Goal Setting For Scouts, Leaders, and Families

One of the most powerful advantages of kids going through the programs created by Scouting America is that kids develop perseverance to work through obstacles and learn to problem solve to achieve amazing things. In the spirit of the new year, and to tie into the Personal Management merit badge, I wanted to give you the chance to sit down with your kid(s), no matter what their age(s), and set both individual and family goals together!

One of the most important aspects to goal setting is accountability. By both writing down your goals, and then sharing your goals with people who will support you, you increase your likelihood of achieving your goal. By using Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA as a platform to build upon, you can create the perfect environment to set some big goals and use that built-in network to keep you motivated!

I was just talking to a friend yesterday, and something that had just come up for her recently was tackling “small and doable” goals. It reminded me of what is usually a huge barrier to goal-getting: not knowing how to start! Another common pitfall of goal-setting is setting goals that are “already” going to happen, so not setting goals that are BIG enough! Lastly, lots of people get really excited about setting goals and then create goals that “look good” or goals that they “should” be achieving. In this blog, we will go through how to make goals that pack a punch and that are powerful to YOU and your family, AND how to break off doable chunks to make anything possible.

This goal-setting process can be done by yourself or with a group. I have found that my most powerful goals come after following this process a couple of times back-to-back (just a couple of days or a week a part).

1. Grab a pen and paper and if you are with a group, sit where you can see everyone. Set a timer for 5 minutes. In those 5 minutes, brainstorm seven values that inspire you. Don’t overthink this, it is ok to have a couple more than seven. I found this awesome list of words if you or your Scouts are feeling stuck. If you are working with Cub Scouts, have a discussion with them and ask them to pick a word that stands out to them. What do they want more of in their days or what do they have in their days that they love? Some great examples for that age group are “fun, play, generosity (sharing/kindness – teach them a new word!), curiosity, learning, and art.
2. If you have an older group, after you have 7ish words written down, set a timer for 3 more minutes and narrow down your list to 3-5 words. Just like the Personal Management merit badge teaches, learning to prioritize is important! Pay careful attention to any words that overlap, you can easily eliminate that way (for example, if you have fitness and health circled, narrow it down to one word that really hits home for you!). For Cub Scouts, take this opportunity to write everyone’s words (next to their names) on a whiteboard/chalkboard/poster so they can see it!
3. If you have the luxury of a little additional time, this is a great spot to pause and share what you have written down, and why those words (core values) are important to you. Part of sticking to goals is firmly cementing why they are important to you! For Cub Scouts, you can ask them to share why their word is important to them too!
4. Have your group write down the number “12” at the top of a new page of paper (skip this step for younger Cub Scouts). Set a timer for 5 minutes, and during that time, have Scouts write down 5 goals they want to accomplish 1 year from now (12 months). Encourage them to think BIG and to keep their core value words in mind! The main point to remember here is that they don’t have to know HOW they are going to accomplish this goal right now. They don’t have to have the answer around how they are going to afford it, or any other barriers that might block them from achieving the goal.
5. Next, have Scouts write down the number “6” about halfway down their paper (again, skip this step for Cub Scouts). Set a timer for 5 minutes, and during that time, have Scouts write down 2-3 more goals. It is important to continue to stress the point (to yourself if you are doing this yourself and to Scouts) that this is not the time to worry about “how”! That comes later.
6. Lastly, set a timer for 5 minutes and have Scouts write a “2” at the bottom of their paper. Here, they will write 2 goals. For Cub Scouts, ask them to come up with a goal they want to accomplish. Timing is less important for the younger ones – encourage them to think about the word they came up with earlier! For example, if their word was “play”, their goal could be to kick a ball outside every day or to learn to dribble a basketball!
7. Take a moment and have everyone look at their goals (skip this for younger Cub Scouts). Make sure that all core values have at least one goal tied to it!
8. Now this step is where you will work through a common barrier to achieving goals: breaking down your goals into doable chunks! Fill in the months “4” and “9”. For older Scouts, they can add additional months in as well. Starting with the 12-month goals, work backwards and fill in the steps to get to the end result. For example, if a 12-month goal is to earn a certain merit badge, then they can give themselves mini goals to working through the various requirements. The more specific you can get on goals the better! Another example is if you want to save $1,000 by the 12^th month, then specifically write down the amounts that you would save each month. Take into consideration life events (so if you are in school, you probably can’t work as much as during the school year – so savings amounts should be higher in the summer!).
9. After working through the 12-month goals, do the same for the 6-month and 2-month goals. Again, GET SPECIFIC! Write down specific dates, specific numbers, names if you have names, every detail that you can!
10. These next few steps are all about accountability. Set a timer for 5 minutes, and have Scouts write down every reason they can think of that they wouldn’t accomplish their goals. This is free reign, let the negative come out! You can use this opportunity to discuss the same concepts with Cub Scouts. Have them come up with reasons they might not work toward their goal.
11. It is time to work through the barriers. Spend 5-10 minutes planning through these negative reasons. Accomplishing big goals does not mean that there are no blocks in the road! It means that you are able to problem solve and work through adversity. Get Cub Scouts talking about ways to work through their “blocking” reasons as well.
12. Accountability time! Share with the group (or if the group is large, break out into small groups/partners). If you are doing this by yourself, write down or set a reminder in your phone to share your goals. (Skip this step for Cub Scouts – they have been sharing and discussing this whole time!) 

Have Scouts take their goals home and post them someplace where they can see them every day. This is another measure of accountability! Be sure to reward yourself and take a moment to get excited about your goals! If they don’t get you excited, then consider there is more work to do in the goal setting process.

Setting goals gives you the chance to increase your self-esteem and personal satisfaction. It will also teach resiliency, problem-solving skills, and how to be creative! By setting goals and learning how to both achieve AND fail when working toward your goal, you learn how to relate to others around you, and you also give yourself new opportunities to learn – something that drives our brains and keeps us growing.

Once you work through this process, be sure to take pictures and share them with us! You can tag us on Instagram using #ScoutShop for a chance to be featured on our social channels.

Goal get them!