Years ago, I heard about a legendary Harvard study where they wanted to see if writing down your goals made any difference about whether or not you accomplished them. A whole class of grads wrote down their goals, and the school checked back with them decades later to find they were wildly successful and had accomplished most of their goals. The rumor was that “the three percent who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.” Quite impressive!
I’ve since looked for this Harvard study and started hearing that maybe it was a Yale study from 1953 or other such legends. It turns out this activity is just a legend. But that hasn’t stopped me from believing in the power of writing down our goals.
So a couple of years ago, I started doing this activity with my students at the beginning of the school year and again when we returned from New Years. I love this activity and the way it gets my students thinking about their lives and what they’re capable of!
So a couple of years ago, I started doing this activity with my students at the beginning of the school year and again when we returned from New Years. I love this activity and the way it gets my students thinking about their lives and what they’re capable of!
We start by talking about what makes a quality, real goal. It must be specific, measurable, and time-sensitive. Otherwise, let’s face our human nature here…we just won’t get it done, and we won’t know when we did. Let’s look at some examples:
WEAK GOAL: I want to lose weight this year.
STRONG GOAL: I will lose 5 pounds each month of 2016.
WEAK GOAL: I want to exercise more this year.
STRONG GOAL: I will run 500 miles in 2016.
WEAK GOAL: I want to read about marriage with my spouse this year.
STRONG GOAL: We will read 2 marriage books this year.
See the difference? Powerful.
The thing I love about big specific goals is they compel me to break them into smaller goals so I can accomplish them. And since they’re specific, it’s not hard to break them into chunks and steps.
Let’s look at the running goal, which was actually one of my own goals for 2014. 500 miles … sounds crazy, right!? Well, it’s 41 ⅔ miles a month. Not quite so bad. 1.37 miles a day. Not bad at all. But what if I can’t run every day? Then how about 9.6 miles a week? Or how about 5 4-mile runs every 2 weeks. Break it up however you’d like. The important thing is that YOU CAN break it into chunks.
Back to my students … I then have them set at least 1 goal in these 9 categories:
- FAMILY
- SCHOOL
- WORK – (students may not be working, but encourage them to set a goal in this direction)
- HEALTH
- SPIRITUAL – (I know there’s separation of church and state and all, so spiritual can also be mental and psychological well-being, oneness with nature, soul and inner being care, or anything along those lines)
- PLAY – (You know…fun stuff. Hobbies, sports, etc.)
- FRIENDS
- GIVING
- ATTITUDE – (This one will likely be the hardest one to get a specific, measurable goal, but they can do it.)
Specific … measurable … time-sensitive.
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| Click the Bulls-Eye to get the FREE goal setting and resolutions activity! |
Once a month or so, I have them revisit their goals and ask who’s completed any. I don’t know if I can communicate the looks of satisfaction on students’ faces when they share their completed goal. And the satisfaction in my soul is pretty encouraging too! This activity brings the goals back before their thoughts and reminds them of what they have or haven’t done.
No guilt. Just motivation. No mistakes. Just progress. Goals aren’t about failure…they’re about trajectory! They’re about desire! They’re about your future!
So we’ve created the fun activity organizer for you to use with your classrooms. Enjoy this FREE resource and check out how our other resources might save you time as well. Keep on being awesome!
