Section 6. Youth Goal Setting

• Why is goal setting important for young people?

• When should young people set goals?

• How do young people set goals?

• Planning for action

• How do you review and adjust mentoring goals?

Why is goal setting important for young people?

Everyone has strengths, interests, aspirations, responsibilities, and challenges that shape the path toward what they want to accomplish. Goal setting can help young people identify what matters to them, recognize the strengths and resources they can draw on, anticipate possible barriers, and develop realistic plans for moving forward.

Goal setting can also provide focus and direction within a mentoring relationship. Once you and your mentee have had time to build trust and get to know one another, you can begin discussing goals the young person wants to work toward and how the mentoring relationship might support them.

• You may wish to develop a shared mentoring plan that identifies personal, social, educational, career, or other goals for the short term -- such as the next month, six months, or year -- as well as longer-term aspirations
• You and your mentee can periodically review progress, discuss what has been learned, and decide whether the goals or strategies should change
• You can recognize and celebrate progress, effort, accomplishments, and milestones along the way

When should young people set goals?

Many mentoring programs are designed to help young people pursue goals that matter to them. Although it may seem natural to begin formal goal setting immediately, it can be helpful to first establish a relationship in which the young person feels respected, listened to, and comfortable sharing what matters to them.

Some goal-setting tools ask people to reflect on school, family, relationships, skills, interests, challenges, or future plans. These questions can feel personal, time-consuming, or overwhelming, particularly if the format does not match the young person's communication, literacy, language, disability, or learning needs.

For that reason, do not rush formal goal setting simply because a form or program schedule says it should happen. You can still have informal conversations about interests, hopes, priorities, and things the young person would like to change or explore while the relationship is developing.

Most importantly, the goals should belong to the young person. They should understand that you are there to support their thinking, not to assign goals or pressure them into choices they do not value. Taking time to build trust can lead to goals that are more meaningful, realistic, and motivating.

How do young people set goals?

The central principle is that your mentee's goals should reflect their own interests, priorities, and aspirations rather than goals someone else has chosen for them.

Even ambitious goals deserve to be taken seriously. Your role can be to help the young person explore what the goal means to them and identify smaller steps that could move them in that direction. For example, someone interested in leading a business someday might first explore career pathways, strengthen relevant skills, meet people working in the field, or pursue educational opportunities connected to that goal.

Characteristics goals should have

Strong goals are often:

• Clear: The young person can describe what they want to accomplish and what progress toward the goal might look like.
• Meaningful: The goal matters to the young person and connects with their interests, priorities, values, or aspirations.
• Achievable: The goal is realistic enough to work toward while still providing an appropriate challenge. Large goals can often be divided into smaller steps.
• Within the young person's influence: Some outcomes depend partly on other people or circumstances, so it can be useful to focus on actions the young person can take. For example, they cannot guarantee that an employer will offer them a job, but they can prepare a resume, complete applications, practice interviewing, and seek guidance from people they trust.
• Trackable: The young person can identify signs of progress. These might include completing particular steps, developing a new skill, reaching a milestone, or meeting a specific outcome.
• Personally relevant: The goal should be something the young person genuinely wants to pursue, not simply something they believe an adult expects from them.
• Supportive of well-being and growth: Goals should contribute positively to the young person's development and should not involve harming themselves or others.

Common methods used in preparing young people for goal setting:

There are many ways you and your mentee can prepare for goal setting. The best approach will depend on the young person's age, interests, communication style, preferences, and the type of mentoring relationship you have.

A note: Some goal-setting surveys and worksheets are long and ask young people to reflect on many areas of their lives. Some participants may find this useful and thought-provoking; others may find the forms tiring, overly personal, inaccessible, or simply not a good fit.

If a standard form does not work well, adapt the process. You might divide it across several meetings, shorten the questions, discuss them verbally, use visual or digital tools, or select only the sections that are relevant to the young person's goals.

You and your mentee can also create your own goal-setting process together. This can be especially useful because the young person helps decide what questions matter, what format feels comfortable, and what kind of planning will actually help them. Goal setting then becomes a collaborative process rather than another task assigned by an adult.

• Youth priorities and interests survey: A questionnaire or discussion guide that helps the young person reflect on areas such as relationships, school, work, interests, health, community involvement, skills, goals, and other parts of life that matter to them. For an example, see the Tools section.
• Strengths and skills inventory: A survey, conversation, or activity that helps the young person identify skills, knowledge, interests, experiences, and areas they may want to develop further. In the Tools section, you can find a sample inventory.

You and your mentee may choose to complete these activities together. Once the young person has had an opportunity to reflect, you can discuss their priorities and preferences.

During this discussion, you can:

• Identify strengths, interests, goals, available resources, and barriers that may affect progress
• Develop short- and long-term objectives connected to the young person's priorities
• Brainstorm different strategies the young person might use to reach those objectives
• Decide what first step feels manageable and useful
• Discuss how the young person would like to recognize or celebrate progress
• Decide how progress will be reviewed and when it might make sense to adjust the goal or strategy

The result of the discussion may be an action plan that includes short- and long-term objectives, possible timelines, strategies, people or organizations who may be able to help, useful resources, and ways to recognize progress. Each action plan should reflect the individual young person rather than following a one-size-fits-all model.

During goal setting, your role is to help your mentee recognize their strengths, clarify what matters to them, identify possible barriers and supports, and break larger goals into manageable steps. Goals should be realistic enough to make progress possible while still providing opportunities for growth and learning.

Some of the most valuable tools you can bring to goal setting are:

• Respect -- let the young person help determine the direction and priorities of the goal-setting process
• Patience -- give the young person time to think, reconsider, and make decisions
• Encouragement -- recognize effort, initiative, learning, and progress without taking ownership of the goal away from the young person

Goal setting is an ongoing process. You, your mentee, and program staff may periodically review how the mentoring relationship is supporting the young person's goals. If a strategy is not working, that does not necessarily mean the young person has failed. You can reconsider the goal, identify new barriers or resources, adjust the timeline, or try a different approach.

Planning for action

After your mentee identifies a goal they want to pursue, you can work together on an action plan. A useful action plan breaks a goal into practical steps and helps anticipate the supports or barriers that may affect progress.

You may want to discuss:

• What actions or steps may help move toward the goal
• Who will take each action, if people other than the young person are involved
• When the steps might happen
• What resources, information, accommodations, or support may be needed
• What barriers or challenges might arise and how the young person could respond
• Which people, organizations, or resources might be useful to involve

You do not necessarily need a separate action plan for every concern or issue identified in a survey. Focus on the goals the young person identifies as most important and manageable at that time.

How do you review and adjust mentoring goals?

Goals may change throughout the mentoring relationship. A goal may turn out to be more difficult than expected, easier than expected, no longer relevant, or less important than something new that emerges. Changing a goal can be a sign of learning rather than failure.

You and your mentee can periodically review what has happened, what is working, what has changed, and what the young person wants to do next.

Some approaches include:

• Encourage your mentee to track progress in whatever way is useful to them. For an academic goal, this might include assignments, attendance, study habits, or grades. For other goals, a checklist, journal, calendar, app, portfolio, photo record, or conversation may work better.
• If the young person wants to document progress, help them choose a method they control and are comfortable using. Avoid keeping unnecessary records about the mentee without their knowledge.
• Periodically review progress together. Discuss successes, setbacks, new information, changes in circumstances, and whether the goal, timeline, or strategy should be adjusted.

Celebrating successes

Recognizing progress can help make goal setting encouraging and meaningful. Celebrate effort, learning, persistence, milestones, and accomplishments in ways that feel appropriate to the young person.

Ways you might celebrate include:

• Setting aside a meeting for an activity the young person enjoys
• Holding a program gathering, picnic, or recognition event that celebrates participants' contributions and growth
• Offering a certificate, note, or other form of recognition when the young person would appreciate it
• Giving an appropriate small gift or experience if program policy allows and the young person values that form of recognition
• Sharing accomplishments in a program newsletter, website, or other communication only with the young person's permission
• Offering sincere and specific encouragement that recognizes effort, learning, and progress

Different young people will prefer different kinds of recognition. Some may enjoy public celebration, while others may prefer a private conversation, shared activity, or simple acknowledgment. Ask what feels meaningful rather than assuming everyone wants the same kind of reward.

Remember that progress is not always linear. A setback does not erase earlier growth, and a young person does not need to reach every goal for the mentoring relationship to have value.

In Summary

Goal setting can help young people identify what matters to them and turn broad hopes or interests into practical steps. Effective goals are meaningful to the young person, realistic enough to pursue, flexible enough to change, and connected to the strengths, resources, relationships, and opportunities available to them.

The mentor's role is not to decide what the young person should accomplish. It is to listen, ask questions, help identify possibilities and resources, support planning, and encourage reflection as circumstances change.

Goal setting works best as an ongoing, collaborative process. Goals may evolve, timelines may change, and different strategies may be needed along the way. By respecting the young person's choices and recognizing both progress and learning, mentors can help make goal setting a useful part of a supportive mentoring relationship.