Minds On
Goal setting
Consider this famous quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It was written in 1943. What do you think the message is? Why are the words GOAL and WISH bolded? Were goals different in 1943 than now?
A poster with the quote, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” The author of this quote is Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The words “goal” and “wish” are written in different colours than the other words.
Goal setting involves making a plan that motivates someone toward an objective. You can set a goal at any time in your life. Some popular areas for goal setting are money, education, career, and health. When someone sets a goal, it means that they have considered thought, emotion, and behavior towards reaching that goal.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
Think about the parts of your life. How could you set a goal to achieve changes in a specific area?
Action
Consider this scenario
The Goal: A student wants to improve their long-distance running/wheeling to have better overall fitness. They want to participate in a 10K charity run/wheel in May. It is February, so this is a long-term goal. The student will have time to train but the weather may cause problems. They enjoy this activity and find it slightly challenging. There isn’t a set time to complete the race in and finishing it will be the goal. They will be more fit and really proud of themself if they reach their goal.
The Plan: Practice three times a week, 30 minutes per practice, for the next twelve weeks. They want to work with a partner so that they can stay motivated and share tips, suggestions, and encouragement.
When we make a plan to change or improve something, we need to follow steps to make sure that we have considered all possibilities before we begin. If we don’t organize our thinking, it is unlikely that we will achieve our goal.
Press ‘Hint’ to access the meanings of the terms long-term and short-term.
Long-term refers to something that you want to do in the future
Short-term refers to something that you want to do soon
These 7 steps can help to organize the process of goal setting. They create specific points to consider while creating a plan.
Press the following tabs to access 7 steps of goal setting.
Did the student in the scenario follow ALL of the steps in the planning process? If not, what was left out? Will this affect the outcome of the goal setting plan? What will this student still have to do to ensure that they are successful and are able to reach their goal?
Complete the Are All the Steps Covered? in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.
Press the Activity button to access the Are All the Steps Covered?.
Activity (Open PDF in a new tab)Press ’Hint’ to access a piece of information about the previous scenario.
Steps 6 & 7 are missing from the student’s plan.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
Seeing improvements over time can be encouraging and help to keep us working to become even more fit. Tracking progress also helps to focus on areas that need more work. Monitoring progress allows us to make decisions about revising our goal. Do you think that this is a true or false statement? Explain your thinking.
Show what you know
Choose one of the scenario options and revise the goal so that the student can be successful.
Option #1:
Student A wants to make their arms stronger in order to be able to move their wheelchair faster. They will have to increase the amount of weight that they lift in order to build the muscle. Here is their plan:
| WEEK 1 everyday | 2KG (4.4lbs) |
| WEEK 2 everyday | 4KG (9lbs) |
| WEEK 3 everyday | 5KG (11lbs) |
| WEEK 4 everyday | 7KG (15.4lbs) |
| WEEK 5 everyday | 10KG (22lbs) |
Over the 5 weeks they will increase the weight lifted from 2KG to 10KG. The student is a member of the Math team and practices 3 days a week after school and has homework every day.
Option #2:
Student B wants to compete in the school track & field meet that is only 3 weeks away. Their event is long jump. The goal is to increase the distance that they are able to jump. Currently they jump 2.2 metres and hope to jump 4 metres at the meet. The student tutors other students every day after school. Here is their plan:
| WEEK 1 2x everyday |
WEEK 2 2x everyday |
WEEK 3 2x everyday |
|---|---|---|
| Run sprints 30 minutes | Run sprints 40 minutes | Run sprints 50 minutes |
| Jump practice 30 minutes | Jump practice 40 minutes | Jump practice 50 minutes |
For both of the prior options, consider if:
- the goal is realistic
- they have enough time each day
- the practice is too difficult or too easy
- the number of weeks is reasonable
With these considerations in mind, revise the plans, for students A and B, to be more achievable.
Complete the Plans Assessments in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.
| Realistic Goal | Enough time every day | Practice – too easy or too difficult | Reasonable number of weeks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student A | ||||
| Student B |
Press the ‘Activity’ button to access the Plans Assessments.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
What should someone consider before they begin to create a health-related fitness plan? What could happen to the students in the scenarios if they implemented the plan they created?
Consolidation
Making it SMART
A SMART goal is a goal that follows a specific plan based on the letters in the word SMART.
The SMART goals is an acronym. For each letter of the word, “SMART,” there is a word that starts with each letter. 'S' is for specific, 'M' is for measurable, 'A' is for actionable, 'R' is for relevant, and 'T' is for time-bound.
When you are setting a goal, check if it is a SMART one, using the following checklist
Assess your goal!
Is your goal?
Create and implement an Action Plan that focuses on health-related fitness and physical activity goal that you have for yourself.
Aim to fit at least four twenty-minute blocks into your week and reflect on how to make your workout more challenging and personal. Your Action Plan should span the length of a month.
Be sure to consider the following questions:
- What have you chosen as your goal?
- When setting your goal and developing your plan to achieve it, consider your time frame as well as your assessment information.
- Is your goal short-term or long-term?
- How do you know that your goal is realistic?
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
How will you know whether you’ve achieved your goal? What will help you achieve your goal? How will achieving this goal help you?
Reflection
As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.
I feel…
Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.
When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.