Goal Setting - When have you succeeded or failed at a goal?
As an international writing community with a mission to make the world a better place through storytelling, StagofLife.com wanted to know what goals teens have accomplished, are working on, or failed at achieving.
From teaching English, to becoming more extroverted, to the upsides of a failed goal, our hundreds of essay submitters (see below) have showcased the benefits of goal setting—accomplished or failed.
This writing contest was supported by our education sponsor, Lenovo, who generously donated the grand prize for the winning essay winner - a Series A Tablet.
Many of the students and teachers who participated in this writing contest also utilized the free StageofLife.com Goal Setting Worksheet. We welcome you to use that goal setting resource too.
"Tell us about a goal you've accomplished or failed at achieving."
VISITS: Over 8,700 teens and college students visited the StageofLife.com student poll and writing contest during the month's writing prompt (September 2013) from across the US (all 50 states) and dozens of international countries.
TEENS and GOAL SETTING SURVEY DATA: 521 students between junior high school and college fully completed the national survey about goal setting.
ESSAY THEMES: Out of all of the topics discussed, four major themes were collectively revealed by teens in their goal setting essays.
STUDENT ESSAYS: 260+ student bloggers submitted a qualifying essay to the Goal Setting national writing contest sharing their stories about their accomplished (or failed) goals.
ESSAY WINNER: First, second, and third place winners, along with three Runners Up and 19 finalists were selected.
To read the full national survey results, click the PDF icon to save the free download.
Goals require effort and concentration: Almost every teen expressed the same sentiment: meeting a goal, no matter how small or intimidating, requires concentrated effort. Even though it may take some work, achieving a goal is worth it in the end.
Mistakes mean you are human: Of course, goals are not met without some bumps in the road. Almost all teens made mistakes along the way; but these mistakes often led to important lessons learned, or a better goal to achieve.
Teens have big dreams: The most popular category in this contest was “School/Work” related goals. These teens have their sights set high: by graduating high school with stellar grades, earned scholarships to the college of their dreams, and by getting a job in a field they love.
Failure is not the end of the world: Quite a few teens admitted to not achieving their goals, or to giving up on them. But these teens discovered an important lesson: failure can often lead to greater, or different, success. Similarly, failure can be used as motivation to achieve a goal the next time around.
Immediately below, you'll find links to the StageofLife.com winning essay, our runners-up, semi-finalists, and 260+ essays from college students and teenagers about their goal setting accomplishments and downfalls.
Please take a few moments to read an essay or two, especially our winners, runners-up, and finalists.
If you have the time, make a comment on the responses you enjoyed the most. We know the student writers will love hearing your positive input (they'll get an email notifying them if you comment on their writing contest entry).
Read All Qualifying Teen & College Essays for the National StageofLife.com Writing Contest - "When have you succeeded or failed at a goal?"
StageofLife.com hosts educational, national, monthly writing and blogging contests for teens and college students. In its mission to provide students an authentic community to share their opinions and publish their ideas, StageofLife.com will strive to continue its commitment to giving teens and college students a larger voice.
We welcome you to explore our writing contests, our mission and the literacy principals on which it Stage of Life was founded.