New Year's Resolutions

With the New Year approaching it’s only natural to think about resolutions. As adults we make promises about how we will get in better shape, do something good for others, change a bad habit, or become a better person. These are our person “goals”. As teachers and therapists, we write “goals” for a whole other reason. These goals are for someone else to help them be the best student that they can be!

In thinking about this process, I began to ponder what might we be forgetting when coming up with these goals. Then it hit me! Why can’t our students write their own personal goals! How amazing is it to get insight right from the person we are working with on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis!

This might be a great way to start off the New Year after a long break. Let’s find out from each student what they think their strengths, weaknesses, and goal should be. Please see below for a suggested template to use. They may just surprise you with their answers!

You can fill out these cards with your student to also improve their participation because this will be their personal goal. This may improve their "buy in" to therapy because it will be more meaningful to them. They can check back the next year or whenever you decide the cut off time will be to see if they made their goal!

Don't forget to help them problem solve through how to reach their goal. Their goal should be based around the box labelled "What I need to improve at doing".

Have fun with this! Remember, this is the time for a fresh start!

Movement Matters- Whitney Carter PT, DPT