Helping Students Set SMART Goals for the School Year
“A Goal with a Dream is a Deadline” – Napoleon Hill
Would you like to help your students succeed this school year?
It’s hard to be successful without first being clear on what success looks like. Setting goals is a great way to do this.
Setting goals for the academic school year using the SMART Goal system can help students clarify what’s important, and how to achieve it.
Let’s take a closer look at SMART Goals.

What Are Smart Goals?
Top-level students, athletes and achievers in all fields set goals for what they hope to achieve in the future. Australian Olympian Samantha Wells describes here how valuable setting goals has been for her in achieving success.
But rather than setting goals that are vague or have no deadline, using the SMART Goal system can provide a clear, focused approach to goal-setting.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Attainable, Relevant & Timely.
Simply put, SMART Goals pass the SMART Test:
1. Is the goal clear and understandable? (Specific)
2. Is it clear when the goal is accomplished? (Measurable)
3. Is this goal possible to obtain? (Achievable/Attainable)
4. Is the goal worthy of the time and effort required? (Relevant)
5. Does the goal have a deadline? (Timely)
The MyDiary Life 360 Wellbeing Diary offers a range of tools to help students understand the concept of SMART Goals and set some of their own. The Diary includes a Term 1- 4 Study Planner and designated space for students to write goals for the year. The Wellbeing Diary also provides a colourful and engaging visual guide to SMART Goals.
Helping Students set SMART Goals
Here are 3 ways to help students set SMART Goals for 2023:
1. Relate Goals to Dreams
If your students have previously created a Vision /Dream Board, they can link their goals back to their Dream board aspirations. The MyDiary Life 360 Wellbeing Diary comes with an easy-to-use template that students can use to create their own Vision / Dream Board.
2. Within their Control
Encourage students to set goals that they have the power to achieve based on their own behaviour.
For example, remind students that they cannot control whether they will receive the highest mark in their class for a particular subject. But they can control the amount of time, energy and focus they put into their assignments and exam preparation.
3. Use Pen and Paper
Writing goals out on paper helps cut through all the online noise.
With a MyDiary printed School Calendar Diary, students can use the Study Planner & Term goals page to write down goals for each term and review their progress throughout the year.
Students can also use the MyDiary Growth Mindset Kit that clips directly into their school diary to define their goals and take action to achieve them.
SMART Goals are a simple, powerful way to get clear on what success for the year ahead looks like, so students can focus their efforts on what is most important.
Looking for goal-setting tools and resources to help your school students? MyDiary offers Diaries and planners for Students and Teachers that incorporate Time Management, Wellbeing and Productivity into the School Calendar Diary. Get in touch to find out more.