Goals and goal setting are important in life because they give us a sense of direction and purpose. When we have goals, we have something to work towards and this can help us stay motivated and focused, even when things get tough. It’s why helping your teen set and achieve goals can help set them up with great habits for life, including great money-saving habits.
Related: Life skills for kids
Why it’s important for teens to have goals
Goal setting is a powerful tool for personal and professional development. By setting goals and working towards them, teens can start to build the life they want to live. Setting goals is important for teens because it can help them to:
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Develop a sense of purpose: When teens have goals, they have something to work towards. This can help them to feel like they are making progress in their lives and that their actions have meaning.
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Increase motivation: Goals can help teens stay motivated and focused, even when things get tough. This is because goals provide a sense of direction, which can help teens to stay on track.
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Build self-confidence: When teens achieve their goals, they feel a sense of accomplishment, which can boost their self-confidence and self-esteem.
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Develop a growth mindset: When teens set goals, they are essentially saying that they believe they can achieve them. This can help them to develop a growth mindset, which is the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through hard work and effort.
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Improve their decision-making skills: When teens have goals, they need to make decisions about how to achieve them. This can help them to develop their decision-making and problem-solving skills, which will be important for them throughout their lives.
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Learn how to manage their time effectively: In order to achieve their goals, teens need to learn how to manage their time effectively. This can help them become more productive and get more done in a shorter time.
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Develop a positive work ethic: When teens set goals and work towards achieving them, they are essentially developing a positive work ethic. This can help them to be successful in school, in their careers, and in life.
SMART goals
No matter what type of goal your teen sets, it’s important to ensure that their goals are SMART. This means:
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Specific: They should be specific and measurable.
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Measurable: Your teen should be able to track progress towards the goals.
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Attainable: Goals should be challenging but realistic.
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Relevant: Goals should be important to your teen and aligned with their values.
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Time-bound: There should be a deadline for achieving the goals.
5 Steps for Effective Goal-setting for teens
Step 1: Encourage your teen to write down their goals
A study by Dr Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the University of California, shows you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Matthews divided her participants into two groups: Those who wrote down their goals and those who didn’t. The results showed that participants who noted their goals reached their goals at a significantly higher rate than those who didn’t.
Step 2: Support them in making goals specific and measurable
To help your teens make specific and measurable goals, ask them what they want to achieve: This will help you understand their goals and what they are motivated to do. Next, help them break down their goals into smaller steps: This will make their goals seem less daunting and help them make progress more easily. Then encourage them to set a deadline for achieving their goals: Having a deadline will help them stay on track and progress towards their goal. Finally, help them to track their progress: This will help them to see how they are doing and to stay motivated.
Step 3: Become your teen’s guide on the way to achieving their goals
Even though your teen might pick a goal you might not necessarily choose, supporting and guiding them is still important. A great way to do this is to discuss why they want to reach their goal and help them figure out the steps they will need to take to make it a reality. For example, if your teen wants to set a goal of saving up for a pair of expensive trainers, you can help them by
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Set a timeline so your child knows how much they need to save each week to buy their trainers by X date.
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Showing them how to create a budget and track their spending and savings to ensure they are on track for their goal.
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Set up a savings account where a percentage of pocket money/earnings is automatically saved each week.
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Help them find ways to earn extra money, such as getting a part-time job or doing chores around the house.
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Make it fun. Saving money doesn't have to be boring. There are many ways to make it fun, such as setting up a savings challenge.
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Support them along the way when they hit obstacles (see below) or lose motivation.
Step 4: Help them identify potential setbacks and challenges
With goal setting comes challenges and obstacles. These can be anything from having to use the money for an emergency to simply losing interest in the goal. Talk to your teen about what they might come up against and let them know that you believe in them and that you are there to support them. Above all, be patient, as it may take some time for your teen to learn how to set and achieve goals.
Step 5: Be flexible when things go wrong
Teach your teen to be flexible. Plans don't always go smoothly, so they should be prepared to adjust their goals when needed. This might mean revisiting and revising dates, changing steps towards the goal, or even slightly altering the goal.
11 tips for teaching goal-setting to teenagers
1. Know when to talk to your teen about goal setting
There's no bad time to talk to your teen about setting goals. You could start your kids setting goals from a young age, and most teens will be able to start planning more complex goals for the long term. An ideal time to talk about goal setting is when your teen voices that they want to do something. If your teen already has an aim in mind, you can help them turn it into an achievable goal. It can also help to talk about goal setting when your teen has something to work towards, such as exams or a sporting event or an audition.
2. Help your teen understand the benefits of setting goals
One way to keep your teen motivated while working towards their goal is to explain the benefits of setting goals. You can explain that setting goals helps them achieve things that might not otherwise be possible. You can also show them how setting goals ultimately leads to happiness and fulfilment.
3. Model what goal-setting looks like in your life
Watching you set goals and work towards achieving them is one of the best ways teens can experience goal-setting. Share your process and the steps you are taking to achieve your goal and be honest about setbacks and challenges. Some examples of goal-setting you can model for teens might include:
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Finding and applying for a new job
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Building up to a 5k fun run
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Saving money towards a holiday
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Learning a new language
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Studying for an exam
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Learning to drive
4. Let your teens set their own goals
Working towards a goal is hard, which is why letting your teens set their own goals can help ensure they stay committed and motivated. As someone who only wants the best for your child, it might be difficult to watch them choose a goal that you don't approve of. Perhaps you’d rather they saved for the future instead of a new gaming console, or you’d rather they set goals for academic work, rather than football. However, if you want to help teach your teen how to set and achieve goals, it’s important that they choose a goal that reflects their passions.
5. Help your teen set clear and achievable goals
If your teen has chosen an unachievable goal, they will get frustrated when they realise that it isn't possible. This is why it’s important to talk to your teen about their goal as they set it, and their expectations. This way you can help your teen reassess their goal and revise it so that it’s more workable and achievable.
6. Make a plan
Once your teen has a goal, the next step is to create a plan that breaks down how to get to the goal and keeps them accountable.
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What is the goal?
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What will it look like when they have achieved their goal?
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Measurable milestones along the way: What are some smaller goals your teen can achieve along the way to their ultimate goal?
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What specific steps do they need to take to achieve each milestone?
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When does your teen want to achieve their goal?
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What help do they need from you?
7. It’s OK to make a plan B
Part of goal-setting is learning to be adaptable. This means being willing to go for a plan B, if plan A isn’t working out for you. If you find that your goals are no longer realistic or that your priorities have changed, don't be afraid to make changes. It's better to change your goals now than to waste time and energy trying to achieve goals that are no longer attainable.
8. Support but don’t control your teen - it’s their journey
Avoid trying to control your teen’s progress as this can put them off reaching their goal. It's also very important that your teen learns from this experience. If you take control they won't learn how to set and achieve goals on their own.
9. Make goal setting as engaging as possible for your teen
Setting goals can seem boring or look like hard work, so it's important to find ways to get your teen engaged with setting goals. There are lots of ways you can do this. You can make goals into a friendly competition to see who can achieve their goal first, especially if you have more than one teen setting goals.
Alternatively, you could make it a family activity, where you all set goals, and then you can all discuss what progress you've made weekly. This helps keep teens focused - and it might help you focus on your own goals too.
Another great way is to help your kid start a bucket list - this is a list of lots of things they want to achieve either long-term or before they reach adulthood. Reaching those goals and getting to cross items off the list can be very motivating.
10. Explain that it’s about the journey, not the destination
Helping your teen to see that there is a deeper value and benefit to goal setting takes time. Eventually, they will realise with your help that this process is not just about getting what they want but about helping them understand that their actions have meaning. Realising they have the power to make things happen, and change outcomes
can also help them to develop a positive work ethic. This can help them to be successful in school, in their careers, and in life.
11. Always celebrate when a goal is achieved
Be sure to give your child praise and positive reinforcement when they reach their goals. Knowing that their hard work has been seen and acknowledged is motivating for teens and helps spur them on to more goals.
Examples of short-term goals and long-term goals for teens
Short-term goals
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Improve grades in class
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Get involved in extracurricular activities
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Start a savings account.
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Learn a new skill, such as playing a musical instrument or learning a new language
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Eat more healthily
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Get enough sleep
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Do more extra chores for extra pocket money
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Learn to budget
Long-term goals
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Get a part time job
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Start your own business
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Get better at public speaking
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Revise more thoroughly
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Save for driving lessons
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Learn to drive
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Write a CV
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Learn to cook
Make achieving financial goals easy for your teen with GoHenry
GoHenry's mission is to make every kid smart with money thanks to a range of great features that help teens safely and securely learn about money, from saving to smart spending. In-app Money Missions makes learning about money fun and engaging with videos and quizzes covering everything from the value of money to budgeting.
Parents can support their teens through the GoHenry app by setting flexible parental controls and receiving real-time spending alerts whenever they use their GoHenry prepaid teen debit card.
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