The Youthhood - How to Write and Achieve a Life Map Goal

Coming Up With Your Goal Idea

Thinking of a goal isn't always easy. There are several ways of coming up with a goal:

You suddenly realize you want something you don't have!
We find that it comes most naturally when you're feeling passionate about something and realize suddenly that THIS is what you want (whatever THIS is)! That THIS might be a goal to map out in your Life Map. Example: Say your best friend just got his or her driver's permit, and you realize you could get yours too! So you decide that "learning how to drive" is really important to you, and you want to be able to do it! That's your ultimate goal in one particular area of your life.

You're doing a Youthhood activity and you realize you want to achieve something.
Whatever this SOMETHING is might be your goal. Example: You're visiting The Community Center on this site and you've read all about volunteering. You then do an activity called "Finding a Volunteer Position" and realize, this is your goal! Click on Life Map and write a goal on finding a volunteer position to help you achieve this.

Your Youthhood Guide gives you an assignment to set a goal in your Life Map.
You may or may not have a clue as to what your goal is, but you know you need to write one. You may need some time to think it over. Try exploring the site to see what's important to you!

Your IEP team wants to know what your goals are.
If you have a disability, you have an IEP, or an Individualized Education Program, to help you get through school. It's real important that you get involved in writing your own goals in your IEP (see My Individualized Education Program for more about how to do this). Use the Life Map to help you set goals for yourself, and then print your Life Map goal once you've written it out and share it with your IEP team!

Coming Up with Steps to Achieve Your Goal

It's not easy to know what you don't already know! If you're looking to gain a skill or achieve something, it might be hard to know the steps you'll need to take to get there.

This is where getting help is a good idea. Someone with more experience than you, be they a friend, family member, teacher, mentor, or your Youthhood Guide, can probably help you brainstorm some ideas for what you need to achieve a goal, and who can help you get there.

Getting Feedback from Your Guide

If you're exploring the site with an adult (we call this person your Youthhood Guide), it's likely that they'll want to see your Life Map goal and give you feedback.

To give your Guide access to see and comment on your Life Map goal, select the checkbox where it says, "This Life Map is ready for my Guide to see" at the bottom of your Life Map goal. Once they log in to the site, they'll be able to see your goal and write comments to you about it. Once your Guide writes comments, you can see what they wrote the next time you log in. It's like a game! Back and forth, back and forth....

If you haven't seen your Guide's comments on a particular Life Map goal (and you're expecting to), check to see that you have that checkbox selected, and then perhaps tell your Guide in person that it's ready for them.

Revisiting & Updating Your Goal

You can go back into each Life Map goal and update it or make any changes you see necessary. For instance, you'll want to revisit each goal and check the "Done!" box whenever you've completed a step. This may be helpful for your Guide as well, to see the progress you've made!

Remember to select the "I Rock! I'm done with this goal!" checkbox once you've achieved your goal!