Wouldn’t it be nice if our children and students showed up self-motivated, dedicated, and ready to learn all the daily living skills (DLS) required for transitioning to adulthood? Unfortunately, while pleasant to think about, not at all likely to happen.
Helping our teens with unique learning needs navigate the journey toward young adulthood isn’t easy. With so many skills necessary for successful independence, staying focused and directing our attention towards what our learners need to know the most can get tricky. Our learners count on the adults around them to provide guidance, support, and learning opportunities to practice different DLS.
That’s where SMART goal setting comes in–it’s one of the best ways to boost motivation and direct your teen’s focus on learning new daily living skills (DLS). With a simple, step-by-step process, you can use SMART goal setting to teach DLS and help your teen achieve greater independence.
What is a SMART Goal?
Decades of research indicate that some of the highest goal achievement rates happen when goals follow the SMART template. SMART stands for:
S – Specific – What is the behavior we want to achieve?
M – Measurable – How will we know that we’ve achieved it?
A – Attainable – Is the goal realistic? Is the outcome practical and achievable?
R – Relevant – Why is this goal important to achieve? What difference will it make for my life or for others around me?
T – Time-Bound – When will this goal be accomplished?
With these elements, SMART goals help us establish a clear vision for what our goal intends to accomplish and begin to chart out a path to get there.
Examples of SMART Goals for Daily Living Skills
Writing SMART goals takes some practice. One suggestion is to review samples of how we transform parents’ and teachers’ statements about desired behaviors into actionable, SMART goals. Here are several examples of developing SMART daily living skills goals:
Parent Statement: “Tony will be more organized.”
SMART Goal: Within two weeks, Tony will set and maintain a morning routine to complete all chores and tasks before school without being late.
Parent Statement: “Alexandre will do something after school besides play video games.”
SMART Goal: When given a choice of 5 different non-screen time activities, Alexandre will select and complete an activity for at least 1 hour on four out of five weekdays after school.
Parent Statement: “I want Jessie to pick up after herself.”
SMART Goal: By December 1st, Jessie will implement a daily chore checklist for her bedroom and the den area for two consecutive weeks.
Why are SMART Goals Better?
After reviewing these parent statements and the new goals, can you spot the differences? In particular, notice how SMART goals establish more precise boundaries and create action items from what might otherwise be vague behavioral statements.
How To Use SMART Goal Setting to Teach Daily Living Skills
Step 1: Evaluate DLS skills using a values-based approach.
We’ve written here before about the importance of taking a values-based approach to teaching DLS. That includes complete person-centered planning for goals so that your teen’s interests, motivation, and values are considered in the process.
For more information on making values-based decisions, check out: 6 Key Steps For Making Values-Based Decisions For Your Child’s Daily Living Skills and How to Evaluate your Teen’s Daily Living Skills.
Step 2: Identify the priority objectives for you and your teen.
There are hundreds of different DLS skills that our teens need to know to be successful adults. It’s not possible to focus on everything at once, so after you’ve determined what you and your teen value for DLS skills, then start focusing on what are the biggest priorities right now. Ask questions like:
- What would help your teen be the most independent?
- What does your teen struggle with most?
- What would have the most significant impact right now on your learner’s life or your family’s life?
- Are there areas where DLS skills are frequently resulting in problem behavior?
Step 3: Write the SMART goal.
Remember when writing DLS goals, be specific and create a measurement. Ask questions like:
- What is the end behavior your teen should learn?
- How will they know they’ve accomplished that goal?
- What parameters can you set?
When you’re ready to write your smart goal, download our free fillable .pdf SMART goal planning worksheet. It has all the steps to help your teen draft and evaluate their next goal.
Step 4: Identify strengths.
As soon as you and your teen identify and draft the goal, it’s crucial to start setting the stage for success. Work with your teen to build motivation by talking through what’s already in place to help them achieve the goal. Ask questions like:
- What skills does my teen know that I can use to teach this skill?
- Who else can help support this goal?
- What other resources, apps, or technology are available to help?
Step 5: Evaluate barriers.
Along with evaluating your teen’s strengths, it’s also important to consider barriers that may disrupt progress on the goal. By thinking ahead to where your teen may struggle, it may be possible to make changes before the challenges occur. Ask questions like:
- Where do I foresee progress being challenging?
- What things could go wrong as we try to achieve the goal?
- Are there materials, resources, or tools we’re missing to get started on this goal?
- What can we do to avoid these barriers–how will we know they’ve become a problem?
Step 6: Review and build motivation.
Even the best-written SMART goals won’t matter without establishing the right motivation. Both you and your child need to have a clear ‘why’ statement for setting the SMART daily living skills goal in the first place. Relevant goals involve asking yourself and your teen:
- Why do I want my teen to achieve this goal?
- Why does my teen need to achieve this goal?
- What are the benefits?
- How does my teen see the benefits of achieving the goal in tangible ways?
- Do these benefits outweigh the short-term efforts they have to make to achieve the goal? If not, how can I better connect to my child’s why’?
Step 7: Set milestones to evaluate progress along the way.
How do you know your learner is making progress towards their DLS goal?
While writing your SMART goal, establish benchmarks or milestones to highlight advancement to the end goal. Even better, help your teen select “mini-rewards” for achieving these milestones; things like a special outing or extra privileges can be meaningful motivators, especially if the DLS might take several months to master.
Step 8: Revisit and adjust as needed.
There are always unforeseen circumstances that can arise and completely derail a goal – but those shouldn’t be allowed to get in the way of your teen’s ultimate goal. As your teen begins their DLS goal, don’t hesitate to re-evaluate, pivot, or adjust along the way. Have a frequent and open dialogue with your teen about how their SMART goal is going. Discuss questions like:
- What positive changes are they seeing?
- Are there challenges or difficulties getting in the way of success?
- Does your child still feel motivated to work towards the goal?
- What might help things go quicker or more efficiently?
- Is this goal still meaningful?
- Are there other skills that need to be worked on for your teen to succeed at the current goal?
Need additional support and resources?
It’s okay if you still have answers about using SMART goal setting to teach daily living skills. However, before you begin working with your teen on your own, it can also be helpful to rally support from others and seek additional resources.
For a deep dive into SMART goals, consider our email course, “Helping Your Teen Set SMART Goals.” It offers concrete, step-by-step resources delivered to your inbox to help your teen set and achieve big goals.
Reach out to members of your child’s IEP team or other therapeutic service providers; chances are they may already be targeting DLS-type activities when working with your child. Or consider contacting a life skills coach, someone with professional experience evaluating and teaching DLS to diverse learners.
Further Reading
- Helping Your Teen Set SMART Goals email course
- Life Skills Advocate Blog: Teaching Your Teen to Be Resourceful
- Life Skills Advocate – Life Skills Coaching
- Lawlor, K. B. (2012). Smart goals: How the application of smart goals can contribute to achievement of student learning outcomes. In Developments in business simulation and experiential learning: Proceedings of the annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 39).
- Life Skills Advocate Blog – 6 Key Steps For Making Values-Based Decisions For Your Child’s Daily Living Skills
- Life Skills Advocate Blog – How to Evaluate Your Teen’s Daily Living Skills
- SMART IEPs – NCWD/Youth