Setting Goals & the Value of Achievement: Helping Young People Aim, Act, and Grow

Kristijan Musek Lešnik
Nov 1, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Nov 26, 2025

Goals turn intention into action. Schools are ideal places to teach goal-setting, self-regulation, and persistence so young people can own their learning and celebrate progress.

“Success isn’t luck—it’s goals plus persistence.”

When we look at people who succeed in school, sports, business, or creative fields, one pattern appears again and again: success isn’t built on talent alone. It comes from clear goals, consistent effort, and the belief that small steps lead to big progress.

Why Goals Matter for Children and Youth

For children and young people, learning how to set goals is a powerful life skill. Goal-setting gives direction, boosts motivation, and helps students stay focused when challenges arise. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, they learn how to break tasks into manageable steps — and celebrate progress along the way.

Teaching goal-setting in school does more than improve academic performance. It strengthens self-confidence, resilience, and a sense of purpose. These are the skills that help young people thrive not just in the classroom, but in life.

When children and young people learn to define their own goals, they begin to take ownership of their learning — and their lives. When they learn to set and pursue goals, they:

stay motivated by a positive vision,
learn to plan and prioritize,
take responsibility for outcomes,
build confidence through experience,
feel real satisfaction from progress, not comparison.

From External Motivation to Inner Drive

In the beginning, adults set goals for children — finish your homework, tidy your desk, learn this skill. But over time, our task changes. We must help children replace our expectations with their own aspirations.

Our role is not to raise children who live our goals, but to raise young people who can live and pursue their own. This shift — from pleasing others to self-driven growth — marks an important milestone in maturity. It’s how children move from living reactively to living intentionally.

The Link Between Goals and Self-Regulation

Setting goals is more than wishful thinking — it’s a skill in self-regulation. It teaches children to organize their time, energy, and focus. And it gives them a lifelong framework for achieving meaning, not just success.

Children don’t yet know their full potential — we do. Our responsibility is to help them discover and use it.

Helping Children Value Their Achievements

Big victories are rare. But small, daily successes — finishing a task, learning something new, overcoming hesitation — build the same neural and emotional pathways that lead to resilience. Encouraging children to notice and celebrate these small steps teaches them to measure progress by effort and growth, not comparison.

What I Can Do for Children and Youth

Begin each week, month, or school year with a talk about what lies ahead — what we’ll learn, explore, and achieve.
Help them make their goals specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART).
Encourage them to track their progress and reflect on what’s working.
Celebrate achievements — both individual and collective.
Talk about their dreams and guide them in turning wishes into concrete goals.
Ask: “How will it feel when you reach this goal?”
Use play and projects to teach goal-setting naturally, in a safe environment.
Discuss possible obstacles and strategies to overcome them.
Help them distinguish between wishing (“I’d like to…”) and committing (“I will…”).

Every child deserves the joy of saying, “I did it.”

What I Can Do for Myself

Set clear, meaningful goals — both personal and professional.
Write them down and review them regularly.
Celebrate your own progress, no matter how small.
Share your journey with your students — show them that growth never stops.

Closing Thought

Every child holds the blueprint of their own future. Our role as educators or parents is to hand them the tools — and the confidence — to build it. Our goal is not to make children live our dreams, but to help them discover and live their own.