By Sara Bybee, LCSW
Center for Safe & Healthy Families

Although making New Year’s resolutions seems to have become an annual joke for many adults, setting and keeping goals is a very valuable lesson for children. By setting goals and working towards them over time, children learn how to persevere, handle setbacks and delay gratification.

Here are some ideas about how you can set your children up for success in setting and keeping goals:

1. Make goals, not resolutions. By encouraging your children to set goals instead of resolutions, it will stress the importance of the goal and the fact that goals can be set at any time of year.
2. The goals should be something your child wants to achieve since it requires his or her effort.
3. Start setting goals by having a conversation with your child:
   What does he/she like doing?
   What is he/she good at?
4. Break down the goal into smaller, more manageable steps.
5. Make the goal SMART:
   Specific: the goal should be written simply and specify what he/she will do
   Measurable: the goal should be able to be measured so there is evidence of having accomplished it
   Achievable: the goal should be reasonable enough to be accomplished by your child
   Results-focused: the goal should measure outcomes, not activities
   Time-bound: the goal should include a time-limit to establish urgency
6. Once goals are set, write them down and post them somewhere visible to monitor progress.
7. Consider placing other family member’s goals next to your child’s goals to show support and model how to work towards accomplishing a goal.
8. Offer encouragement/positive feedback when you notice your kids taking steps to meet their goals.
9. Acknowledge the feelings your children may have as they try to meet their goals and be sure to listen and empathize.
10. Consider a reward system or sticker chart to help younger kids accomplish their goals.

Remember, goals aren’t something that can be attained with the push of a button. By helping your kids set and keep goals, you are setting them up for success by teaching them the rewards of perseverance. Encourage your children and model your own accomplishments so they will feel good about the progress they are making too.

Sara graduated with her Master’s in Social Work from Portland State University and moved to Salt Lake City in 2012. Since then, she has been working with Safe & Healthy Families and has been enjoying all that the Southwest has to offer. In her free time, she loves hiking, biking, running, taking her dogs to the park, speaking Spanish, learning about other cultures, cooking, and baking.