Be Your Own Life Coach/Smart Goals

=SMART Goals!=

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James' Story


''James is sitting in his goal setting class. They've been asked to write down some of their goals, and everyone else is writing furiously. James is just sitting there. He's completely stuck, and has no idea what to write.

''The teacher comes over and smiles at him. "Dream big," he says. "What do you mean?" asks James. "You've got nothing to lose," says the teacher. "What would you do if you knew you could not fail? What would you do if you had magical powers and would succeed at anything you tried? We can work on making your goals realistic and achievable later, but sometimes the best place to start is to dream big."

''Suddenly James can think of lots of things to write. He's always wanted to learn to scuba dive, and if he could do anything he wanted he'd love to spend his life diving the great shipwrecks of the world. He'd live in an awesome home by the ocean, and catch his own fish for dinner every night, and play in a band with his mates...''}}

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Stella's Story
''Stella's aunty phoned her the next day. "So, did you complete your 24 hour goal? Did you go for a run?" ''.

''"I did, and I feel really good about it," said Stella. "I'm nowhere near as fit as I used to be, but I don't think it will take me long to get my fitness back as long as I keep at it. I feel a lot more positive about it now that I've finally made a start. So, what should I do now? Set another 24 hour goal?" ''.

"Sure," said her aunty, "if that works for you, use it. But you should also start to think about setting some longer term goals to work towards. The main thing with any goal that you set is that it should be a S.M.A.R.T. goal. You want to really think about this and take some time to get it right. Setting a goal that is unrealistic or not specific enough is going to hinder you rather than help you. Let's start with one goal for now: what is the main area that you want to work on?".

''"My fitness I guess," said Stella. "I'd like to join a sports team at school. That would help with my fitness, and I guess I'd get to meet some people through that too." ''.

''"OK," said her aunty, "you need to write it down. But make sure that you write your goal using the S.M.A.R.T. formula. If you make sure your goal meets the S.M.A.R.T. criteria, you'll give yourself a good chance of succeeding." ''.

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