Goal Setting Activities (List)

We all know that meaning of life is very important to lead a happy and successful life. Goals define an individual meaning of life.

It is very important to set realistic and achievable goals to gain success and happiness but often people feel in creating smart goals.

Empirical evidence has shown that only about 8% of people accomplish the goals which they had made on the New Year resolution list. 

Goals could be explicit, implicit, casual, or formal but goals are goals irrespective of their type.

Therefore it is very important to set goals and work on achieving them.

This blog mentions some of the best goal-setting activities which can be used by individuals to set goals but before we move on to goal-setting activities, let’s explore the characteristics of goals and the criteria which can be used to set good, realistic and meaningful goals.

Characteristics of Good Goals 

The following are some of the characteristics of good goals: 

• They are simple 
• They are specific and well-defined 
• They are attainable and realistic 
• They can be measured 
• They are relevant to the job 
• They comply with the values of the individual 
• They are trackable
• They are times specific
• They are objective 
• They can be updated 
• They can be broken down into smaller parts

SMART Goal-Setting 

SMART goal-setting is one of the strategies used for the goal-setting process. Often people make goals that are either unachievable, unrealistic or lack anything else that makes it difficult to accomplish those goals.

SMART goal-setting criteria help individuals keep in mind the basic characteristics of good goals while setting their goals.

SMART is an acronym where: 

S: stands for simple  

M: stands for measurable

A: stands for attainable

R: stands for realistic

T: stands for trackable 

Goal Setting Activities 

The following are some of the best and most effective goal-setting activities that can be performed by kids, children, teenagers, or young adults to set their goals and work on them.

1. Make a Family Bucket List

Making a family bucket list is one of the most effective goal-setting activities.

This is a very simple activity in which individuals are asked to gather their family members in a single room and provide each of them with a piece of paper and a marker.

Each one of them is supposed to make a list of their achievements, experiences, or goals which they want to be accomplished.

Then put all of these pieces of paper into the bucket and at the end of year check what each of your family members has accomplished.

This game is very encouraging for teenagers. They even can use online tools for making family bucket lists such as Trello and Evernote.

2. Draw a Wheel of Fortune

A wheel of fortune, as the name implies, is the wheel that tells what the individual what you do in his coming years.

For this activity, individuals are directed to draw a wheel add divided into different segments just like pizza.

Then on each segment, the individuals are asked to write important categories such as family, education, friends, school, and so forth.

After this, they have to fill in each category with the goals related to each category.

Don’t forget to specify the time for the goals to be accomplished.

3. Create a Vision Board

A vision board is a board that represents the vision or the goals of the individual.

Creating a vision board is a very interesting and effective goal-setting activity.

For this activity, individuals are asked to take some magazines, go through them carefully, and cut out the pictures that represent their dreams and hopes.

Then they have to paste these pictures on to a poster board and decorate it using different art tools such as markers, glitters, colors etcetera.

After this, individuals are asked what these pictures represent and in what ways they can achieve their dreams and make their hopes come true.

4. Interest Maps 

Interest maps are one of the most effective goal-setting activities which are specifically designed for older kids.

It enables older kids to focus on their interests and create goals according to those interests.

For this activity, the individuals are asked to a list of all the things that they like doing either in writing or sports or anything.

Then they are directed to find out if there is any pattern between all of their interests.

When they see their interest mapped out, they can keep them in mind while setting their goals.

5. Marshmallow Challenge  

Marshmallow Challenge is a group activity.

The items required for this activity include about 20 sticks of spaghetti, one-meter string, one-meter masking tape, and one marshmallow.

The participants are asked to divide themselves into small groups of about 4 to 8 people.

One set of items is given to each team and they are asked to build a structure using these items, with the marshmallow at the top of the structure.

20 minutes are given to individuals for completing the star. The individuals are supposed to use the items provided to them either all of them or some of them.

They can also break the spaghetti and use tape to stick as many spaghetti as they want.

The team that will have the tallest structure, with a marshmallow at the top of the structure will be the winner of this activity.

This game is very effective in building team coordination and enhance problem-solving skills in individuals, which help them in their future for setting and planning goals.

Recommended Books

The following is a list of some of the best books on goal-setting.

You can read these books to increase your knowledge about goal setting and acknowledge several ways of setting realistic or simply the SMART goals.

Some of these word books are also helpful in providing a stepwise guide on how to set and achieve goals.

All of the below-mentioned books are easily accessible on the Amazon store.

Just click the book you wish to study and you will be redirected to the page from where you can access it.

• Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy
• The 100-Day Goal Journal: Accomplish What Matters to You by John Lee Dumas
• You Goal, Girl: A Goal-Setting Workbook by Meleah Bowles and Elise Williams Rikard
• Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt and Mission Audio
• The Art Of Setting Smart Goals: Set winning goals and live a life of abundance, success, and achievement by Anisa Marku
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear and Penguin Audio
• The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Sean Covey, Chris McChesney, et al.

This blog presented several goal-setting activities.

You can follow these activities to acknowledge your interests, hopes, and dreams and create your goals according to them.

Some good books were also mentioned in the blog to help you acknowledge some other strategies of setting achievable and realistic goals.

If you have any queries or questions regarding the blog, let us know through your comments in the comments section.

We will be glad to assist you.

References 

7 Fun Goal Setting Activities for Children – Big Life Journal

Teach Goal-Setting Skills the Fun Way with Our Group Games …

Amazon.com 

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