Goal Setting and Set Backs ... continued

When guiding your child through the goal setting process, a useful thing to do is to help him think about what obstacles he might encounter.

Positive thinking is a key part of goal setting, and it is crucial that your child learns positivity and self-confidence by setting and achieving goals (of any size) over and over during his formative years. Thinking about what obstacles may arise is not about being "negative" - it's simply a way of acknowledging when you set the goal that all will not necessarily be smooth sailing and that is OK.

As we mentioned in yesterday's post, set backs are normal and if you help your child to realise that, you will take some of the pressure off him.

Your child can anticipate some things that might interfere with him getting his goal, and you can help him brainstorm ways to deal with them. For example, if your child has a goal involving PE at school, he could realise in advance that forgetting his PE kit could interfere with his goal - and you could help him set up a way to minimize this - putting up a hook near the door to hang his PE bag on for example, so that it is easy to remember when he leaves the house.

Your child can enjoy the creativity involved in overcoming obstacles on the route to his goal, rather than pressure himself for being human and therefore imperfect!

Happy goal setting with your kids,

Cassie