Table of Contents >
   Part G. Implementing Promising Community Interventions
      Chapter 22. Youth Mentoring Programs >
         Section 6. Youth Goal Setting >
             Main Section - Introduction, what, why, when, who, and how. >

Youth Goal Setting

  

Main Section

 Contributed by Lorraine Claassen Edited by Kate Nagy

Why is it important for youth to set goals?

When should youth set goals?

How do youth set goals?

Planning for action

How do you review and adjust mentoring goals?



Why is it important for youth to set goals?


From time to time, everyone experiences difficulty getting started on the path to success. Each of us has our own set of strengths that help us, and barriers that hinder us on the way. Goal setting helps us separate our strengths from weaknesses and make realistic plans for improving our lives.

Goal setting provides focus and context to a mentor pair. Once you have established a relationship with your protégé, the two of you together can start deciding on goals for the relationship and the coming year. For example:

  • You may wish to develop a contract for your relationship, outlining personal, and social and educational goals for the coming year. For a sample contract, check the Tools section.
  • You can periodically assess your protégés progress in reaching his or her goals.
  • You can celebrate when goals or significant achievements are made.


When should youth set goals?


The purpose of most mentoring programs is to help youth reach their goals. Goal setting can take place before or after a youth is matched with an adult, but it usually is completed at the start of the mentor relationship.


How do youth set goals?


The main thing to remember is that your protégés goals must be his or her own, not goals someone else has set for them. Even extremely lofty goals should be respected, and you can show your protégé how to break down that goal into smaller steps on the way to reaching the goal. For example, a good education is an important first step in becoming president of a corporation.


Your protégés goals should have the following characteristics:

Conceivable: The protégé should be able to define what he wants, so it becomes clear what the steps are to achieve the goal.

Believable: The protégé must believe she can reach her goal.

Achievable: The goals the protégé sets must be within his strengths and abilities. For example, somebody who has never lifted weights before probably should not set a goal of a 300 lb. bench press by next week.

Controllable: To the extent possible, the protégés reaching the goal should not depend on someone else. For example, getting a job may depend on the job market and your protégés parents' approval. However, talking to her parents about getting a job or developing a resume are things your protégé can control.

Measurable: The goal should be measurable by a certain time or quantity. If the goal is to get an "A" in algebra, then the protégé should know what grades he needs to get on tests and assignments.

Desirable: The goal should be some thing your protégé really wants to do, not something she feels she must do, or should do. For example, earning a living is something that we have to do, while learning to play baseball may be something we would like to do.

Help you grow: The goal should never be self-destructive or be destructive towards others or society. Drinking a six-pack of beer before the next morning is believable, achievable, measurable and controllable, but is not a goal to be supported. You should be able to guide your protégé to constructive goals.


Some common methods used in preparing youth for goal setting:

Now that you know the basic characteristics of goals, we will discuss some methods you and your protégé can use to prepare to set some goals.

Youth concerns survey: A questionnaire that asks the youth to evaluate certain aspects of her life, such as family and social relationships, school achievement, and personal capacities. For an example of a youth concerns survey, see the Tools section!

Skills inventory: A survey/questionnaire that asks the youth to mark off proficiencies in job, professional, and academic skills and rate their importance to him. In the Tools section you can find a sample skills inventory.

It's a good idea for you and your protégé to fill out the concerns survey or skills inventory together. As soon as the surveys have been completed, the two of you can discuss your protégés priorities and preferences. During this discussion, you should:

  • Define challenges the youth faces, including personal goals the youth would like to realize and barriers to reaching those goals.
  • Make long- and short-term objectives to help approach personal goals and overcome challenges.
  • Brainstorm different strategies used to reach the objectives.
  • Select a point of departure to start the goal-obtaining process.
  • Discuss ways to celebrate progress made in meeting objectives.
  • Decide how to evaluate progress on reaching goals, and changing goals if necessary.

The product of your discussion should be an action plan that contains an illustration of short- and long-term objectives, dates around which they will be completed, strategies to use in achieving them, people to contact for help, valuable resources, and means by which to celebrate completed tasks. As you can see, each action plan is highly individualized!

During the goal setting process, it's your job to help your protégé recognize and clarify personal strengths, weaknesses, and barriers, and to help him or her prioritize preferences and set up realistic tasks that can lead to small successes from which further work can be completed. Remember, the most valuable tools that you can use during goal setting are:

  • Respect (let the protégé decide the direction of goal-setting)
  • Patience (give the youth time to make up her mind!)
  • Encouragement (support the protégés decisions and applaud her initiative)

Even though goal setting takes place at the start of the mentor relationship, it really is an ongoing process. You, your protégé, and program staff will be monitoring pair progress throughout the life of the mentoring relationship and make recommendations to changes or modifications that need to be made. If little progress is seen, you and your protégé may have to reevaluate your goals or brainstorm for alternate strategies to complete the action plan.


Planning for action


After your protégé has finished identifying his or her goals, it's time to talk about an action plan. A good action plan helps will help your protégé recognize all the steps he needs to take to meet his goals. It also helps your protégé prepare for difficulties he might face. With your protégé, you'll want to discuss:

  • What actions are needed to reach the goal.
  • Who will take those actions (if someone besides the youth is involved)
  • When the actions will be taken.
  • Resources needed in support of the action.
  • Difficulties your protégé might face, and possible solutions.
  • People your protégé should talk to about his or her plans.

Help your protégé make an action plan for each of the top priority issues he or she identifies in the Youth Concerns Survey (see Tools section). An example of a completed action plan can be found in the Examples section and a blank action plan can be found in the Tools section also.


How do you review and adjust mentoring goals?


Throughout the course of the mentoring relationship, your protégés goals may change. The two of you may find the goals you have set are too challenging, not challenging enough, or simply no longer relevant to your protégés life. Even if the goals don't change, you'll want to keep track of the progress your protégé makes toward his or her goals, as well as additional steps, if any, that need to be taken in order to reach those goals.

To help your protégé review and, if necessary, adjust his or her goals, there are several things you can do:

Encourage your protégé to track her own progress toward her goals. For example, if her goal is to get an A in Algebra, she can create a wall chart or table that lists each test score she gets and what scores she needs to receive in order to meet her goal.

Record your protégés steps toward his goal in a journal or logbook, and record achievements and goals met. You can also keep photographs, slides, and charts of his progress toward his goals.

Periodically meet with your protégé to review successes, discuss places where she fell short, and evaluate her progress.

Celebrating successes

All of us need to feel that our accomplishments are noteworthy. Recognizing big and little efforts will motivate your protégé, add fun to your relationship and the goal-setting process, and give your protégé something to anticipate. Celebrating is a nice way for a mentor pair to sit back and enjoy the collaboration. Ways you can reward progress include:

  • Setting aside a meeting for a fun activity that your protégé chooses.
  • Sponsoring or asking the program to sponsor a semi-annual picnic, party, or awards ceremony recognizing protégé achievement.
  • Presenting your protégé with a certificate or blue ribbon of achievement.
  • Giving your protégé a gift certificate or something else meaningful.
  • Publishing a newsletter or sending out an internal press release announcing your protégés progress.
  • Give lots of verbal praise. There's nothing quite like receiving compliments from your friends!

Protégés may work hard but have difficulty recognizing the progress they make, causing them to lose hope and motivation. They may also be used to having their actions go unnoticed or rewarded by the adults in their lives, leaving them to feel like they can't change their situation or like no one cares. That's why celebrating successes is so important to the mentoring relationship. Remember: Every kind of effort deserves an A!


To sum it up


In order to make progress, your protégé needs to get goals that are challenging yet achievable. This section will help you and your protégé identify and decide which are the most important goals you should try to accomplish.



We encourage the reproduction of this material, but ask that you credit

the Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu



Resources

Campus Partners in Learning. (1990). Resource manual for campus-based youth mentoring programs. Providence, RI: Brown University.

Freedman, M. (1993). The kindness of strangers: adult mentors, urban youth, and the new volunteerism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Kanfer, F. (1995). A Mentor manual: for adults who work with pregnant and parenting teens. Washington, D.C.: Child Welfare League of America.

Public/Private Ventures. (1994, Winter). Mentoring in the Juvenile Justice System. Philadelphia, PA: Mecartney, C.A.