A prosperous future does not come easily. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve great success. However, there are ways your child can make the future less stressful than it needs to be. Planning a future with long-term goals helps a student keep their eye on the bigger picture. What is a huge milestone your child wants to accomplish? Is there a career they are interested in or a college they hope to get into? Long-term goals require planning and persistence to keep treading forward as it will take a long time to achieve.
Short-term goals help students figure out what must be accomplished in the near future; however, a vast majority of society is often left uncertain on what their distant future should look like and what their long-term goals should be. To “live in the now,” is a common saying that ground a person to the present time but daydreaming about where you want to be 3-5 years from now is also a vital aspect of a successful life. What happens when your student accomplishes all their short-term goals? What did they do all of that for? The answer should correlate with the student’s long-term goal. Everything needs to intertwine with their long-term objectives.
Here are a few long-term goals to discuss with your child:
1. Grade Point Average (GPA)
Raising your GPA in a month time is unrealistic; however, graduating from High School with a 3.5 GPA is a long-term goal that can become a reality. What must be done to raise a GPA? What is the significance of having a high GPA?
2. Career Aspirations
Deciding on the right career path is intimidating, and the steps toward this milestone can be challenging to understand. Acknowledging your talents and passions, then identifying how you can utilize them in the workforce is a mandatory action. Your child does not want to be stuck in a 9-5 job they don’t love. The goal is to love the work they do. What do they find interesting? What hobbies do they currently have that can develop into practical skills for the future? What degree would be essential to work toward, and what are college requirements that a high schooler should know?
3. Expanding Your Network
Networking is key in the 21st century from anywhere from social media collaboration to group projects. Most children will claim they enjoy working alone and completing tasks by themselves. However, this is not a good feature to have in today’s world. Networking is essential as it broadens opportunities and increases connections for multiple areas that can be deemed useful further in life. At no point in life will your child claim to have achieved a milestone without speaking to another person. Life is all about interaction. Keeping in touch with teachers, counselors, other school staff, and like-minded students will provide a social circle filled will experience, engagement, and upliftment. Growing your network with potential employers, professors, or friends is vital for having more options in the future.
All long-term goals can be worked on immediately by separating the bigger goal into smaller objectives, creating short-term goals. You can work on a long-term goal every day to accomplish a considerable milestone in the years to come. It is important to have long-term goals as they coordinate the vision of your future. Without long-term goals, a student might have a tougher time staying on track or having the drive to achieve academic, professional, or even personal successes.
Jessica Weger is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Arizona Global Campus. Providing care for the disabled has been a lifelong journey that made Jessica strive to bring aid and awareness with her writing. She has two little boys that keep her on her toes while bringing out the fun in life. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” is true, but she also believes that sometimes it takes a village to be the best we can be. Jessica has a creative writing background with a published collection of poetry and desires to be the glue in piecing together stories that make a difference.
