“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” Lao Tzu – Goal-Setting
Is goal-setting necessary for success?
Goal-setting is a skill of highly successful people. Some kids are really good at it. They map out their life events with certain outcomes in mind. Other kids just want to ‘go with the flow’ and goal-setting makes them nervous, unfulfilled, and downright discouraged. Because the value of goal-setting is somewhat unclear, students must decide for themselves how they want to integrate it into their life activities. This will be a life-long challenge.
Join Steve and Dan Fouts for an unforgettable conversation about goal-setting using the Teach Different 3-Step Method.
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Image source: Wikimedia | Tom@HK
Transcript
Steve Fouts: 0:03
Hey everybody, Steve and Dan Fouts here. We are teaching different with Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu with a quote about goal setting. “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” Now, this is a really good quote to get the students to step back to take a look at and be curious about why we are talking about traveling somewhere, and what a good traveler is. These are important words to go over so that everyone appreciates their meaning. What I like about this quote is that it takes this idea of goal-setting and turns it on its head, in a way. It’s talking about what it means to travel and how to be a good traveler, but I think it means that this is how to live a good life. What’s the best life you should lead? What are the best decisions that you should make with regard to achieving things and ending up somewhere? I like this as a different way to approach goal-setting. Dan, what do you think the claim is? How would you put it in your own words?
Dan Fouts: 1:30 – Claim
Yeah, like you said, he’s being a little counterintuitive. It’s almost like he’s saying that people should go with the flow, and be more concerned with the journey, not the destination. A traveler of life is somebody who doesn’t get up every day and think what are my goals to achieve by the end of today, or next year. By doing that you miss the experience of living which should be enjoyable in and of itself, whether you reach the destination or not. I agree with you that this does fly in the face of what most kids are told in their life, that it is important to set goals.
Steve Fouts: 2:26
They’re told that they should be setting goals for themselves, whether it’s a class grade, behavior in class, being a more positive person, going to college, or career goals. We’re always talking about this to them. I think with some students, when you ask them what their goals are, it would be nice to hear where they’re coming from with it. They’re probably going to share a lot of the things that people tell them should be goals, but they might not buy into them. This quote will get them to raise their consciousness. That’s why I really like it as a prompt for storytelling. What is our counterclaim if we want to come back and be the teacher or the parent to these students? What’s the counterclaim?
Dan Fouts: 3:29 – Counterclaim
Fixed goals. Having clear destinations are really important ingredients in life. From a parent’s perspective, if your child is in high school, and you ask what their goals are, you don’t want your kid to say, I don’t have any, I’m just kind of going with the flow. That strikes fear in parents’ hearts. They don’t have any direction as to where they want to go. Having a goal is important. It provides an anchor of certainty to your life. That’s important to stabilize you.
Steve Fouts: 4:14
Sure. Some students are going to have fixed goals. They’re going to be the type A personalities, the students who want to know exactly what’s expected of them at all times, so that they can achieve what they need to achieve. They don’t like any ambiguity or open endedness. They don’t necessarily even like the journey. They associate it with hard work. But, the journey is worth it because it gets them to their destination. If you don’t know where you’re headed, then you’re just floundering. A lot of students are in that mode. They’re doing what they like, what they’re good at, and they don’t want to get sidetracked by thinking too much about a goal. It’s a legitimate counterclaim.
Dan Fouts: 5:18
I think by having the kids talk about the goals that they have and to write down two goals will help teachers see where the kids are and how they’re thinking about this. Some kids will think very long term, others very short term. This is something you could ask them to write down to get the discussion started.
Steve Fouts: 5:46 – Essential Question
Absolutely. The conversation will bring up their ideas of success and what it means to be a good traveler, or someone who lives well. I think the essential question is, do you have to set goals to be successful? I think this will be a wonderful conversation, as long as it is civil. The students can go back and forth about having goals and if it’s good to set goals. They can make the argument that life is more than just setting arbitrary endpoints, and doing everything you can to get there. You need to appreciate the moments.
Dan Fouts: 6:35
Right, the journey is just as important. We’re having these conversations for teachers to use with students, but I feel like adults could really use this, too.
Steve Fouts: 6:55
Absolutely. We hope you enjoyed Lao Tzu. This is a really good quote for goal-setting. Make sure you visit our Conversation Library where we have many conversations like this, each with a different quote, a sample claim, counterclaim, and an essential question to get you started.
We will see you soon. Take care everybody.
Dan Fouts: 7:44
Alright, goodbye.
