Setting Goals For 2016

Setting goals are an important and necessarily part of life, for anyone of any age, but children even more so. Goals can teach a child that work oftentimes rewarded. Helping a child set goals and to strive to meet those goals will help build a good foundation that will carry that child into adulthood with an understand of how life works. It will also show them that failure does happen, and that it is part of life.

But, before you set off on the goal setting exercise for your child, there are certain things you need to take into account so you don't embark on a fruitless journey typical of many of our New Year Resolution.

AGE APPROPRIATE GOALS

As parents, we often get carried away by our own ideas and set impossible goals that are not suitable for the age group that the child belongs to. These kid of distorted motives often backfire in a bag way and the child will end up withdrawing into his or her shell as they are overwhelmed by parental expectation.

DISCUSS

When goal setting for children, a lot of emphasis should be laid on the right way of solving problems. You need to talk to your child, tell him or her that life may surprise him with unexpected hindrance but he should always be ready for it. Knowing the correct ways to combat the problem is not necessary.

GOOD BALANCE

Just as one would not recommend setting extremely difficult goals, very simple goals can make nonsense of the whole exercise, lose the objective and lower excitement. Ideally, you should set goals that challenge your child without robbing him of his confidence. In other words try to achieve good balance while ensuring the goals are smart

READINESS

Analysis the emotional state of your child before you set goals for him/her. Is he feeling low, tired, hungry or happy. Goal setting for children is directly proportional to his/ her readiness for it. If your child is feeling lie and tired, you should set relatively easy but smart goals whereas if he is in a pepped up and energetic mood, setting more difficult smart goals will also not be too much of a problem.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

If getting your child to set and reach for goals just doesn't seem to he working. Try to show them by good example how setting goals can be beneficial. Use this quiet time to talk about how this simple to do action created time. For a smaller child, set up matching goals, such as tooth brushing. Consistently brush your teeth or evening bath, applying stickers to your chart when you do. Your child will quickly understand the idea behind setting a simple goal.

FEEDBACK AND REWARDS

After each goal has been achieved, you can discuss the tactic employed and the things that you approve about the way your child set out to realize his/her goal. Always be honest with your feedback and never indulge in empty praises as a means of bolstering your child's self-image. Because children are visual by nature, you need to help them create a chart as a way to track their rewards for achieving their goals. One rule for older children is that the chart has to be easy to alter. Provide an alterable chart to make it easy for them to 'add' to their goals. Small children can also benefit from a time-tested goal marker, stars! It is a simple buy effective way to identify that the goals are being met.

The whole objective of goal setting for our children is preparing them to face little a positive spirit. The focus should not be on winning or losing but learning from each experience. Ultimately, you as a parent should devise the goals in such a way that your child thoroughly enjoys himself & doesn't not feel pressured at any stage of the activities.