I cant fully take credit for this one actually but this is the best hack for getting kids to set goals and keep working at achieving them. It works a treat. Just like magic. And what kid doesn’t love magic?
The Invention of this Magical Master
So my husband comes up the other day with a piece of paper and an incredibly excited look on his face. He had been outside everyday lately with my daughter, trying to get her to practice her soccer kicks and has set her a goal of kicking the ball off her foot 10 times in a row. He offered her a whole 50 bucks if she could do it. He knows that she has always been extrinsically driven and has a tendency to give up when things get hard so he wanted to get her to stick with something that is challenging for her and that she hopefully sees through to the end.
Of course, initially, she was super keen about the idea of adding $50 to her pocket money stash. But at 7 years old and after trying it a few times, the excitement wore off fairly quickly, as she knew she was going to have to put in some serious practice if she was to achieve this goal and end up $50 richer.
To be fair to her, she initially put in some effort on her part but not without some serious encouragement from her super competitive father who kept giving her pep talks about not giving up. Which, she is pretty good at doing some times because she doesn’t like to fail.
So one day last week, he comes home from work with this amazing idea that he had scribbled down on this piece of paper quickly and was excited to share with us.
He had developed what he called The Achievement Angel, a personified form of goal setting techniques that she could use to encourage herself, not just to achieve her goal but to stick at it. And honestly we haven’t looked back. Our daughter is now using her very own Achievement Angel, (who she calls Annie Cannie- simply because Annie CAN-nie) and is getting closer to her $50 goal everyday because of it.
Here is how it works.
These are the 8 main principles incorporated into the Achievement Angel concept.
#1 Goal Setting is Personified
The concept here, is that everyone has an Achievement Angel. (You can choose to call it whatever you like, a Magic Master, a Superhero Supporter, whatever works). The idea of an Achievement Angel really resonated with our 7 year old daughter, so we stuck with that.
#2 Your Achievement Angel lives inside you.
Your Achievement Angel is within you and is determined to help you set and achieve your goals. He or she lives in your brain and will support and encourage you along the way and will never give up on you.
#3 Your Achievement Angel loves to help you set achievable goals but thrives on a challenge
Your Achievement Angel will help you set goals, but you must have a goal or something you want to achieve for her to be present. She or he can only help you if your goal is actually achievable, (So no flying to the moon sorry kids,-yet anyway). Although your goal needs to be achievable, your Achievement Angel also likes a challenge. She gets bored if things are too easy but will thrive when something is hard. Once you share this goal with her, your Achievement Angel will be there with you every step of the way to help you achieve it.
#4 Your Achievement Angel is incredibly focused and persistent
She, or he, is focused on the end result and will help you put in every effort needed to achieve everything you set out to. She is super good at persisting, dislikes giving up and will help you battle away those negative thoughts that tell you that you can’t do it. She is strong and wont let you give up.
#5 Your Achievement Angel enjoys the entire process of working on a goal
He or she, shines when you set goals and you enjoy working toward completing something challenging. She also wants you to enjoy the whole process, not just look forward to the end result.
#6 You must trust your Achievement Angel
You need to believe and trust that your Achievement Angel will help you. Do not be impatient if you feel it is not working. With practice, effort and persistence, your Achievement Angel will help your learning and implementation of your learning to become automatic.
Believe in your achievement angel and that she believes you can do it. Before you start working on your goal with your Achievement Angel, you must know that you can do it. He/she can help you find evidence that it is possible.
#7 Your Achievement Angel loves mistakes
Your achievement angel loves to make mistakes because mistakes show you how to correct an action. He/she knows that if you make a mistake, then you need to stop and think about that mistake, then use it, learn from it and then keep practicing over and over until you don’t make that mistake again. He/she knows all failures are worthwhile in order to achieve success.
#8 Your Achievement Angel has an amazing imagination
Your Achievement Angel loves it when you use your imagination. She wants you to imagine yourself achieving this goal and how it will feel when you do.
She also wants you to use those imaginary skills when you are practicing a new skill that will help you achieve the end result. For example, if you are practicing to kick a ball on your foot, she wants you to imagine yourself doing this before you go ahead and practice it. She knows that the art of visualisation is an extremely powerful tool when working towards something. Download your free Achievement Angel Info-graphic here and get your kids to put it somewhere visible to remind them of their goals, keep them focused and continually striving to achieve them. (Tip- to print you need to adjust your printer settings to fit page size).
The Power that lies within this concept
All of these concepts of the Achievement Angel are common in all goal setting structures. If applied well, the likelihood of achieving a goal multiplies. Kids need to not only understand the importance of having goals to work towards, but that it often takes extraordinary effort, willpower and faith to achieve them. For kids, being able to imagine that there is a part of you, that can help you with these ideas, like a little imaginary friend constantly cheering you on, is not just a fun idea, but it actually works.
I have never seen our daughter so keen to achieve something that is so challenging for her. She is not just inspired to get to 10 ball kicks, she has the desire to practice, and persist and enjoy spending time with her angel along the way. I honestly, don’t even think it’s about the money anymore.
Breakthrough.
After barely even being able to control 1 kick on her foot a few days ago, she can do 2 with ease now, and has made it to 5 already. Half way there. And I truly believe that she will do it. Because she believes she will too.