How to Set Goals for Teens

There are many ways a parent can encourage her teen to set goals. Some parents choose to delegate a traditional system, like attending college or going to the military, to define a future for their teen, while others are more comfortable with allowing their teenager to craft his own life. With either choice, encouraging a teen to actively pursue his dreams and aspirations by setting relative goals is highly essential to insuring a promising future for your offspring's development. First, parents must determine a realistic area of personal growth for their teens that best defines the direction of the discipline of interest. For instance, if your son wants to be an NBA basketball player straight out of high school, then help him make his plans achievable by researching the process of entering the draft.

Things You'll Need

  • Date book or calendar
  • Notebook
  • Pen

Instructions

    • 1

      Sit down with your teen and stimulate a conversation on future plans by asking questions like, "What do you plan to do after high school, as far as a career or education?" This will begin the process to understanding exactly what hopes she has in mind. Some teens may answer with uncertainty, in this case just give them time to think on the question and come back to it at a later time.

    • 2

      Engage in the process of researching choices. It is necessary to understand the choices your teen may make in deciding on a path to take. Using the internet, library and other reference sources to study career choices and the educational direction one must take to securing a position in a particular the field is the best way to start on making realistic goals for the future.

    • 3

      Invest time in developing a "dream processing notebook." This is a simple notebook to record facts on the choices that you and your teen have researched. It is also a nice way to stimulate more healthy goal-setting dialogue for you and your teen to actively participate in.

    • 4

      Combine the discussions and research you and your teen have bonded with. Using a calendar or date book, make a road map to success by determining realistic goals, like "apply for XYZ University," and assigning due dates. This will effectively offer step-by-step assurances of an affirmed and foreseeable future for your teen's overall personal development.

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