Happy New Year! Setting Goals for School

It’s time to make New Year’s Resolutions again!
Forget January 1^st. This is the real deal—The Beginning Of School.

The Fresh Start

The Do Over

The New Year

If you are a student, or a student’s parent, or a parent/student, you are an automatic member of the This Year Will Be Different Club. So make those resolutions now! What am I talking about?

Setting Goals For School!

You can read about S.M.A.R.T. Goals here:

To transform those Goals/Resolutions from Good Intentions into Incredible Accomplishments, you must have a plan. The Plan crystalizes your goals and gives you something to aim for.

As a family, discuss The Plan. It has a better chance of succeeding if everyone buys in.
Post The Plan somewhere obvious (refrigerator, above your desk, bathroom mirror). It will serve as a reminder initially.

Finally, tuck those Goals/Resolutions away in your sock drawer where they will wait until report card time. That’s when you re-evaluate the plan and do some productive tweaking.

Skip the self-recriminations and the accusations.

The Blame Game helps nobody and can damage any fragile intention to do better.
By the way, eventually you will become so accustomed to The Plan being posted on your fridge, you won’t notice it anymore. Not good. So, after a week, post it in different spot. Repeat.
FYI, it takes about a month to create a new habit. If you pursue The Plan with determination, at the end of the month it will become an automatic, comfortable part of your day.