As we move into a new year, our focus tends to shift to all of the things that we want to accomplish or achieve. So as we start off strong with this new beginning, here are five easy ways to help your teenager set effective goals.
Learning how to set and accomplish goals is a skill that everyone including our children, can benefit from. As the saying goes, “catch them young,” so the earlier you teach your teen how to set effective goals, the better.
5 Easy Ways To Help Your Teenager Set Effective Goals
1. Teach Your Teen How To Set SMART Goals
The criteria for setting effective goals could also be explained as a SMART goal. A SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. If you can hit all of these markers, you can be sure that you are setting a goal that is achievable.
What are SMART Goals
A Specific goal is one that is narrowed down: Something like “I want to save up money” is great, but helping your teenager set goals that are focused on something is more effective. A better way to put this could be, “I want to save up money for a car.” If they know the make and model of the car they want, even better! The more specific you can be, the easier it is.
A Measurable goal can be measured in some way. If your teenager is saving up for a car using the example above, they could come up with an amount that they need to save up.
The Attainable and Realistic attributes go hand in hand; your goal should be something that you can actually do. This is the part when teaching goal setting to teenagers can be tricky. It is important to teach your children what can be realistic (saving up for a car) and what is not (saving up for a plane).
A Timely goal is one that has an end date. You want to create a goal that will be met at some point down the line. If your teenager wants to save up for a car, how long will that take them? Have them think about things such as how much money they make, how much they spend, and how much they can reasonably put aside each month for this savings goal. Then, they can create an end date that makes sense.
2. Let Your Teenager Be In Control
Throughout the whole goal process, make sure that your teen knows that they are in control of their own goals. Your job as their parent is to assist and support them in making the goal a reality. This teaches them two important concepts:
When your teenager succeeds, they will learn that they did so through their hard work. If your teenager stumbles along the way to reaching their goal, they will learn that they are responsible for achieving their goals.
You can be your teen’s cheerleader and support them from the sidelines, but the best way to make sure that your teenager knows how to set effective goals is by putting them in the driver’s seat.
3. Let Your Teenager Choose Their Goal
You can teach your teenager how to make SMART goals and help them along the way, but make sure that whatever the goal, it’s something that they are choosing to do.
If you choose a goal for your teen and set out how they are going to accomplish it, they will not feel as invested in completing it. Giving your teen autonomy helps them develop important life skills that will serve them well in adulthood.
4. Write It Down
No matter what their personal goal is, make sure that your teen writes it down. Research suggests that writing things down helps with memory retention and understanding.
As a result, it’s best if your teen puts their written personal goal somewhere they’ll see every day. Such as above their bed or on their bathroom mirror. Seeing the goal every day can help them remember what they want to accomplish and what they need to do to get there.
5. Revise and Reflect
One of the most important aspects of a SMART goal is that you re-evaluate your goal from time to time. This is a great time to teach your child and watch them understand how to set successful goals. As their parent, you can sit down with them and discuss where they are at, what their struggles and successes are, and how far they still have to go.
Important Things To Remember When It Comes To Reflection
- This is not a time to judge your child’s success: This may seem like a no-brainer, but if we want to help our children learn how to set goals effectively, we need to be supportive of their efforts no matter how they turn out.
- Reflection should happen often, but not too often: When your teen sets an end time for their goal, divide up the time in between so that you can sit down with them and talk about how their goal is coming along. This doesn’t need to be a weekly occurrence, especially for a goal that is further in the future.
- Give Your Teen Some Wiggle Room: If your teenager wants to save up for a car, and they decide it will take them one year to do so, then set aside time to reflect once a month or once a quarter. Your teen won’t feel like you are breathing down their neck, but they will also know that you are there to discuss and support them.
- Reflection should lead to action: No matter how your teenager is doing with their goal, every chance to reflect should lead them closer to completing it. For example, if they messed up this past month and spent their money on a new video game instead of putting it towards savings, the reflection should help them understand that the natural consequence for that action would be that, in order to still achieve their goal, they will need to set aside extra money in the coming months to make up for it.
Conclusion
When it comes to helping your teenager set effective goals, it is important to remember that they are still learning and growing. Goal-setting should not be stressful or cause feelings of frustration; instead, setting effective goals should teach your teenager important skills that they will need for the rest of their life.
There are so many benefits of setting effective goals. When you teach your teenager how to set effective goals, you are teaching them how to plan, take responsibility, celebrate their successes, and learn from their losses.
Post Bio
Sierra Scacco is a freelance copywriter who helps mompreneurs with their blogs, website copy, emails, and other writing needs. She recently graduated with a degree in English Education. Sierra is the oldest of six siblings and has been playing “mom” her whole life, but has recently welcomed a little boy of her own. You can connect with her on her website or on Instagram.
