Goal Setting Go Fish

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?)

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