It’s the last day of school. You throw your backpack in the closet, kick off your shoes, and look forward to three months of freedom. But before you set your body and mind to “snooze,” how about picking a goal for your break?
Working toward a goal may sound like the opposite of relaxing, but there are actually a lot of good reasons for using your time off to learn a new skill or hobby or just get better at something you already do.
For one thing, your summer break has a clear end date. It’s enough time that you can make real progress, but not so long that you’ll lose steam. It’s also likely you’ll have more time to devote to your goal during the summer.
But how do you ensure you accomplish what you set out to do? “We used to think that reaching goals was about having willpower, being strong and resisting temptations,” says Ayelet Fishbach, Ph.D. She’s a behavioral scientist who studies motivation. “Now we know it’s about educating yourself about what your goal is and how you’ll reach it.”
That means knowing what you want to do, how you plan to do it, and how you’ll overcome any obstacles. Read on for four teens’ plans to make their dreams a reality this summer and for advice on reaching your own goals.