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Choosing Personal Goals: Teacher's Manual and Student Lessons
Choosing Personal Goals Teacher's Manual and Student Lessons Author:Marshall, Martin, Jerman, Hughes, Maxson Once school supports are gone, will your former students be successful? That is, will they secure the life they want after leaving school? This is the crucial question that educators must address. Individuals with disabilities should be encouraged to make their own choices, set their own goals, and self-manage their lives. Facilitating student e... more »mporwerment and self-determination holds great promise for improving students' quality of life and their post-school success.
Successful people know what they want and persistently go after it (Hill, 1960; Hill & Stone, 1987). They decide upon major goals, set timelines, and develop specific plans to attain their goals. They determine the benefits that reaching their goals will bring and build coalitions with others who share similar goals. Successful people encourage and support each other in the pursuit of their goals.
The studies conducted by Hill are part of a body of research identifying success behaviors. Garfield (1986) interviewed more than 1500 successful people from business, science, sports, and the arts. He found that successful people in any field excel at making decisions, self-managing their behavior, and adapting to changing circumstances. When Garfield's peak performers made decisions, they: (1) Chose a mission leading to action; (2) Envisioned and communicated a clear mission; and (3) Developed an action plan consisting of specific goals and benchmarks to evaluate the timing, quality, and quantity of their results.
Garfield reached two conclusions. First, regardless of age, education, or profession, the most successful people share the same basic set of skills. Second, individuals can learn these skills.« less