Why Set Goals?

I always had great ideas when it came to lifelong learning.  I enrolled in a Spanish course and quit after the second class. I took line dancing lessons only to find out it wasn’t for me. I will admit starting a few other activities that I did not complete.  I eventually had an opportunity to work in purchasing in a manufacturing company. I took night school classes in order to get my professional purchaser designation. I had set a clear long term goal that would be achievable.

It is sometimes very hard to define our goals or what needs to happen in order to reach them. For me and for many of our learners, this can certainly be the case. They may have tried to set goals only to fail at achieving them.  

So why set a long-term goal in the first place?  Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about our ideal future and for motivating us to turn our vision of the future into reality. The process of setting goals helps us choose where we want to go in life. By knowing what we want to achieve, we know where we need to put our efforts. As tutors, how can we help learners work towards their goals and be successful.

A learner may have a dream to become a rock star but has never picked up an instrument. This is their long-term goal. The more defined and realistic their long-term goal is, the more motivated they will be. They may need your help to define what skills they need to achieve long term goals. Goal setting involves establishing specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T.) goals…in other words breaking down long term goals into doable short term goals.

For the learner whose goal is to become a musician and has identified their short term goal of improving their reading and reading comprehension skills, reading about the different types of guitars and what they are made of connects the learner to their long term goal. They will improve their reading skills while learning what type of guitar they would like to play. Learning becomes relevant.

The more learners set, define and achieve short term goals, the more self-confident and motivated they become. It is also important to know that for personal, family, financial and health reasons, learners can lose sight of their goal. They can become unfocused and lose their motivation.

Take some time to re-visit their long term goal and celebrate their successes in achieving their short term ones. To help goal set with your learner, check out two of our awesome resources written by Action Read staff: ‘A Dream That Walks – a Goal Setting Workbook’ by Myrna Hanna and ‘A Dream That Walks II – Planning for Change’ by Anne Moore. 

- Joanne Morant