Achieving
Your Dreams Through Setting Goals
Part IV: Set Short-Term Goals
Purpose:
By the end of this session, I want my students to
know the magic of goal-setting and to have some short term goals in writing.
Quotes
to Put on Board:
''To act without clear
understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's
life without knowing where it really leads - such is the behavior of the
multitude.'' (Menclus)
"I
visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become.
I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there."
(Michael Jordan)
Optional Resources: Overhead
Sheet and Student
Handout.
The Magic of Short-Term
Goals
Please excuse me while I get really
excited! Short-term goals are like magic!! Yet nobody seems to realize what
incredible things they can accomplish by simply doing a little bit each day.
- Want
to get good at guitar? People think you’ve
got to practice hours a day to become a good guitar player. Sure, it takes
hours each day to become an exceptional player. But just skip a thirty
minute TV program and practice guitar 30 minutes a day and people will think
you’re really good.
- Want
to bulk up and get strong? Do bench presses for 15 minutes a day, three
days a week and you’ll see vast improvement in your strength.
- Want
to be really wise? Set a
goal to read 100 of the best books
on success, money management, interesting biographies, or to become an
expert in some field - like music or art. I know, I know, you don’t want
to read all the time. Actually, a slow reader can accomplish this easily in just 15 minutes per day! Follow the Math: (let students get out
their calculators) a normal reader (I’m probably average to slow) can
average 7 pages in 15 minutes. In a month, you’ve read how many pages?
That's a 210 page book! At 12 books per year, you’ve read your 100 books
in under 9 years and could be considered an expert in some field! All this
for a mere 15 minutes per day!
- Want
to get retire early? Benjamin Franklin was able to accomplish so much in
life in part because he retired early, devoting himself to his favorite
causes. How did he retire early? First, he worked hard each day and saved
his money. Most people waste a fortune and don’t know it. Follow the Math
(you can find neat calculators for this at places like: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/scripts/savingsgrowth.cgi
) Start with $1,000.00. Invest $100.00 per week at an interest rate of 11%
(typical long-range growth of a stock index stock mutual fund). After 29
years, you’d have contributed about $150,000.00. But since you invested
with interest and it kept multiplying, you now have over $1,000,000.00!!!
Discussion: A
good way to set goals is to look back and ask, “What do I wish I’d done each
day for the past five years?” Lifted weights? Practiced an instrument? Learned
a language? (Let them share.)
Wish you’d practiced guitar for 20
minutes per day? You’d be pretty good right now. So why not set it as a goal?
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Personal
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Family
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Work/Vocation
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Life
Impact
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Spiritual
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Examples:
1. Lift
weights 15 minutes per day.
2. Practice guitar 15 minutes per day.
Your
Goals
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Example:
1. Read
at least one book on relation- ships each year.
Your Goals
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Example:
1. Learn
something new on PhotoShop each week.
2. Read 10 minutes per day on some book outside of school.
Your
Goals
|
Example:
1.
Find a ministry I can be involved with each week.
2. Give 10% of my income to a worthy cause.
3. Wake up each morning thinking of something I can do to help
someone else.
Your
Goals
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Example:
1.
Read a personal devotion each day.
2. Meditate
or pray 5 minutes each day.
Your
Goals
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Discussion:
Let's help each other out here.
Share with us some goals you've written down. This may give ideas to the rest of
us.
Next
Session: Tricks to help you pursue your goals.
