The Goal Kicker – June 2009

Welcome to this month’s edition of “The Goal Kicker” – the monthly ezine produced by achieve-goal-setting-success.com - dedicated to helping you achieve your goals by providing goal setting related articles and reviews of the latest goal setting products available.

In this edition you’ll find:

• An article on “Goal Setting for Kids”
• A review of the “Quantum Method”
• A review of the book “The Power of Failure”, by Charles C. Manz
• A review of this month’s Featured Link to www.selfgrowth.com
• ToolBOX Talk – how to get the best out of the ’10 Year Heath Plan’
• Our inspirational quote of the month explained.

”Goal Setting for Kids”

But there are 2 BIG mistakes we can make when helping our children set goals.

The first mistake that parents make is to assume that our kids are too young to set sensible goals and just not bother to teach them how. Sure, their goals may not be as life changing or earth shattering as ours (or maybe they are!), but ALL kids have a goal – whether sporting or academic – and kids that use a proper goal setting method will do better than kids with no plan at all.

The second mistake parents make is to take goal setting too seriously. Kid’s goals are obviously much different from adult’s, and their goals will change often as they grow older, as they learn more things, as they gain their own life experience and opinions. I think we all wanted to grow up to be a fireman or nurse, and not all of us did. It’s not that we failed to achieve our goals, it’s just that our goals changed as we grew. And it’s the same with YOUR kids too. If on Monday their goal was to be a ballerina and by the end of the week their goal was to be a footy player – it doesn’t matter! The important thing is to get them thinking about goals and the goal setting process.

Setting longer-term big-picture goals is less important than the short/medium term goals, and most import is teaching them the process of setting their own goals and achieving them. So teach your children why goal setting is important and how to do it. Get interested in their interests and if appropriate, help them set their own goals to achieve.

Goal setting for kids can help them keep focus on skill development like learning how to play a sport or musical instrument, saving pocket money or doing chores for reward. You can help teach goal setting for kids by:

• Get interested in their school work – read their assignments, check their homework, ask them to explain what they are learning at the moment at school – you’ll be surprised how much more interested they will be if you show that you are genuinely interested in what they are achieving and that there is value in what they are doing.
• Help them set academic goals – we all know that if you do well at school, the world really is your oyster. So let your kids know this too [even if they just want to be a truck driver, a good education is essential for surviving the pitfalls of modern life] and help them set academic goals – and rewards for these goals of course!
• A friend of mine paid his son $100 for every A, $50 for every B and $20 if he just passed a subject – but he didn’t get a cent if he failed any subjects. His son did very well after that! Of course this model is not appropriate for all children, but I’m sure you can come up with some reasonable targets for your children with suitable rewards. The important thing is do develop these in conjunction with your kids, so that the process is ‘owned’ by them.
• Get into discussion with your child about what they want to achieve over the next year – it’s good to do this at the start of a school year to introduce the concept of deadlines for goals, but anytime is better than no-time.
• When you’ve found out what they want to achieve, help them identify the steps required to get there and in particular, ask them what is the first thing they need to do to progress towards this goal. By doing this, you are starting the set the framework for goal setting for kids – keep at it!
• And most importantly – FOLLOW UP. Your child may just forget about the goal setting activities you’ve been through. Follow up regularly – that way they’ll learn that they need to take action to achieve their goals and they will also learn the important of monitoring progress against their goals if they are really going to achieve.

When discussing goal setting with your children it is useful to go through the section on ”About You” on the NavBar – the behaviour profile and multiple intelligences are equally applicable to children as they are to adults, and armed with this information, you will get a better idea of what makes your child tick!

And check out the tools in the ToolBOX under the section on ”Goal Setting Forms for Kids” – you’ll find a number of basic tools to help your children set and achieve their goals.

And refer to the ”Goals for Kids” tab on the NavBar for more information on how your children can set and achieve their goals.

Product of the Month – “Quantum Method”

Making your dreams come true through manifesting is a way of tapping into the unlimited and infinite source of your being. Manifesting so helps you discover your strengths, gifts and potential that are always with you, each moment, waiting to be illuminated.

In the process of manifesting your dreams you experience yourself in a profound and spiritual way, which makes you feel vibrant, alive and heart-glowing. You become an inspiring example to others and you are rewarded with prosperity and abundance on all levels of your life.

Discover the Quantum method for Manifesting Your Dreams.

The Dream Manifestation Wizard is a software for your computer that does one thing, and does it in a very profound and astonishing way - it reminds you of your dreams, helping align your thoughts until those dreams are manifested in your life.

They say that statistics on rich and successful people show that simply shifting their thinking is the major key that has changed their lives. Manifesting your dreams does not depend on your education, on your ethnicity or heritage, and in no way is it determined by your environment. It is only the result of your thinking!

So make your dreams come true with DreamManifesto.

Book of the Month – “The Power of Failure”, by Charles C. Manz

Under the “”How to Achieve a Goal” tab on the NavBar, we talk about reviewing our goals and in particular about learning from our success and failures.

This book provides simple discussion on this topic so that you can learn and adopt the pattern of success, and avoid the pattern of failure.

It provides practical advice on how to turn your failures into successes, and threats/ challenges into opportunities, and includes specific description on successfully overcoming some of life's most common setbacks.

But more importantly, it encourages you to see ‘failure’ as something that shouldn’t be feared, but rather as an opportunity to learn and excel.

So if you are afraid of failure, or regularly make the same mistakes without learning from them, or just want to improve your skills in learning from your set-backs – then this book will help by giving you some real practical advice that you can apply.

You can pick up a copy of “The Power of Failure” from a good bookstore, or order it online from Amazon.

Featured Link of the month - www.selfgrowth.com

It is designed to be an organized directory referencing information in other Web Sites on the World Wide Web, but also features inspiration forum discussions and articles on self-help topics such as Success Principles, Money and Careers, Health and Relationships to name a few.

The site also profiles self-help experts from around the world – nearly 3000 of them as of March 2008 - with links to the expert’s website for even more self-help information.

So as a seeker of information on success, achievement and other self-growth topics, the SelfGrowth website offers a wealth of information in the form of articles, inspirational quotes and through the discussion board forum. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the articles on forums, you can always try one of the many links to other self-help websites.

And if you have your own self-help website, SelfGrowth acts as a directory [with FREE URL submission], a site where you can upload your own self-help related articles and an opportunity to register as an ‘Expert’ and have your profile displayed on the site.

So next time you’re cruising online, check out www.selfgrowth.com - it’s got information for kids too!

ToolBOX Talk – how to get the best out of the ‘10 Year Health Plan’

In the section on “”Health Tools” you’ll find a 10 Year Health Plan. It just looks like a simple calendar of months, spanning a 10 year timeframe – and it is! So you can easily create your own personalised 10 year health plan if you prefer.

The purpose of this plan is to give you a birds eye view of major health events in your life. More specifically, it can be used to record:

• Major illnesses or injuries – record what the illness or injury was? When did it occur? How long did it take to recover? What treatment was required including any hospitalisation, rehabilitation and medication required. This information is important in case there are future recurrences related to this injury or illness.
• Recurring illnesses and problems – if you notice recurring illnesses or problems such as regular bouts of tonsillitis, a gammy knee that plays up now and again or other niggling health issue, record when these occur and under what conditions they occur, so you can get a picture of the frequency and when you are most susceptible. This information can help your doctor with a diagnosis and treatment plan.
• Health alerts – these might just be little things that happen that you think may have a health impact in the future. Things like exposure to asbestos or chemicals, a holiday to an exotic location or an animal bite. Also record any family health problems that may be hereditary – for example if a parent or sibling develops cancer or a genetic disease.
• Lifestyle changes – changes in living location, working conditions and stress levels, and general environment can influence your health. You may not notice any changes straight away, which is why it’s worth noting any significant lifestyle changes on your health plan.
• Routine health checks and vaccinations – make a note on the health plan when you have a routine check-up [skin check, bowel cancer screen, breast/pap/prostate check, general health check] or vaccination boosters and more importantly, mark on the health plan when you are due for your next check-up or vaccination so you don’t forget.

Of course, a more detailed health plan may be beneficial if you start to notice recurring problems such as headaches, fatigue and the like. You can record exactly when and under what conditions these problems occur, which can be very helpful for your doctor in making a diagnosis.

For more information on looking after your health, refer to the “”Health Goals” tab on the NavBar.

Have you got a better goal setting tool that you’d like to share with the world? Well, send it in and we’ll add it to the ToolBOX – kudos to you of course!

Our Quote of the Month – explained…

The message here is don’t give up. NEVER. EVER.

But perhaps we should look at a better ending.

“If at first you don’t succeed - analyse, review, plan and re-try”. In other words, don’t keep trying the same old thing if the same old thing doesn’t work. Look at why your first attempt wasn’t successful, review your strategy, plan how to do it better and try again.

This process of ‘analyse, review, plan and re-try’ can be done over and over again (2000 times in the case of Edison and his light bulb) until you succeed.

Not sure how you can apply this principle? Checkout the ‘’Success/ Failure Analysis’ Tool in the ToolBOX– it gives you a step-by-step guide on how to do it - and how to learn the pattern of success through your experiences.

Also read the book review above on “The Power of Failure”, by Charles C. Manz.