Defining and accomplishing objectives is a basic fundamental ability for any individual who would like to achieve something in life, isn’t it?
By having laser-sharp focus and a tangible to-do-list on what we need to achieve, we humans have a reason to get out of bed every morning. Else, one day goes onto the next and there’s nothing to egg us on, to look forward to for tomorrow.
Ships moored in the harbour will always be safe, but that is not what ships are built for!
Quote source – John A. Shedd, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1388-a-ship-is-safe-in-harbor-but-that-s-not-what
As parents, one of the essential responsibilities in child-rearing is to help teach kids the fundamental abilities of life that will matter to them now and in later life. One of them is to help kids figure out how to set and accomplish objectives that matter to them, to their parents and the world.
Every parent feels a sense of dissatisfaction when their child doesn’t make enough of an effort to achieve something they know he/she was born to do. And when parents feel that the child isn’t ‘doing enough’, what do most parents do?
They become OVER AMBITIOUS.
And by over-ambitious, we mean they pressurize and pester.
Having said that, when children feel pressured and pestered into doing something, they tend to oppose and push back even more. In other words, your effort in helping them becomes counterproductive.
Goal setting for the little people
As parents, you are accustomed to helping your kids set goals right from an early age. As babies, you might have put their beloved blankie far from them and prompted them to reach for it. You got them to ride their first bicycle by assisting them and then motivating them to go for it all by themselves, cleaning & caring for the scraped knee when they took a fall afterwards and praised them when they finally set rolling independently.
Subconsciously, you have ALREADY taught your child the fundamental essentials of objective setting from the time he/she took their first baby step.
As the children grew, your objectives for them changed proportionately as well.
Teaching them life skills such as setting aside cash for a rainy day, learning how to swim, bathing and changing their clothes, tidying up their bedroom, helping wash the dishes or bringing groceries from the nearby store came more into play.
To reach it, you must first teach it
Depending on age-appropriateness, you can enable your children on ‘’how to set’’ and ‘’accomplish’’ objectives at different levels of their life. This will help set them up for achieving greater goals like becoming a cricket champ, finding a job, and owning the house of their dreams.
The operative word here is age-appropriate goal-setting.
At SSVM Residential School, we integrate age-appropriate goal setting at different touch-points in the academic curriculum or the physical education calendar.
Regarded as one of the front-running schools of Coimbatore, SSVM Residential School is touted as one of the Best CBSE schools in Coimbatore for its empowering yet organic methodology of tangible goal-setting for children of all ages.
Help them pick (slightly) unachievable goals
Encourage your child to imbue a can-do disposition and help them figure out their objectives. Show them the roadmap on how they can meet their goals, and allow for small transitionary breaks if they seem to be asking for it.
Everybody appreciates the feeling of accomplishment when the objective has been met. That is characteristic and human nature.
Encourage kids to take a go at something new. It’s possible they won’t achieve the objective in the time you thought it possible, but there’s an incredible incentive in their attempt to do it. That’s what you want – to get them to attempt!
Urge your children to pick objectives that are feasible yet slightly unachievable. In doing so, they will figure out how to drive themselves and address difficulties as opposed to sheltering themselves in the shade.
