Creating societal change through teaching goal setting

Creating societal change through teaching goal setting

In a project aiming to increase self-reliance on a large scale, one of the key tools taught will be goal setting.

The ultimate purpose of the National Day, for example,  will be for young people to set goals that they believe are important to help inspire, motivate and support them rise above their circumstances on the path to self-reliance.

Support will be provided through a series of relevant and targeted resources, through a variety of platforms, that young people will engage with to define who they are, identify their values, and set goals, track their progress, and celebrate their success over time.

Why focus on goal setting?

Goal setting is a key aspect of achieving success in life and gives us purpose by focusing our attention towards a future state we desire. Through goal setting we are able to visualise our dreams and measure our progress on the way to achieving them.

It also provides a focal point for a National Day and a number of helpful data points for informing the support mechanisms to be developed and deployed including user driven technology and community building.

Three key aspects to goal setting success include:

1. writing them down
2. staying committed to them
3. sharing them with someone else.

Writing goals

The simple action of writing goals helps cement them into your brain. When you write down your goals, your hand sends signals to your brain, which processes the information and cognitive processing takes place.

Research has shown that writing activates different areas of the brain compared to typing or speaking. When you write by hand, you engage more of your brain, including areas associated with language, memory, and emotion.

Writing down your goals helps to clarify your thinking and gives you a clear picture of what you want to achieve. When you have a clear understanding of your goals, you’re more likely to take action and make progress toward achieving them.

Keeping them handy, where you can see them daily, or even writing them daily, will ensure you can refer to them regularly and stay on track, even when faced with competing priorities or Distractions.

Committing to goals

To commit to a goal, you need to see it as important and meaningful, and believe that you are capable of achieving it. Even if you are not sure how to achieve the goal initially, you must believe that you have the ability to figure it out along the way.

To stay committed to your goals, it is important to create a clear plan of action. This means breaking larger goals into smaller, actionable steps that you can take each day or week.

By having a clear plan in place, you’ll be able to see your progress and stay motivated.

Sharing goals

Accountability is important for setting goals because it helps to ensure that you follow through on your commitments and take action to achieve your goals.

Sharing your goals with someone you respect can help with motivation as you don’t want to disappoint them by not making progress. Sharing your goals with someone will also mean you can turn to someone for support, feedback, guidance and encouragement. Sharing goals with someone you trust means that you also have someone to celebrate your success with along the way.

If the goal of building up the inner resources of today’s youth by teaching them self reliance resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.