Setting Goals
The new year is a time when we often think about the coming year and what we would like to accomplish. Of course, any time can be a good time for a reset. So, if you didn’t think about 2023 goals yet, it isn’t too late!
Consider talking to children even as young as 3 or 4 about their goals. The characteristics of a goal are as follows:
Talk about what success looks like. Success is not perfection. On our path to our goals, we may find it difficult at times. We may experience some failures. Failures are not shameful but rather part of the process. In fact, we often learn more from our failures than from our successes. Talk to your child about a goal you set for yourself and how you learned from your failures on your path to reaching that goal. Children often look at adults as perfect (unless of course you have an adolescent!). Showing them how you struggled to accomplish something will be motivating when they experience the inevitable setback. Help them stay focused on the process and not the product. Think of any skill you have learned (playing a sport or musical instrument) or any goal you have accomplished. You will be able to recall frustrations as well as high points. It is all part of it!
Excellence and realization of goals occur in baby steps over time.
I would like to leave you with a quote that many of you know from a poster in one of my exam rooms:
Watch your thoughts for they become your words.
Watch your words for they become your actions.
Watch your actions for they become your habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
Watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
And our children are always watching.
Blessings in the year ahead,
Dr. Dewling
Suwanee Location
4395 Johns Creek Parkway
Suwanee, GA 30024