More than half of all New Year’s resolutions fail according to the New York Times, yet it is important to set goals to improve one’s life (Miller).  Whether it’s studying for an upcoming test or training to become a lawyer, goals move people forward. It is easy to set goals, but planning how to accomplish goals can be challenging.

“Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound — requiring a deadline or specific time frame,” said  Keisha Moore-Medina, a therapist at the Menninger Clinic in Houston, in an interview with NPR News.

LHS English teacher Ms. Marvin is striving to make her last four years of teaching memorable. Finishing the National Board Certification for teaching is Ms. Marvin’s main goal.

“By setting goals, I keep myself focused and busy. It’s easy to let go and watch Netflix, but by having goals, I always have things to plan, to do, and to accomplish,” she said.

LHS senior Evelyn Neeley has set two significant goals that she thinks will help her both personally and professionally in the future.

“I’m going to Young Life every week and learning how it works and helping run events and lead discussion. I’m also working on my college goal by completing applications, applying for scholarships, and researching different universities,” said Neeley.

“Having goals helps me to create a mental list of what I need to achieve and where I see value in things. If I have goals that are solely focused on one thing I need to reset my mind and figure out why I’m obsessed with that one goal,” Neeley said.

LHS senior William Richardson has a long-term goal of becoming a lawyer. Writing his goals down will help him achieve his long-term goal in the future.

 “After making clear what my goal was, I evaluate whether I achieved it or not. It is always useful to write down goals and whether you achieved them or not. Realizing this makes what you do in the future more valuable and purposeful,” he said.

Learning to set goals is essential to academic success in high school.  There are many distractions in life that keep students from achieving their goals.

 “It’s easy to scroll a phone for hours a day, or to binge a tv show- basically, you are doing absolutely nothing. But by setting goals and planning the steps and taking action, you will get things accomplished,” said Marvin.

Not all goals are attainable. When people overwhelm themselves with too many goals or set the bar too high it can lead to frustration and discouragement.

“When I was a freshman I had a goal to be in as many clubs as I could and I did not reach this goal. Having learned I could not balance that, however, I figured out what I could fully commit to and now I’m doing better at balancing my life,” Neeley said. 

Failure can often lead to success. Richardson did not give up when failing the first time.

“I failed to reach my goal of making the basketball team in 7th grade. I was very disappointed, but it inspired me to practice harder for the next year so I would not feel the same failure again. I practiced hard and I did make the team the next year, making my efforts worthwhile.”

Sometimes you will fail to reach your goal. This happens very often, it’s how you respond to failure that shows your character.

 “Well, to be honest, the first time I tried to gain my National Board Certificate, I failed. I remember getting that score and just being so disheartened. But I learned that it wasn’t the end of the journey and even though it was hard, I was going to try again next year,” Marvin said.

 Ms. Marvin didn’t give up on her goal and achieved it the next year.

 “The first time I successfully finished my National Board Certificate was such a relief and a great feeling. Knowing that my hard work paid off and that I learned from the process was such an exhilarating feeling.”

Rewarding yourself after reaching a goal is an option to motivate yourself. Taking breaks can be helpful to some people as well.

 “I think reaching these goals is more than enough of a reward, but for instance, if I do well on an exam I’ll buy myself a coffee, or I’ll take a break from studying to read a book for fun or watch a show,” she said. 

 There are a lot of different strategies to help keep track of goals. Color coding is one strategy that works for Marvin both in her teaching and in her personal life.

 “I keep a Happy Planner. I love to keep my notes in it and plan my week. I like using different colored pens for different categories of planning that I do,” Marvin said.

Before people set a goal, they should determine if it is the right goal for them. Some of the reasons that goals fail are because the goal is set on what someone else or society determines a person should strive for, goals are too vague, and people may not have a clear and realistic plan to achieve the goal (Miller).

“Setting goals for myself is important because it is crucial to have a purpose in everything I do. If there is not something that I am trying to accomplish or achieve, I realize that I may be selling myself short of what I could achieve in life,” Richardson said.

Self Satisfaction is a powerful payoff after achieving a specific goal.

“I achieved my goal of getting above a B in my AP Chem class last year. It was satisfying to see my work come to fruition and be rewarded for my effort,” Neeley said.

 Following through on a set goal can be time-consuming but worth it in the long run.

“A goal I had over the summer was to get a certain score on the ACT test that would help in my greater goal of going to college. I prepared for it and felt calm and ready on the day of the test and I got the score that I wanted. I was very excited that my effort to get the score paid off and it increased my confidence for future goals” said Richardson.

“The more success you have with goals now, the more success you will likely have with goals in the future.”