Intro: The following exercise is a fun way to identify and
discuss goals. The game itself is more of an icebreaker however this will open
up some positive discussion on goal setting for the upcoming year.
Directions: First,
as a group, brainstorm 13 goals for the upcoming year. Goals can be in a
variety of life areas including recovery, family, relationships, financial, physical/health,
emotional, career/employment/educational, spiritual, legal, etc. - Keep in mind
the following guidelines when setting goals:
The Three R's of Long-Term Goal Setting
Realistic - having or showing a sensible and practical idea of what can be achieved or expected.
Reasonable - Appropriate, based on good sense
Reachable - Accessible, achievable, able to be reached at some point
On a board or somewhere everyone
can see it, brainstorm and write down 13 goals that are realistic,
reasonable and reachable. On the board, list one goal next to each one
of the 13 following card types:
Aces –
Kings –
Queens –
Jacks -
Tens –
Nines –
Eights –
Sevens –
Sixes –
Fives –
Fours –
Threes-
Deuces (2’s) –
Next – Get a standard deck of cards. Remove any jokers or
other non-standard cards. As a group, play a game of “Go Fish” with the deck of
cards. Go Fish is a very easy game that takes 10-15 minutes to play. If you
forget the rules, you can view them here. It’s easy - https://howdoyouplayit.com/fish-rules-play-fish/
*One minor rule change should be that the game play
should continue until the draw pile is empty. Players that go out early
should wait until the draw pile is done, which will give more people in the
group a chance to win sets of 4.
Process:
When the game of Go Fish is done, each person should
discuss which goals they have hypothetically “won” based on the sets of 4 cards
that they were able to gather during the game of Go Fish.
For example, if at
the end of the game of Go Fish, a player had all four of the Kings and all four
of the 8’s then that person should discuss how he or she would feel if they
achieved the corresponding goal for Kings and the corresponding goal for 8’s
that the group came up with during the initial brainstorming session on the
board.
Go around the room and discuss the goals that people may
have won during the Go Fish game. Some players may not have won any goals, and
some may have won more than one. Players who did not win any goals can pick
from the list on the board and discuss the goal from the goal list that they
wish that they would have won.
Final Discussion – Getting Down
to the Basic Principles Goal Setting and Goal Attainment:
What are THREE PERSONAL GOALS that you want to have
achieved by this time next year?
What is your PURPOSE for setting these goals? (Why did
you choose the goals that you did?)
What do you think that you need to MOTIVATE you to get
started and keep working on these goals?
What will help you to SUSTAIN motivation and not give
up on your goals in the next year?
What specific kinds of ACTION do you need to take in
order to achieve these goals?
Who or what can SUPPORT you in achieving your goals and
in not giving up?
How do you SEE YOURSELF as your goals are achieved? (What
will life be like? How will you feel?)
