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What is the secret of success? Well, good planning, motivation and guidance are factors that contribute to success. To make the children successful parents must help them identify their goals, guide them to achieve it and provide encouragement and support as well.

Goal setting can begin at the age of three or even lesser. Initially, the goals may be minor stuff but the children learn to identify, plan and achieve them through this exercise.

To set goals for the child, the parents should discuss with them about their topic of interest and what they look forward to doing by pursuing their interest. For example, if the interest of the child is football, the parents could discuss with the child what he/she would like to do by formal training of football. Would the child want to be in local team or national team when he/she grows up etc? The parents should give the child lots of options and choose from. The more the experience the wider the child would be able to think and aspire.

Once the goal is set then, the parents should help the child trace means to achieve them. They should help the child chalk out plan as to how they propose to achieve the goal. Then help with the source of information that would be needed to achieve the goal like taking them to library, getting them to meet people who are already successful in the field etc. The child should be given a tracker to monitor his/her progress. These sorts of help and support would encourage the child and take them closer to achieving the goal.

Throughout the whole process parents must remember never to impose anything on the child. They are there only to guide and motivate and the rest should be done by the child only. Whenever the child is confused or stranded the parents must put up a few options before the child and discuss the pros and cons of each and let the child make the choice. This way the child will enjoy working towards the goal and accept the responsibility of making choices. Putting pressure on the child, manipulating or compelling them would only demotivate the child. They should get a free hand to do what they want to do. This way they may succeed or fail. But more important they would get the satisfaction of doing something on their own and also learn a lot from the whole exercise. The goals could be major or minor but by setting the children could be thought important lessons on Goal Setting and Achievement and develop the necessary base for achieving goals in future.