Who Controls Your Goals?

At the first team meeting of the soccer season, in a room full of parents and players, my son’s coach spoke directly to the boys. “I know you boys will work hard. You always do. But this year I want you to set a goal to work toward. And here is the key: your goal needs to be controllable. I want you to set controllable goals.”

He went on to explain what he meant. “When you say you want to be undefeated, that is not a controllable goal. It is an overarching goal for our team, and you can work on your game to help reach that goal, but you yourself cannot control that goal. Instead, you could say you want to work on your footwork and get more touches on the ball. That is an outcome you can control.”

As the coach spoke, those in the room listened and nodded in agreement, and I couldn’t help but make a connection to our work with children. By focusing on controllable goals, my son’s coach made it so that all the players had the ability to be successful and notice growth within themselves. And as the season goes on and each player’s goals are met, it will make a positive difference to the team as a whole.

Until now I hadn’t looked at goals through the lens of controllable and uncontrollable, but the more I reflect on this, the more I see the connection with the principles of Daily 5 and CAFE. We do this now with students when we confer with them as readers. We focus on their strengths and together set individualized, controllable goals to help them grow. And we can do it in other areas of our teaching. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all teaching, collective punishment, and whole-class rewards. Welcome are the days of knowing our students and designing a path specific to their needs, a path they have the ability to navigate and control and, most importantly, one that will lead them to success.