.

1. Everyone has a talent or two (or many). What are you good at? Why are you good at it?

2. Pick three or four adjectives that describe you best. Which ones do you like? Which ones dont you?

3. Imagine that you could be doing anything you wanted right nowanything at all. What would it be, and why do you think you

would enjoy it so much?4. If you could meet a person you really admire (living or dead), who would that person be, and why did you choose him or her?

5. If you could be a character in a book or in a movie, which character would you be? Why?

6. What do you daydream about?

Spend some time thinking what your answers to these questions say about you and how these answers could help you set

meaningful goals for yourself.What do you do when you reach your goal?



http://www.timethoughts.com/time-management.htmhttp://careerplanning.about.com/http://www.calpoly.edu/http://www.it-career-coach.net/


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Use Affirmations and VisualizationChange your mind, change your day

To Do list a mile long? Goals just a speck on a faraway horizon? Dont crawl in bed and pull the covers over your head. When you are

ready to set your goals, do it, then use these two mind-altering techniques to change the picture from negative to positive.

Affirmations

When you focus your attention on positive thoughts, called affirmations, at least once a day, you can replace negative thinking with

positive thinking. Positive results come from positive thoughts and before you know it, you are achieving your dreams.

l Pick 2-3 simple positive statements (I never give up or I get stronger every day) and write them on cards or sticky notes. Putthese where you will see them (on your bathroom mirror or the inside of your locker) and read them aloud at the same time,

every day.

l Say the affirmations as many times as you can before drifting off to sleep

l Copy them over twenty times each in your goals journal

l Say them as you write them on a big piece of paper taped to a wall

l Repeat them while you are working out, swimming laps, or running on a treadmill

Whichever technique you choose, stick with it. Any awkwardness you feel at first will soon wear off. Then you'll be making your goalsetting and success a reality.

They may seem goofy, but affirmations work!

Visualization

Can you daydream? Then you can visualize. Visualization is simply creating a mental picture of yourself achieving your goals. The

more detailed the picture, the better. When marathon runners use this technique, for example, they see themselves crossing the

finish line, they hear the roar of the crowd, and they feel the sweat running down their backs.

l Pick a quiet, comfortable spot where you wont be interrupted

l Before you begin your visualization, close your eyes and take some deep breaths to relax

l Dont worry about unrelated thoughts, if they come up, just let them float away

l Create a mental picture of yourself achieving your goal. Use all your sensessight, sound, smell, taste, and touch

l Visualize for a minute and work up to five minutes or more

With practice your picture will become more and more detailed and your goal more and more real.





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Get Help from a MentorYou don't have to go it alone.

Need help finding goals to set or overcoming an obstacle? Get yourself a mentor. A mentor is someone who has been there and

done that and who can help you go there and do that, too.

Who is a mentor?

A mentor can be anyonea teacher, a relative, a coach, your best friendwho has specific knowledge related to your goal setting and

success and is willing to share it with you.

How do I find one?

If you cant think of anyone you know who can provide the information and support you need, meet someone new who can. How?

l Network. Need help achieving your dreams? Ask your teacher, counselor, friend, pastor, rabbi, coach, family doctor, boss if

they could recommend a person for you to contact. Its a sure bet that someone you know will know someone who knowssomeone

l News. Read the local paper and listen to the local news. Experts who know smart goal setting are interviewed in the news

every day.

Its perfectly okay to contact someone you dont know for help, but before you do, follow these basic rules:

1. Tell your parents or caregivers whom you plan to contact and when. Meet with a potential mentor in a public place (coffee shop,

library, etc.) until you know them very well.

2. Figure out as closely as you can what you would like to learn from that person and why you need their help.

3. When you talk to a potential mentor on the phone, introduce yourself politely, thank the person for taking time to talk to you, andsum up exactly what you want from the person and what you hope to achieve together.

If a potential mentor doesnt turn out to have the knowledge you need or is too busy to help you, she likely will refer you to someone

else.

Most people are flattered to be asked for help and really want to help ambitious young people achieve their goals. Make that call

and youll see.

One last, and critically important, detail. Thank the person for his or her help, preferably in writing. But you were already planning to do

that, right?





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Overcome Procrastination and Get the Job DoneWe cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. Calvin Coolidge

Is procrastination keeping your child from meeting deadlines? Here are some tips and techniques he or she can use to help combat

this all-too-human behavior. All these ideas are one hundred percent guaranteed to be more effective than your nagging, yelling, and

jumping up and down.

1. See your success. Picture a big fat A at the top of your chemistry exam or imagine the free time youll have after you turn in your

English assignment three days early. Achieving your dreams feels good, doesnt it? Hold that feeling in your heart and mind as you

follow the small steps that get you closer to your goal.

2. Stay positive. Youre in charge! Replace inner statements like Ive got to and I should with Ive decided to or I choose to. Try

reading the statements aloud. Which ones give you energy? Then remind yourself that youre determined and capable and havesucceeded before at a similar task.

3. Tell the world. Well, maybe not the whole world. Telling just one person you trust exactly how you plan to meet your deadline will

boost your confidence and give you a valuable ally. Besides, theres nothing like a public commitment to strengthen ones resolve.

4. Give it five. Invest five or ten minutes in the task. Anyone can stand five or ten minutes, right? Set a timer. If youre still going strong

after a few minutes (which is likely once youve broken the logjam) keep on working. If not, try it again later.

5. Use positive and negative reinforcement. Motivate yourself with mini-rewards like a snack after writing a page of an outline or mini-

punishments like skipping a favorite TV show if you havent finished the page.

6. Remember that its not the end of the world. Dont let one small failure become an excuse to give up entirely. If you didnt

accomplish the task you set for yourself in the way or time you expected, pick yourself up and try again.

Sources:

http://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/01/02/how-to-overcome-procrastination-in-8-easy-steps/

http://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.html

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/procrastinate.htm

http://www.timethoughts.com/timemanagement/overcoming-procrastination.htm

http://www.timethoughts.com/timemanagement/overcoming-procrastination.htmhttp://careerplanning.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/procrastinate.htmhttp://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.htmlhttp://www.it-career-coach.net/2008/01/02/how-to-overcome-procrastination-in-8-easy-steps/


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"Get These Goals in Line" Challenge



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From Dreams toGoals: AnIntroduction to GoalSetting and Success

Sara jo Schwartz

Nothing happens unless first wedream.

Carl Sandburg

Surely every human being on this

spinning earth has dreams. What havesome of yours been lately: winning

multimillions in a lottery, having

Harvard beg you to enroll, sinking a

championship-winning basket to the

cheers of thousands, getting an Oscar

for your first feature film? Maybe youdreamed of walking on Mars or finding

a cure for AIDS. Perhaps you imagined

saving the rainforests or ending war

forever. Dreams can be lifelong or

momentary, personal or universal,

weighty or frivolous.

Dreams let us try out scenarios as rich

as our imagination can make them.

Dreams are the starting point for our

accomplishments. Without dreams, life

just happens to us.

Setting Your Goal

Goals are the way people reach their

dreams. But that doesnt mean that

with the proper goals, you can reach

any and all dreams. You may dream of

winning the lottery, for example, but

theres really not much you can do tomake that happen (buying 5,000,000 lottery tickets is not a realistic option). You may dream of becoming a six-foot-tall, Russian

fashion supermodel with an enchanting accent. You will never, ever meet this goal if you are a five-foot-tall American teenager. These

dreams cannot be translated into goal setting and success. Realistic goals are things you want that you have the potential to achieve.

Getting Motivated

Another thing about goals is that you have to really want them. Really, really want them. Rewarding as goals may be, reaching them

can be tough and time consuming. Sometimes it may feel as though the whole world is conspiring to keep you from accomplishing

your goals. When you sort through your dreams to figure out meaningful goalsgoals that are yours alone, not ones other people

Rewrite the following goal statements to make them realistic, specific, measurable, time-

limited, and positive:

Possible Responses:

1. For the next week, instead of

rolling my eyes, I will keep a

cheerful expression on my face

when my mom is talking.

1. "I won't be disrespectful to my mother ever again."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

2. This week, I'll memorize a newsong and perform it for family

members.

2. "I will get the lead in the school musical."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

3. I will take Biology nextsemester and this semester I will

read several articles on genetic

research.

3. I will become a researcher and find cures for geneticdiseases.

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

4. This month, I will ask asuccessful businessperson how

he or she got started in the

business.

4. "I will become a millionaire before I graduate fromcollege."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

5. This week I'll work out threetimes for 45 minutes each

session.

5. "I will stop eating junk food and being such a couchpotato."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

6. I'll use a notebook to write

down my assignments, and I'll

read the notebook before I leave

school to make sure I bring home

the books I need for my

homework.

6. "I will get organized."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

7. This month I will join a club atschool, and if I see any new

students I will ask them if they

need help finding their way

around.

7. "I will make more friends."

____________________________________________

____________________________________________



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think are worthwhile for youyoull find goals you can stick with. Along the way, youll get to know yourself better and like yourself more.

Getting motivated and aiming for your goals, whether or not you achieve them, can give a huge boost to your self-esteem.

Sara jo Schwartz is a education writer and editor based in Grand Haven, Michigan.



14/15

Want a Long, Healthy Life? Stay in SchoolHealth Linked to Education Level, Says Issue Brief from the Commission to Build aHealthier America

Sara jo Schwartz

A September 2009 report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations Commission to Build a Healthier America points to mountains

of evidence that links years of schooling with better personal health and wellness. Here are examples from two studies: college grads

live at least five years longer than non-high-school graduates 26.7 percent of white non-Hispanic college graduates rate their health

as less than very good versus 69.4 percent of white non-Hispanic high-school dropouts who do.

Not only are better-educated people healthier than less educated ones, but the children of people with more education are healthier,too. For instance, babies of mothers who are high school dropouts are twice as likely to die before the age of one as are the babies of

college grads children whose parents dropped out of high school are six times more likely to be in poor or fair health than are the kids

of parents who graduated from college.

The report describes three ways education level links to health: health knowledge and behaviors, employment and income, and social

and psychological factors. Lets take a look at each category.

Health Knowledge and Behaviors

Common sense suggests that the more people know and the clearer they think, the better their health choices will be. Sure enough,

research has found that greater educational attainment has been associated with healthful eating, getting exercise, and avoiding risk

factors such as drinking excessively and smoking. In addition, better-educated people are quicker to change risky health behaviors in

response to new evidence than less-educated people are.

Employment and Income

We all know that more education is the key to higher wages, but the actual numbers are quite startling. According to U.S. Census

Bureau information, high school graduates lifetime earnings (in 1999 dollars) are $1.2 million, compared with $2.1 million for collegegraduates and $4.4 for those with professional degrees. A comfortable income helps people get the health care they need when they

need it. Wealthier people are also able to live in safer neighborhoods with access to recreational facilities and other services,

including grocery stores stocked with reasonably priced, healthful food.

Low-wage workers, on the other hand, have fewer resources to cope with medical, child-care, and other day-to-day difficulties.

Understandably, they experience greater stress as a result. They also live in more dangerous neighborhood with fewer parks, well-

stocked grocery stores, and other health-enhancing features.

Social and Psychological Factors

Studies reveal that better-educated people feel more control over their lives than less-educated people do. This sense of control

encourages skills and habits such as problem solving and perseverance that lead to better health care and outcomes. More

education is also linked to higher social standing, another factor strongly associated with better health. Social support is yet another

way that education is related to health. People with more education have greater social support, both emotional and practical, andgreater social support is linked to better physical and mental health.



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The report concludes that education is the key to better health and a longer life for parents, kids, and generations to come. For details,

and to learn more, visit the Commission to Build a Healthier America. Read the Issue Brief: Education Matters for Health.

Sara jo Schwartz is a education writer and editor based in Grand Haven, Michigan.
http://www.commissiononhealth.org/PDF/c270deb3-ba42-4fbd-baeb-2cd65956f00e/Issue%20Brief%206%20Sept%2009%20-%20Education%20and%20Health.pdfhttp://www.commissiononhealth.org/

set goals and achieve them

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