Kids that get into habits early on tend to stick with them throughout their lives. Why not make goal setting a habit as well? To a certain degree, teachers set goals for students when assigning homework and testing them. Children may set their own tasks to complete the assignments or to study for the test. But for the most part, they often just do their homework.

Kids should be taught about goals for many aspects of their lives, including schoolwork, fitness, diet, and even chores. These are all going to be used throughout their lives. They may not be in school all their lives, but they hopefully will use what they learn in school as part of their job.

One controversial area is to pay kids when they get good grades. Some people are opposed to it completely while others feel it models the adult world. When adults do well in their jobs, they reasonably expect to be rewarded for that, all things being equal. So why not apply the same principle to kids and their grades?

There should be some kind of reward associated with kids attaining their goals, even if it isn’t monetary. This can help reinforce the goal setting paradigm. When that happens, they will be eager to continue the process again.

The goal-setting process should be a collaborative effort between kids and their parents. The parents should try to balance making the goals challenging enough but not too tough as the kids could fail. Parents should monitor their kids progress and help them when they get stuck.

Goal setting for kids will build their confidence. They will gain a sense of accomplishment. When they become adults, they can use this skill and confidence to their advantage. It is a very worthwhile skill that most kids do not learn early on. It is also a skill that takes practice so they will already have that practice from their childhood. Many successful people attribute a large part of their success to being goal oriented.

Goal setting is a useful skill for anyone at any age. Having kids learn it early on will help them get things done faster and give them an edge in a largely competitive world. They will be years ahead of their peers, as well as be more productive. They may not be successful at everything they do and there still will be setbacks, but they will be equipped to handle them better than everyone else.