<h3>The power of goal setting</h3>
I am obsessed with goal setting. That is a fact. The reason is that when I set goals, I achieve so much more than when I don't. The act of setting goals is so powerful because it focusses the mind. When we really focus on what we are trying to achieve, we plan it out, we think of the obstacles and ways to overcome them. All of these things activities really increase the likelihood of us achieving the goal.
<h3>If it's so good for us, why don't we do more of it?</h3>
Well, I have a theory on this. When we are in school or work or even when we are at home, we tend to be very influenced by our environment. We tend to get sucked into getting our day to day jobs done, get carried away with our routine and before we know it the day has gone and we are ready to sit down in front of the T.V. This applies equally to kids and adults.

Our goal setting also tends to be influenced by our environment. Kids tend to have goals set for them at school based on national targets. Adults tend to have objectives set by their boss. If you are lucky you may play a part in shaping them but most of the time they are 'given' to us. My theory is that this turns us off goal setting because "we already have a load of things that we have to do!"
<h3>So whats the answer?</h3>
True goal setting is about YOU setting goals based on things that YOU want to achieve. So, taking a step back from everything that you are being told or encouraged to do by others and thinking about what you really want to achieve is when the magic of goal setting can happen. This is harder than it sounds. Taking time to actually figure out our passions is half the problem, the only real way to do this is to take time to think and reflect.
<h3>Should I set goals with my kids?</h3>
The answer to this is YES. We know that goal setting has a hugely positive impact on wellbeing so why wouldn't you? We think that kids are naturally good at working towards goals they are passionate about. Maybe this is because they haven't been indoctrinated into the world of work yet. Maybe they can more easily identify their passions. Whatever the reason, teaching kids goal setting can only be a good thing.
<h3>So, how do I set goals with my kids?</h3>
Having spoken to a lot of parents and teachers we feel pretty well qualified to talk about this. We think there a number of very common mistakes that parents and teachers make when trying to set goals with kids. We talk about them in the video above and you can get your hands on our free checklist which details them by requesting the download below.