by AC Green
“Set goals. Take practical steps to reach each goal – little steps of faith, courage and boldness.”
The new school year is quickly approaching. Some of you may have even begun already. With that in mind, I have a pop quiz for you, with only two questions.
- How do you know if you are heading where you want to go?
- How can you build confidence?
There is one answer for both questions: set goals for yourself. There is a reason that a race has a starting point and a finish line. It lets you know where to begin and end the race. Setting a goal accomplishes the same purpose. A goal for a basketball player might be to make 10 free throws in a row. Establishing this mark as a goal gives you something to “shoot” for (pun intended!); more specifically, it highlights an area where you see room for improvement.
Once you have identified a goal, you can set steps to reach that goal. Perhaps this basketball player is only able to make three free throws in a row when she first sets her goal. The first step might be improving to five in a row within 10 days. Reaching a goal doesn’t always take enormous leaps of progress, it may simply require small, but determined, steps.
Moving at a steady pace toward a goal also builds confidence. Learning to do something that you couldn’t do before is an incredible experience. Seeing the tangible results of your work toward a specific goal gives you the confidence to continue moving forward. Or, put plainly: Growth promotes further growth.
So what are your goals for this year? Would you like to get better grades? Participate in the school play? Try out for a music group or sports team? Write down your goals for the year, and figure out the steps you can take to reach those goals.