This past Sunday, I was helping my 13 year old son Tawfiq with setting short term goals. We were doing this over dinner at one of his favorite restaurant’s “Nandos”.
As he was enjoying his chicken and spicy fries, I was writing down what he would like to accomplish in the next 3 months.
These were his goals for the period September 22 to December 31, 2008:
SOCCER:
- Score 5 goals
- Win two thirds of their games
- As the youngest player in the school team, to make a great impact on the team
STUDY:
- Make it to President’s Honor Role
READING:
- Read on average 20 minutes a day
SERVICE:
- Volunteer once a week
- Attend religious classes whenever there is no conflict with soccer
MONEY:
- Open bank account
- Spend 60 % of income/allowances; 20 % tithing; 10 % give away; 10 % saving
TV & COMPUTER:
- Total 7 hours a week including week-ends - an average of 1 hour a day
SLEEP TIME:
- Regular 10 pm after reading and brushing
- Week ends – when they have early morning soccer game – 10 pm
Why am I sharing this example? One of the messages of The Power of Giving is to spend quality time with your children and inspire them with good habits. As Khalil Gibran beautifully says, “You give little when you give of your possessions; it is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
In the process of helping your children, you might end up learning a thing or two, like I did! Well, after I finished with my son, I was inspired to write my own short term goals. I realized that I had very strong and clear long term goals but not as clear short term goals. When you give, you always get – sometimes tangible benefits, sometimes intangible!!
On top of that, I sent a sample of my son’s and my goals to my 19 year old daughter, Sahar, who lives at the University campus in Kingston, Ontario. Hoping she may take a shot at creating her short term goals to set the power of giving in motion!!
