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Show Schoolers, and f;M Home J Dr. Doryl J. McCorty Executive Secretory Utah Education Association Setting goals A youth without a goal is like a flag without a pole. Young people need a sense of quest in their lives the feeling of working, seeking and moving toward some objective. ob-jective. If Bill ran ten laps on the school track Tuesday, somehow he knows he can do fourteen next week. If Susan mastered : that waltz for her piano teacher, surely she can do the sonata. Once an objective is firmly established, establish-ed, a young person will generally achieve it. But how do young people conceive, adopt and excitedly pursue worthwhile goals? Too often, it's a haphazard thing. A youngster will ardently voice the desire lo become an engineer, then drop the idea when he learns he'll have to take tough math classes. Genuine goal-setting requires more than a passing whim. It demands thorough consideration of this question : Is it really worth the time and effort? If so, the goal-setter might then ask if the objective is really achievable. (A student who has just broken an arm might think of a more "do-able" goal than competing for the school chin-up championship.) Once the young person has decided that the quest is worthwhile, and that he or she will "go for it," planning and preparation is essential. If a kid decides to get an "A" in geometry, that youngster may have to Plan on setting aside a couple of hours each evening for study, and then do it. Reaching a goal is largely a matter of commitment. Parents can assist by Piping their children to set goals, and then by encouraging them to keep working toward success. With New Year's Day coming, Parents and their children would do ell to sit down together and draw up a list of goals for the coming year. It's a beautiful tradition. |
