Welcome to a new calendar year 2023, we are grateful to God for how far he has brought us.
Holiday activities are gradually coming to a halt, our children are gearing up for resumption and parents are getting back to their businesses. One important aspect we should never neglect is teaching and showing our children how to create and set their goals.
As parents, we have several expectations from or for our children that they are unaware of which makes it difficult for them to align or achieve. We want what is best for our children, however it is important to get them involved in the process of their lives no matter how insignificant we might think it is.
Our children are at different stages and phases of their lives, so it will be appropriate to create a goal ladder that suits their age. I know the first goal on every parent’s mind is academic, which is absolutely fantastic but there are other areas and aspects of your children’s life that can impact on their academics.
Ask your child what areas they would like to improve on, help them if it is possible to categorise these areas, it does not have to be a lot we can start with three or five it all depends on the level your child is at.
The first goal should be emotional and social awareness which has several branches.
⇒ Confidence Level or Self-awareness.
How do they intend to improve in this area. What was their major challenge or obstacle, and how can you help them. Children are imaginative so we want to help them as much by painting healthy pictures and stories so we can see how they can achieve this.
⇒ Health and Well-being
They are young but they are not foolish. What is their diet like? Do they eat vegetables, or they run away from it, have we decided to give them only what they love to eat? This is the time to teach and encourage them on the importance of eating healthy and how it affects their brain and the impact it has on their daily output.
⇒ Building a healthy relationship amongst siblings and friends.
The culture of relationship starts from the home, how do your children relate with their siblings, do they have a mutual respect for each other or are they constantly fighting and yelling at each other? Children get to fight, but we must teach them to build trust, respect and love for each other and this must also translate to their other relationships.
What was their relationship with their friends like? Did it impact on their character positively or negatively? As a parent, do you know your child’s friends or the family they come from, these things are very important.
Read also: In 2023: Be the go-getter of your goal
⇒ Education
We get educated everyday through several experiences and happenings in our lives. Going through school and smashing our grades is not enough. Are your children getting educated? Do we create learning moments for them and translate it to their academics?
What aspects academically are the lagging behind? List it out in the order of their strengths and help them see how they can improve, for their weaknesses create more engaging activities that can help them improve, now this is not to burden them with a lot of work, because children get fatigued from schoolwork.
⇒ Self-development
Our children have one or more extra-curricular activity that they are involved in, it is good to explore, however consistency is key, in a situation where your child wants to do swimming and chess this term, before you go ahead and sign them up, have a robust conversation about the importance of this life skill because it is not leisure, swimming is a life tool, chess helps them become more strategic in decision making and a lot of patience is developed as well. It is better to get to the highest pinnacle with these activities than just dumping an activity on them. They can choose; however, your role is to show them through examples.
⇒ Relationships with God
Do your children truly know who the God you serve is?
Do they have a personal relationship based on what you have taught them or do they access God through your eyes. Life as we all know it, is spiritual and just the way we feed our physical flesh we have to also feed spiritually. Show them how to pray, and learn a scripture a week or even a Bible story with present day examples to make it relatable
Get as many cardboard papers as possible and create a goal ladder on the wall with muscles. Every time they improve their goal the ladder develops a muscle.
Segment each goal into steps on the ladder, and every step should have a graph so they can see their weekly or daily improvement. Repetition is a law of deep and lasting impression we have to consistently follow through and really be involved in their goal ladder and make it a big deal. Celebrate their wins and guide them through the difficult areas.
Lastly, get a gratitude jar where your children drop something they are grateful for each week, or something that excited them, this will help them build memories of events and keep them always in a state of gratitude.
Watch your children step on their goal ladder daily, weekly, monthly and watch them become a better version of themselves.
