Goals. Everyone has them. Whether it be a five-year-old dreaming of becoming a beautiful princess, or a 21-year-old desiring to be a rocket scientist, people of all ages tend to have somewhere they want to be later on in life. Sometimes though, the path we want to take may become fuzzy. It’s not uncommon for youth to feel a sense of loss when deciding what they want to do with their lives, especially when deciding on such huge changes like college. Their dream job or place in society may shift with their changing personality and exposure to the real world around them, making it difficult to focus on goals. This can then cause a loss in motivation and overall desire to continue on their journey of becoming a functional, independent, and fulfilled person, which is why it is crucial to teach the importance of goal setting as life gets more goal oriented.
75% of teenagers have set goals for themselves (stageoflife, 2021). Of those teens, 41.8% of them viewed educational goals as the most important, and 81% reported having failed to reach an important goal they had set for themselves for that point in life (stageoflife, 2021). This feeling of failure can discourage children from feeling as if they succeeded at all, especially since the idea of little goals, such as making yourself some breakfast, can be overlooked by that of larger goals. Children with ‘life challenges’ such as ADHD, Autism, “Asperger’s,” etc. can find this particularly disheartening. Anyone not achieving a goal they had set for themselves can be damaging, but for those with such ‘life challenges,’ it can prove to make it more difficult to not only achieve those goals but set them in the first place.
First time students with ‘life challenges’ have a 25% chance of dropping out within the first year and a 35% chance of dropping out by the second (Shaewitz and Crandall, 2020). The inability to keep focus on their goals is what creates this desire to leave situations like college education, and that’s why the College Life Skills Program has developed a service to teach students the importance of setting and maintaining goals.
An important factor to note is that no goal is too small. Getting up in the morning, showering, brushing your teeth, etc. are all very little, yet extremely important goals an individual sets for themselves in their day to day lives. The CollegeLSP teaches your child that you cannot achieve larger goals, such as becoming an astronaut, without setting these much smaller, but just as important goals first. This not only allows the newly found college bound student to have beneficial life habits but builds their confidence that may have once been knocked down while also showing how to maintain that good state of mind.
It may not seem like it to parents, but sometimes not achieving a goal by your predetermined time may feel like the end of the world to their child. Almost everyone has felt that way at some point or another. Maybe it was when you didn’t get on a sports team in high school or into your dream college, but no matter what, it still felt crushing. The CollegeLSP is here to show that yes, it may be felt like the world is crashing down, but it just means it is time to set a new goal while still working towards another. Goal setting is what develops a drive in someone to become the best possible person they are more than capable of becoming, and with the help of the CollegeLSP, your child can become a multigoal oriented individual who celebrates every victory, no matter how small.
Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, in Boca Raton, FL.
Teen statistics about goal setting released by Stageoflife.com. PRWeb. (2013, October 31). Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.prweb.com/releases/teens/goal-setting/prweb11288739.htm.
Shaewitz There are several steps necessary for an institution to create an environment of success for students with disabilities. Between making the appropriate technology, D., & Crandall Good morning, J. R. (2020, October 20). Higher Education’s challenge: Disability inclusion on campus. Higher Education Today. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.higheredtoday.org/2020/10/19/higher-educations-challenge-disability-inclusion-campus/.
