Beyond Resolutions: 5 Human Skills-Based Strategies to Help Students Reach Their Goals

The new year is the perfect time to set new goals in classrooms and school communities—and Second Step® programs are the perfect tool to help you and your students reach them. The process of setting goals is beneficial to kids for countless reasons. The use of mastery goals is associated with strengthened self-efficacy, positive relationships, empathy, and prosocial behaviors.

Here are five human skills-based strategies for students and educators to set and reach big goals in the coming year.

1. Help students grasp the importance of goal-setting

Setting goals is something students and adults are often encouraged to do almost without explanation, especially around the new year. While adults understand the importance of taking a strategic and disciplined approach to personal growth, kids don’t naturally grasp the long-term thinking needed to set and reach meaningful goals.

Before starting the goal-setting process, it’s helpful to first teach kids about the purpose and value of setting meaningful goals. Remind them that goal-setting is as much about the process—the reflecting, strategizing, and self-motivating—as it is about the final goal itself. Reaching goals is great, but learning to create a path to reach them is what benefits students the most in the long run.

Goal-setting tip: Give real-world examples of goal-setting in action. Athletes, artists, and other role models can help students see how effort, practice, and persistence over time lead to meaningful progress.

2. Make the goals meaningful

Deciding what goals to set and why is the most important part of the process. Students—and educators, too—will be more invested in setting and pursuing goals if the goals mean something to them. Give kids plenty of time and structure to reflect on which things—such as school subjects, extracurricular hobbies, sports, or social lives—are most important to them. Then, have them reflect on how they want to grow in each of those areas.

When goals feel personal, students are more likely to stay motivated, even when progress is slow or challenges arise. Meaningful goals help students connect effort today with outcomes they care about tomorrow.

Goal-setting tip: Ask students to explain why a goal matters to them. Writing or talking through their reasons helps clarify motivation and builds commitment to the process.

3. Set a variety of goals

Goal-setting for students is usually focused on academic improvement—like becoming a stronger reader, raising a grade by five percent in social studies, or scoring higher on the state math assessment. These are important goals to set, but it’s also important to help students set goals in a variety of areas, not just academics.

A well-rounded set of goals requires students to balance differing priorities, such as making new friends, learning new hobbies, and making smart food choices. It also strengthens executive-function skills. As students begin working toward their goals, they’ll make choices about which goals to focus on and when—and how to adjust their plans when needed.

Goal-setting tip: Have students set three goals: one academic goal, one social goal, and one personal goal.

4. Predict obstacles

Pursuing new goals is all well and good until the first obstacle hits. Then the focus can quickly shift from the goal to the obstacle, which could derail progress. During the goal-setting process, help students think ahead about what obstacles they might face along the way—and how they will handle them.

For example, if their goal is to make the seventh grade basketball team, ask how they’ll stay motivated when practices feel hard or the weather gets cold. If they want to raise their grade in math, ask how they’ll respond when they struggle with a new concept. Planning ahead builds flexibility and persistence—two essential human skills for long-term success.

Goal-setting tip: Ask students to name one challenge they expect to face and one strategy they can use to get past it. Writing down a backup plan helps normalize setbacks and reinforces that obstacles are a natural part of working toward any goal.

5. Set goals for yourself, too

As your students or kids set goals for the new year, educators and adults can, too. Use the same process you’re teaching students to take a more thoughtful, generous approach to your own goal-setting.

As you help students think through their goals, take the opportunity to reflect on your own. Are your goals meaningful to you? Are they well-rounded? What obstacles can you foresee? Modeling your thinking makes goal-setting feel real, relevant, and achievable for students.

Adult goal-setting tip: Share one of your own goals and talk through the steps you’re taking to reach it. Showing progress as well as setbacks helps students see goal-setting as a realistic, ongoing process.

Strengthening human skills to reach big goals

Goal-setting is about more than just the goals themselves. It’s about strengthening the human skills students need to plan, adapt, and persist over time. When educators use a human skills-based approach, goal-setting becomes an opportunity for students to practice reflection, decision-making, self-motivation, and resilience—skills that will help them set and reach big goals well beyond this year.

To learn more about how Second Step programs can help students strengthen skills to reach their goals in the new year, schedule a consultation with one of our experts today.