Martyna Lambon, Educational Psychologist at EveryYouth Delivery Partner Aberdeen Foyer, shares her goal setting tips for young people:
January can be a hard month. The days are dark, routines can feel tiring, and motivation can drop. Setting small, realistic goals can help give your days some shape and something positive to focus on.
Goals aren’t about pushing yourself too hard or getting everything right. They’re about helping you feel more in control and reminding you that progress is possible, even in small steps. When you achieve a goal, it can boost your confidence and give you more energy to keep going.
Small goals are often the most helpful. Big goals can feel overwhelming, but breaking them down into smaller pieces can make them feel more manageable and less stressful.
One young person I’ve been working with explained it really well: “Think about small stuff you want to achieve — simple stuff you really want. Make very small goals achievable. It doesn’t have to be big — break the big one into smaller pieces.”
Three ways to support goal setting:
If a goal feels too big, make it smaller. Instead of “get everything done”, you might aim to plan your day, spend 10 minutes on a task, or organise one small thing. Small steps still count and can really add up over time.
2. Plan, but stay flexible
Planning can help you feel calmer and more organised, especially when things feel uncertain. But plans don’t always work out — and that’s okay.
As one young person put it: “You might have a plan, but don’t expect it to happen exactly.”
Plans are there to guide you, not to pressure you. Learning how to deal with the frustration when our plans don’t work out, how to regulate our emotions, and how to go back to the drawing board to plan for a new situation is an important component of increasing our resilience — a very important quality that protects our emotional wellbeing.
3. Make time for rest and reward yourself
Goals shouldn’t only be about work or achievement. Make sure you plan time to relax and look after yourself too. When you achieve a goal — even a small one — take time to notice it and reward yourself. This might be a break, doing something you enjoy, or simply feeling proud of what you’ve done.
Your goals don’t have to be perfect. They can be small, flexible, and change over time. Be kind to yourself, celebrate your effort, and remember that plans are there to help you — not to stress you out.
