Not all goals are equal in their power to drive us forward. Some goals can be reached in a short period of time, while others may take years to accomplish. Some will move us toward things, some will make us better individuals, and some will build us a better life. In this post, we will look at the following topics to teach your students how to categorize their goals.
- Short range goals
- Long range goals
- Life goals
- Organizing goals
Short range goals
Teach your students the importance of short range goals. When just starting out with goal setting, it is good to set some goals that can be reached quickly and easily. Doing so will help build confidence and show what happens when you achieve what you want. Short-range goals enable you to see things more clearly. Just because it is short term doesn’t mean that it is easy or of little importance. Ask your students to come up with one or two short range goals they would like to accomplish.
Long range goals
Long-range goals demand more of us. That’s because these are goals that take a long time to achieve. Often times, we receive no reward along the way. But the longer the goal takes to achieve and the harder the task, the sweeter the reward. To be successful, teach your students to develop a personal plan and live by the goals or objectives that match their value system. Ask your students to brainstorm long range goals for themselves.
Life goals
Life goals are an important type of goal for us all to have. Ask your students what they want to achieve in their lifetime. Here are some areas of life with questions to help your students set life goals:
- Career – What level do you want to reach in your career?
- Financial – How much do you want to earn? By what stage?
- Education – Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
- Family – Do you want to get married or be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
- Physical – Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve? Do you want good health deep into old age?
- Social – Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
- Spiritual – Do you want to develop or improve your spiritual life? How?
Organizing Goals
Ask your students to write down their dreams and goals. Then, have them organize these goals according to major areas of life:
- Financial
- Physical
- Educational
- Career
- Family
- Spiritual
- Social
Thanks for tuning into our post on categorizing goals. If you want to learn more about developing or teaching soft skills, sign up for a free soft skills webinar here.
