Introduction to the Unit:

●​ Careers is all about you, your future, and how to prepare for life after secondary school
○​ This course will give you the tools you need to succeed once you figure out what
you want to do (it’s ok if you don’t know yet)
○​ This course will have 4 units:
■​ Skills, strategies, and habits of success
■​ Preparing for work (understand workplace rules and regulations,
responsibilities, connecting with peoples, interviews, and getting good job
opportunities)
■​ Preparing for post-secondary life (going to college, apprenticeship, or
going to work)
■​ Preparing for your future (how to create a budget, manage your money
well, and prepare for your first year after high school)
●​ Unit 1 Overview:
○​ Defining success
○​ Habits of successful people
○​ Principles of successful living
○​ Time management skills
○​ Creating balance in life
○​ Decision making
○​ Goal setting
●​ Unit Big Ideas:
1.​ Developing habits that help you to be more successful
2.​ Developing transferable skills that help you to be more successful
3.​ Developing strategies that help you to be more successful

Lesson 1: Defining Success

What is Success?

●​ Some google definitions:

○​ The accomplishment of an aim or purpose
○​ The attainment of popularity or profit
○​ A person or think that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity
●​ The above definitions mostly revolve around the idea that success = popularity and
money, but in fact, success is actually much more
●​ What students have said about success:
○​ Accomplishing a goal
○​ Reaching a level of mastery
○​ A life-time achievement
 ○​ Overcoming a challenge
○​ Great personal growth
○​ Reaching a level of prominence
○​ Recognition for an achievement
○​ Becoming well-employed
○​ Becoming wealthy
○​ Getting married
●​ But the question is, do we have control over all of these things?

Fallacies in Popular Concepts of Success

●​ Success is about accomplishing the ultimate goal

○​ Problems with this idea:
■​ Ignores all other successes
■​ Success is short-lived if all you live for is achieving one goal
■​ Success become unattainable for so many people
○​ Positive perspectives on this idea:
■​ Success is an accumulation of many small and large success
■​ All successes should be recognized
■​ Success is relative to the individual
○​ The Fix: Success is about pursuing the ultimate goal
■​ Preparing and be able to accomplish the ultimate goal is just as important
as getting there
●​ Success is always a major achievement, such as winning an award
○​ Problems with this mentality:
■​ Success is about the award, not the work that goes into the
accomplishment
○​ Positive perspectives on this idea:
■​ Success is all of the work that goes into achievement
■​ Success can be measured by progress and improvement
■​ Success is a journey, made of many other “little” successes that most
people don’t see
○​ The Fix: Success is about a strong body of work, rather than a singular
achievement or award
●​ Success is something that just happens based on opportunity
○​ Problems with this idea:
■​ Leaves success to chance
■​ Accept no personal accountability for success or failure
■​ Disempowers individuals
○​ Positive perspectives on this idea:
■​ Success is the result of good habits
■​ Success is the result of making the best of opportunities when they arise
 ■​ Success is a personal commitment to become the best version of yourself
■​ Success can be achieved by anyone who is willing to work for it
○​ The Fix: Success is result of good habits that create opportunities
●​ Success is measured by the successes of other people
○​ Problems with this mentality:
■​ Creates unfair comparisons
■​ Ignores the individual experience
■​ Success becomes unattainable or worthless to the individual
○​ Positive perspectives on this idea:
■​ Success is relative to your life and passions
■​ Success is best measured by comparing yourself against your past
performances
■​ Your successes are not for impressing other people
○​ The Fix: Success is measured against your personal best
●​ Success happens for rich and famous people
○​ Problems with this mentality:
■​ Self-defeating mindset (and disempowers you))
■​ Ignores the individual experience
■​ Narrowly defines success (sets the bar as one specific thing)
○​ Positive perspectives on this idea:
■​ Success is not dependent on wealth or fame
■​ My successes are determined by me
■​ I can achieve the success that are important to me
■​ Lives are different, successes are different too
○​ The Fix: Success happens for anyone who is willing to work for what is important
to them
●​ “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what
you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” -- Oprah Winfrey
●​ In summary, how do you become successful?
○​ Decide what it is that you really want (set a goal)
○​ Focus your efforts on achieving what you really want (don’t get distracted)
○​ Persevere at getting what you really want, even when things get tough (no
quitting)

Activity:

1.​ Write the definition success below:

Success is finding meaning in life, and striving to become the best version of yourself you can
be.

2.​ Based on the definition of success, write a sentence or two, explaining how
success applies to you:
For me, a meaningful life is one where I have a drive, a vision, a purpose, and can overcome
challenges that will make other people’s lives better. I want to have the time to appreciate all the
little things we often overlook in this hectic day-and-age, and I want to leave a legacy behind, no
matter how big or small, that will in its own way, ensure a part of me lives on.

3.​ What are three indicators that you can apply to your life to help you know that you
are being successful in whatever you are doing?
a.​ I am happy, healthy, and I look forward to every new day.
b.​ I am passionate about my work and am respected by peers, friends, and
colleagues.
c.​ I have a vision and purpose which strives me to do and be better, regardless of
what challenges I may face.

Success Criteria:
✓​ I can define success
✓​ I can identify skills, strategies, and habits that help people to be successful
✓​ I can describe the ways that I can know that I am being successful

Lesson 2: Habits for Success

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

●​ The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (published in 1989) was ranked in the top
25 most influential business management books
○​ Discusses seven habits of people that are generally successful in life
○​ Highlights what people need to do more of in order to be successful
○​ Incorporates a balanced approach to life
●​ HABIT 1: Be Proactive
○​ Taking action and initiative
○​ Be a “self-starter” -- not waiting to be told what to do before doing it
○​ Looking for opportunities, ask questions, coming up with ideas, and making the
first move
○​ Procrastination often occurs when we feel anxious, overwhelmed by the task, or
don’t have a complete understanding of what to do
■​ It takes a little bit of bravery and little bit of a self-push to be proactive
■​ “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over
it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who
conquers that fear.” -- Nelson Mandela
●​ HABIT 2: Begin with the End in Mind
○​ Set and define your goals
○​ Have a long-term vision of what you want to accomplish
 ○​ Backwards planning (start from the end and outline steps you need to complete)
■​ This helps you avoid any pitfalls or traps along the way working beginning
to end
○​ Identify steps you need to take to reach your goal
●​ HABIT 3: Put First Things First
○​ Prioritizing work and activities
■​ Always ask yourself, “is it worth it?” -- is it worth investing your time (a
limited resource) in what you are doing
○​ Evaluate what is most important to you
■​ What is going to help you reach your goals
○​ Ensuring the most important things get completed first
○​ Remove distractions (devices for example)
○​ Giving less time to less important things
●​ HABIT 4: Think Win-Win
○​ Recognize that many situations are not black and white, win-lose.
■​ Often times, there are opportunities all around for everyone to be a winner
○​ Find ways to incorporate others into your success
■​ This could be building a good team or helping each other to reach
individual goals
○​ Look for opportunities to work with successful people
○​ Access your allies (look for people on your side and want you to be the best you
can)
○​ Examples of Win-Win Scenarios:
■​ Innovations happen when people work together (Steven Jobs and Steve
Wozniak combined their strengths to create Apple)
■​ Teams win championships when they are focused on their collective goals
■​ Sales people sell more when they help each other and train each other to
become better
■​ Group projects are better when everyone is contributing (like NASA)
■​ Businesses perform better when they have business partners
■​ People perform better when they have others who push them to be better
●​ HABIT 5: Seek to Understand, then to be Understood
○​ Listen first before acting
○​ Avoid jumping to conclusions or making assumptions
○​ Reduce mistakes by fully understanding problems/situations
■​ Ask questions, don’t judge, find the root problem(s)
○​ Look at multiple perspectives
○​ Taking the time to listen makes more people willing to listen to you
○​ “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen,
you may learn something new.” -- Dalai Lama
○​ Listening is a process with several stages:
■​ Stage 1: Receiving
 ■​ Stage 2: Understanding
■​ Stage 3: Remembering
■​ Stage 4: Evaluating
■​ Stage 5: Respond
○​ You need to constantly be listening and understanding what somebody is trying
to communicate with you
■​ As you do this, you will become an effective listener, get more information
out of what people are telling you, see opportunities, nuances, or things
that maybe others might miss
■​ Spend more time THINKING on a situation, rather than ACTING on it
●​ HABIT 6: Synergize
○​ Working together with others
○​ Incorporating strengths, so that the sum of your efforts is great than the individual
contributions (think of the story behind Apple)
■​ It’s like a 2 + 2 = 5 scenario
○​ Play to your strengths; find out what you’re good at and what the people around
are can offer
■​ Create a team environment that can succeed far more than people can
individually
○​ Shared success
○​ Ways you can practice synergizing with others:
■​ Work with people you don’t normally work with and see how they
approach problems
●​ When you keep working with the same people all the time, you fall
into a habit of doing things the same way, which leads to a little
blindness to different perspectives and approaches
●​ Get out of your comfort zone
■​ Try something new with a group of friends, and try to solve the problem
together
●​ Push and test yourself
■​ Make sure that you value what everyone brings to the table (you might
have to work a little bit to see what positive qualities someone brings)
■​ Be humble and recognize that there are many different ways to approach
a problem that you haven’t thought of
●​ HABIT 7: Sharpen the Saw
○​ Balance in all areas of your life is important
○​ Make time for:
■​ Work
■​ Play
■​ Rest and relaxation
■​ Connecting with people
 ○​ If all we do is work and not look after the other needs we have, we’ll run out of
energy, lose creativity, become robotic in what we’re doing, and miss out on
opportunities to be truly successful
○​ Avoid burnout by adding variety to your life
○​ As a result, you’ll become a more complete person with better perspective, with
greater strengths, knowledge, and resource draw on to solve a problem
■​ This will work so much better, because if one approach fails, you won’t
have to beat your head against the wall trying to do it the same way over
and over
○​ Think about what goes into each part of your life:

■​ There is a lot of overlap between these aspects of your life

●​ You can join a yoga and exercise class
●​ You can participate in book or chess clubs
●​ You can join a volunteering group
●​ You can do school-work and make a game out of it

Lesson Big Ideas

●​ Success is based more on habit that on circumstance

●​ Habits are behaviors or practices that can be learned
●​ Habits, like skills, can be practiced and developed -- you can get good at this

Success Criteria:
✓​ I can identify and describe the 7 habits of successful people
✓​ I can explain how the 7 habits of successful people can help me succeed in school,
work, relationships, and hobbies/passions
 ✓​ I can make connections to my own life and find ways that I can apply the 7 habits in your
school relationships, work, and hobbies/passions

Lesson 3: The High Five Principles of Success

The High-Five Principles

●​ RULE 1: Follow Your Heart

○​ People are happier and more productive doing something they enjoy
○​ Do what you love (there is a big difference between liking something and loving
something)
■​ Go after what you are most passionate about
■​ It will help you persevere when times get tough
■​ Your passion will drive you to be the best you can be at whatever you
choose
●​ Work is not a grind when you love what you do
○​ Always try new clubs, subjects, and get experiences to help you find one of your
passions
○​ Opportunity and earnings come to those who are great at what they do
●​ RULE 2: Access your Allies
○​ Talk to friends, family, teachers, coaches, community members, and involve them
in your decision making
○​ Get help and advice form other
■​ Remember there are people who want to help you if you ask them
■​ Networking with others creates opportunity
○​ People an offer perspective on your situation and how to get to your goals
○​ You can achieve more with a good team of people around you, than you could
achieve alone
●​ RULE 3: Change is Constant
○​ Change is part of life -- be adaptable and flexible to change
○​ Don’t let the fear of change hold you back
■​ Be willing to change, to grow, to try new things
○​ When you come up with a plan, remember it’s not set in stone; have multiple
alternatives and be flexible
●​ RULE 4: Learning is Lifelong
○​ Remain open to new experiences, new ideas, and new learning
○​ Never stop learning
■​ Always look for opportunities for improvement and learning
●​ Develop your skills, work, learn from the people around you and
use your life experiences
 ■​ Adopt a growth mindset -- recognize that wherever you are now, you can
be better tomorrow
●​ This way, you will be smarter and wiser tomorrow than you are
today
●​ RULE 5: Focus on the Journey
○​ The journey is as important as reaching the destination
○​ Each experience opens new doors to new and different opportunities
■​ Don’t miss out on positive experiences all along the road of life
■​ Opportunities will present themselves along the way -- don’t be so
focused on the end goal that you’ll ignore the journey
●​ Take a second to look around you and appreciate the moments
that fill your journey

Application of the High Five Principles

●​ Choose a career path that you really love

○​ If you don’t know what you really love yet, don’t worry about it
○​ Get out there, try things, read about stuff, do a co-op, apply for an internship, job
shadow, volunteer, talk to people, etc.
■​ You may not know that you love it right away, but give it a try and see how
it interests you
■​ Once you know, pursue that path
●​ Talk to people who work in that industry, get insight and help to get your foot in the door
●​ Be willing to change and let go of the things that hold you back
●​ Keep learning and become the best that you can be
●​ Even if you have not achieved your overall goals, recognize and celebrate the
successes you have

TED-Talk: Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career

●​ What do you think it means to have a great career?

○​ To not be held back by fears and take advantage of what opportunities arise. In
essence, to have no regrets and live the best life you can.
●​ Look for the antithesis of the high five principles in this TED talk.
○​ Great careers for most people is just a matter of luck
○​ There are special people who pursue their passions and reach the top of their
fields, but they are geniuses
○​ Passion is not the same as talent, so there’s no point pursuing something I’m not
good enough at
●​ Why might these fears or excuses keep you from having a great career?
○​ Always comparing yourself with others may create a fear of pursuing a passion in
case of failure, but that just results in missed opportunity
 ○​ You’re afraid to look ridiculous and to take risks
●​ What does Larry suggest you do in order to have a great career?
○​ Never let opportunities slip by because in the end, you want no regrets.
○​ Enjoy what you have and do what you can, because if you end up asking
yourself, “unless” or “what if I had done it another way”, it will hurt more.

TED-Talk: What makes people successful

1)​ Passion -- do it for love, not money

○​ Ask yourself to determine if you’ve found your passion: “would you do it for free?”
■​ If the answer is yes, then you’ve likely found it
2)​ Work -- have fun at what you’re doing and avoid burnout
○​ Having an 80/20 split is good guideline (80% of work should be enjoyable and the
remaining 20% should consist of the serious, not-so-fun stuff)
3)​ Focus your efforts -- to be successful, it’s important to specialize in a certain area and
build your expertise
○​ Start by thinking wide and then narrow it down into one specific focus
4)​ Improve -- to be successful, put your nose down in something and get really good at it
○​ Someone who achieves great success is always improving
○​ Practice makes perfect
○​ Focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses
5)​ Push -- push yourself to get out of your comfort zone
○​ Push through shyness, doubts, and fear
○​ Ways to help you push yourself towards success:
■​ Geta goal to push you
■​ Get a challenge to push you
■​ Get a deadline to push you
■​ Push yourself with self-discipline
■​ Get others to push you
■​ Get competition to push you
■​ Get a tormentor to push you and a mentor to support you
6)​ Serve -- serve others (it can be friends, communities, businesses, or even the world)
○​ To people who say they want to be millionaires; do what you love, serve others
what they love, and get money in return
7)​ Ideas -- be driven by ideas and think creatively; to do this:
○​ Listen
○​ Observe
○​ Be Curious
○​ Ask Questions
○​ Borrow ideas and build on it
○​ Problem Solve (ideas come from everyday problems)
○​ Make Connections
○​ Make mistakes
 ○​ Write your ideas down
○​ Persis -- persist through failure, criticism, rejection, and pressure
○​ Keep in mind that failure is inevitable (whether it’s making mistakes or facing
blatant rejection)
■​ How you deal with it can be the deciding factor
○​ “Failure can be heartbreaking, and when it happens, you have a choice. You can
let it be your school or your funeral”
■​ The right choice, of course, is using failure as a stepping stone and
building off it
■​ Once you do, it’s all about relentlessly moving forward

Lesson Big Ideas

●​ Success does not mean the same thing for everyone

●​ Individual success requires an individual plan
●​ Success is a life-long process of achievement, not a one-time event

Success Criteria:
✓​ I can identify and describe the High Five Principles of Success
✓​ I can explain how these principles can help me make choices to have a more successful
and fulfilling life
✓​ I can make direct connections between the High Five Principles and my life, applying
them to school, work, and personal interests
Lesson 4: Time Management and Living a Balanced Life

Time Management

●​ Planning or budgeting your use of time to allow you to effectively accomplish all of the
things you need/want to do
●​ Examples:
○​ Schedules
○​ Daily planners
○​ Digital reminders
●​ Time Management Skills:
○​ Prioritize Tasks
■​ Evaluate what is important
■​ Prioritize most important things over least important things
■​ Order tasks into one of four categories from the Priority Matrix
1.​ High Urgency, High Importance
2.​ Low Urgency, High Importance
3.​ High Urgency, Low Importance
4.​ Low Urgency, Low Importance

○​ Make a Schedule
■​ To-Do lists
■​ Daily/weekly plan
■​ Plan the time you will spend on a task
○​ Set Deadlines
■​ Realistic timeframes
■​ Plan to finish early
■​ Reward yourself
○​ Overcome Procrastination
■​ Understand the task
 ■​ Break tasks into manageable parts
■​ Push yourself
○​ Focus on the Task
■​ Avoid multitasking
■​ Remove distractions
■​ Plan to take scheduled breaks
○​ Start Early
■​ Don’t wait to start
■​ Use your optimal work time (when you are most efficient)
■​ Start each day thinking bout what you will do today
○​ Take Regular Breaks
■​ Short -- take a minute to unwind
■​ Planned
■​ Refreshing so that you can be effective throughout the day
○​ Deal with Stress Wisely
■​ Listening to music/podcasts
■​ Physical movement/stretching
■​ Breathing
■​ Healthy snacks to give you productive energy
○​ Learn to Say No
■​ Distractions
■​ Poor uses of your time
■​ Things that make it harder to accomplish your goals
●​ Time management is a skill -- the more you practice, the better you will get at it
○​ Time is a limited resource; what you choose to do will result in what you
accomplish
○​ Good time management skills can help you to reduce stress and anxiety
●​ Time Management Tools:
○​ Planners and Calendars
■​ Good for finding overlaps and conflicts
■​ Digital schedules can be set to give you reminders
■​ Some let you make notes
○​ Schedules
■​ Good for establishing routines
■​ Makes your day predictable
○​ Tables and Charts
■​ Good for measuring time spent
■​ Data can be easily used in other platforms
Balanced Living

●​ Living in such a way as to allow yourself to attend to all of the various needs, wants, and
responsibilities of life
●​ Areas of Life to Consider:
○​ Work (school, job, chores, responsibilities)
○​ Play (sports, games, clubs, hobbies, activities, etc.)
○​ Social (friends, family, relationships)
○​ Self (development of mental, physical, and spiritual health)
●​ Tips for balanced living:
1.​ Plan to live a balanced life
■​ Make time for everything that’s important and make sure you incorporate
fun
2.​ Look for areas of overlap
■​ See if you can accomplish more than one thing at a time (eg. combining
work with fun, or social with play)
3.​ Journal about your day
4.​ Choose the best use of your time
5.​ Make an ideal schedule
6.​ Keep a regular sleep schedule
■​ Well rested brains make good choices and you’ll feel better everyday
7.​ Limit time-taking activities
8.​ Build positive habits that help you to succeed
●​ Think of time as money
○​ You get $24 every day ($168 a week)
○​ You must spend at least $8 on sleep
○​ You must spend at least $1.50 on eating
○​ Your education costs you about $7
○​ Your transportation costs you about $1
○​ It costs you $1 to groom yourself everyday
○​ Your hobby costs you about $1
○​ What will you do with the other $4.50?
■​ Does it make sense to spend $5, $10, or $12 on most things, when you
have so many needs to take care of?
■​ Spend your time wisely, because unlike money, you can never make
more of it

Lesson Big Ideas

●​ Time management incorporates different strategies to improve how we use time

 ●​ Living a balanced life is a deliberate act, not an accident
●​ Better balanced lives reduce stress and improve well-being

Success Criteria:
✓​ I can explain how time management relates to success, improving well-being,
developing resilience, and perseverance
✓​ I can explain how time management is connected with principles of success, such as the
High Five and Seven Habits of Success
✓​ I can create a time management plan that you can begin using immediately, such as a
schedule, agenda, or time-use pie chart

Lesson 5: Making Decisions and Setting Goals

Decision Making

●​ Everyday, you make tons of decisions -- many are pretty insignificant while others could
carry long-lasting consequences
●​ Decision making:
○​ Varies in the timeframe:
■​ Some are immediate (ex. choosing what to say during a conversation)
■​ Long-reaching (ex. choosing a school or university)
○​ Varies in impact:
■​ Minimal impact (ex. choosing brand of cereal for breakfast)
■​ Huge Impact
○​ Changes with context:
■​ Different situations
■​ Different times
■​ Different stages of life
■​ Different commitments (some decisions are difficult to reserve)
■​ Different knowledge/understanding
○​ Varies in consideration needed:
■​ No thought required (automatic or low consequence decisions)
■​ Deep thought required (unfamiliar or high consequence)
●​ Decision-making tips:
○​ Have a clear mind
■​ Be well-rested
■​ Remove distractions
■​ Reduce stress
○​ Take your time
■​ Take the time needed to think carefully about decisions
 ■​ Most big decisions are not snap-decisions
○​ Get the facts
■​ Research and know your options
○​ Stay open to all possibilities
■​ Reduce your own biases
■​ Consider multiple perspectives
○​ Use criteria
■​ Clearly outline what you want and evaluate options against those criteria
●​ Decision-making strategies:
○​ Research the options
■​ Get to know what your options are
■​ Get to know what each options offers
■​ Invest your time
○​ Talk with people who know
■​ Perspective (age, wisdom, experience)
■​ Similar experiences / goals
○​ Use Criteria
■​ Pros vs Cons
■​ Point scores
■​ Checklist
○​ Map it out
■​ Flow chart (see what decisions lead to what outcomes)
■​ Decision-making tree
○​ Evaluate
■​ Analytical -- data driven, but flexible
■​ Directive -- data/results focused
■​ Conceptual -- idea focused
■​ Behavioral -- intuitive based
○​ There is no wrong way to make a decision, except for a poorly researched and
poorly thought-out decision

How to Make Better Decisions

●​ Teenage brains aren’t yet fully developed, so there are several common mistakes teens
make. To avoid them, here are some strategies to make better decisions:
●​ Prefrontal Cortex: long-term thinking and decision-making
○​ Consider the short and long-term impacts of your decisions
○​ Write down possible outcomes of your decisions
○​ Stop and think for a minute before you act
●​ Prefrontal Lobe: sensory input and language processing
○​ Remember that you are still growing -- skills develop with time and practice
○​ Perseverance and practice will help you improve over time
 ●​ Ventral Striatum: your reward center
○​ Your brain is still figuring out how to reward your positive and negative behavior
○​ Don’t let short-term rewards distract you from long-term success
○​ Be aware of habit forming behavior such as constantly checking your cell phone,
even when you don’t need to
○​ Beware of substance abuse
●​ Hippocampus: memory, skills, and knowledge base
○​ Sometimes you don’t know everything -- it is wise to identify what you don’t know
○​ Have a growth mindset: that you will be better tomorrow than you are today
○​ Use this time wisely, learn and develop your skills as much as you can, while you
can
●​ Amygdala: emotional core for passion, impulse, fear, aggression
○​ From teenagehood to adulthood, the brain shifts from impulsive to rational
thinking
○​ Recognize when your thinking and decisions are being affected by impulsive
thoughts and feelings
○​ Think things through before acting
■​ Count to ten before reacting in stressful situations
○​ Write your thoughts and ideas down before deciding what to do
○​ Take your time on big decisions

Goal Setting

●​ In goal-setting, it is important to be specific

 ○​ Ask yourself:
■​ What do you want to accomplish?
■​ How will you accomplish it?
■​ When will you accomplish it?
■​ How will you know you accomplished it?
○​ Consider this before setting a goal:
■​ Timeframes:
●​ Short-term (0-2 years)
●​ Long-term (2+ years)
■​ Do these goals match what is important to you?
●​ Be true to yourself
●​ Avoid becoming conflicted
■​ What are some signs of progress/achievement?
●​ Letting yourself know that you are achieving your goals
●​ Encourage/reward yourself
■​ Are your current decisions/lifestyle congruent with your goals?
●​ What’s working?
●​ What changes do you need to make?

SMART Goals

●​ SPECIFIC
○​ Be clear:
■​ Ex. “I want to play on the school basketball team” is a far better goal than
“I want to be on the school team”
○​ Be exact:
■​ Ex. “I want to own a Ferrari 458 Italia” then “I want to own a Ferrari”
●​ There are a lot of bad Ferrari cars -- if you buy a crashed Ferrari
that can no longer function, you’ve achieved your goal in name,
but not what you actually wanted
■​ Treat goals like genie wishes (be very specific so that it cannot be
misinterpreted)
○​ Being clear and specific helps you to define your goal, which makes you more
likely to achieve it
●​ MEASURABLE
○​ Can it be quantified / counted?
■​ Ex. “I want to get above 85% on the test” is a better than “I want to do well
on the test”
○​ Can you track your progress?
■​ Ex. “I need to save $4,000 for traveling” than “I need money to travel”
■​ Is getting 75% on a test ‘doing well’, if you got 70% last time?
 ○​ Measurable goals let you see how you’re doing, both in terms of how close you
are getting your goal and how well you’re doing in achieving that goal
●​ ATTAINABLE
○​ Can you realistically reach this goal?
■​ Ex. If you normally get a 70 on test, “I want to get above an 85% on the
test” is an attainable goal
●​ “I want to get 100 on the test” is much less likely to achieve in the
near future
■​ It is better to set a goal that is going to cause you to stretch a bit than to
be impossible
●​ Because if you don’t achieve that goal or you don’t make good
progress towards there, it becomes discouraging
○​ Does your goal expect too little/much of you?
■​ Ex. If you normally get a 70 on test, “I want to get a 73% on the test”
might not require much effort
●​ It won’t feel like a real accomplishment
○​ Does your goal account for growth?
■​ A goal should allow you to grow and get better at what you want to
achieve
■​ Are you expecting to grow by accomplishing this goal, or do you expect to
be the same person you were yesterday?
●​ RELEVANT
○​ Is this goal relevant to your life and things that are important to you?
■​ If this goal doesn’t match up with your values or doesn’t make sense in
your context of living right now, why set this particular goal?
○​ Is this the right time to work on this goal?
■​ Do you have more pressing needs to attend to first?
○​ Does your goal meet your current needs?
○​ Does your goal make sense given your current abilities/resources needed to
accomplish it?
■​ Ex. If you say, “I want to be an olympic archer” but you’re just starting out,
that’s a nice long-term goal, but you should focus on something more
attainable right now
●​ You need to train, join a club or team, and learn the proper
technique
■​ There is nothing wrong with setting smaller goals as stepping-stones to
what you want to accomplish
●​ This will make your goal more excitable and less out-of-reach
●​ It will also make the journey more interesting and encouraging
●​ Reward yourself after achieving these goals
●​ TIMELY
○​ Is this goal something you can accomplish in a reasonable amount of time?
 ○​ Is this goal something that can have a clear completion date?
■​ Deadlines are very important for keeping us on track
○​ Is this goal something you can work on now?
○​ Can your goal be regularly reviewed to track your progress?
■​ Ex. do you have quarterly or yearly reviews to check how much you’ve
saved up for college or a trip
●​ In an archery setting, this is an example of a SMART Goal:
○​ “I want to improve my archery skills to hitting the bullseye 55 times over the next
6 months of practice”
■​ Specific: HItting the bullseye 5/5 times
■​ Measurable: How often I hit the bullseye on each trial
■​ Achievable: I have access to an archery club and I am also on the school
team, so with practice I can do this
■​ Relevant: If I can do this, I will be on my way to qualifying for Olympic
competition (another goal)
■​ Timely: Define time goal of 6 months
○​ SMART goal setting is all about setting a goal that you understand, that is clear,
throughout, achievable, and something that you want to strive for
■​ When you achieve these goals, you will be able to compare your progress
and appreciate the journey
■​ As you set SMART goals, you will have more success in achieving the
things that are important to you

Lesson Big Ideas

●​ Thinking about and making informed decisions generally leads to better outcomes
●​ Decision-making and goal-setting are both short and long-term processes
●​ Setting SMART goals will help you to be more successful at achieving what you want to
do

Success Criteria:
✓​ I can explain factors or motivators that influence the kinds of decisions you make
✓​ I can describe different reasons for setting goals (i.e. responsibilities, achievement,
self-fulfillment, gratification, etc.)
✓​ I can explain what SMART goals are and set them for yourself
Personal Decision-Making FlowChart
(made with Miro)