Lesson 175: For the Strength of Youth: Making Choices

Setting Goals

Becoming More like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

traveler on a path

Heavenly Father desires that all His children gain eternal life (see Moses 1:39). We can progress in our efforts to become like God and return to His presence by setting personal goals. This lesson can help students effectively set goals and create plans as they seek to become more like God with His help.

Possible Learning Activities

Where are you going? How will you get there?

Display a world map or a map of your area. Ask students to share locations they have visited or would like to visit. Give students two minutes to create a plan that could help someone travel to that location. The plan could include things such as the appropriate mode of transportation, a detailed route, and expenses. Students could share their plan with a partner.

• How can creating a travel plan relate to our mortal lives?

President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the following:

President M. Russell Ballard

Knowing where you are going and how you expect to get there can bring meaning, purpose, and accomplishment to life.

Some have difficulty differentiating between a goal and a plan until they learn that a goal is a destination or an end, while a plan is the route by which you get there. (M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 62)

• What are the purposes of goals and plans?

  Invite students to reflect on their personal goals and plans by pondering questions such as the following:

• How often do you set goals for yourself and make plans to achieve them?

• What have been your successes and struggles?

• Where do you hope your goals and plans will lead you?

Throughout the lesson, encourage students to seek guidance from the Holy Ghost as they develop and work toward their goals and plans.

God has given us an example

As you display the following statement, consider removing the phrase “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man [and woman]” and the word “salvation” from the first paragraph. Ask students to fill in the blanks with God’s goal and the name of His plan. Students could then read Moses 1:39 or Alma 42:5 to identify the words President Ballard used. You might explain that the use of the word “man” in Moses 1:39 and other scriptures (for example, Genesis 1:27; Mormon 9:17) is a generic reference to mortals or humans, therefore referring to both men and women.

President Ballard continued to teach:

President M. Russell Ballard

God, our Heavenly Father, has given us the perfect example of goal setting and planning. His goal is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man [and woman]” [Moses 1:39], and His means to achieve it is the plan of salvation. …

… I believe that one important key to happiness is to learn how to set our own goals and establish our own plans within the framework of our Heavenly Father’s eternal plan. (M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 63)

• What do you learn from this statement about your own goals and plans?

  One truth students could identify is that we can experience happiness by working toward personal goals that help us follow God’s plan. Help students understand that God has made it possible through the Savior that we live forever, or gain immortality. He also desires that we become like Him and Jesus Christ and return to live with Them, or gain eternal life. God’s plan of salvation makes these blessings possible.

• Why do you think we can experience happiness when our goals help us follow God’s plan? (see 2 Nephi 2:25; Mosiah 2:41).

  Read Luke 2:52, looking for ways the Savior grew as a youth as He followed His Father’s plan.

• Why might following the Savior’s example of growing in these areas lead to increased happiness?

A pattern for growth

Show students the Personal Development: Youth Guidebook. Consider inviting a student to share how it can be used to help create goals and establish plans. If needed, explain that we are invited to follow the example of Jesus Christ by creating goals in each of the following areas: spiritual, social, intellectual, and physical.

To prepare students to work on their own goals, consider reviewing the section “A Pattern for Growth” in the Youth Guidebook ([2019], 7–15) or providing the handout titled “A Pattern for Growth.” Place students in groups of four, with each student studying a different part of the pattern. Then they could explain to their group what they learned.

You could also watch “Video: Goal Setting Process” (3:42), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

A Pattern for Growth

Discover your needs, gifts, and talents. Try asking questions like: What do I feel I should learn or change in my life? What talents or skills do I want to gain? What spiritual habits do I need to develop or improve? How can I keep the covenants I made when I was baptized? Who can I serve? “Study it out in your mind; then … ask me if it be right” (Doctrine and Covenants 9:8).	Plan to improve. Try asking questions like: Why is this important to me? How will this help me become more like Jesus Christ? What actions can I take to do this? Can I break these actions into smaller steps? What plans can I make now to overcome challenges I may face? “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).
Reflect on what you learned. Try asking questions like: How have I grown? How can I use what I’ve learned to serve others? How have my actions helped me become closer to the Savior? How can I continue growing in this area? “Ponder the path of thy feet” (Proverbs 4:26).	Act to grow in faith. If you get stuck, try asking questions like: What has worked? Why? What has not worked? Why not? What else can I try? Where could I get more ideas? Can I break my goal into smaller steps or actions? How can I learn from setbacks? “Verily I say, [you] should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [your] own free will” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27).

• Which questions do you feel could be helpful as you work on your goals and plans? Why?

• How can this pattern help you in your efforts to become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

• How can Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ help you in your efforts?

Discover, plan, act, and reflect

Provide time for students to work on their personal goals. Display the following instructions:

Choose the heading that best describes you, and complete one or more of the corresponding instructions. Seek help from the Holy Ghost and use “A Pattern for Growth” (found in the Youth Guidebook or on the handout).

• I have not made specific goals or plans.

• a. Discover what you need to work on in one or more of the following areas: spiritual, social, intellectual, physical.

  b. Create plans that will help you achieve these goals.

  c. Record your goals and plans in your Youth Guidebook or study journal.

• I have goals and plans I am working on.

• a. If appropriate, use time in class to act on some of your plans and goals.

  b. Reflect on what you have learned and progress you have made as you have acted on your goals and plans.

  c. Record your thoughts and adjust your goals or plans as needed in your Youth Guidebook or study journal.

After sufficient time, invite a few students to share goals they have made or successes and challenges they have experienced while working toward their goals.

Invite students to act on their personal goals. Explain that working on goals is an act of faith. Testify that Jesus Christ knows our strengths and weaknesses. He will help us succeed as we turn to Him.

Additional Resources

Why is it important to set goals?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:

President Dallin H. Oaks

Growing spiritually, socially, physically, and intellectually is all part of the wholeness that your Heavenly Father wants you to have and will help you to attain. Remember that this mortal experience is an experience in which we learn to become what God our Heavenly Father wants us to become and what He has made possible by giving us His Only Begotten Son, whose Atonement assures us of immortality and gives us the opportunity for eternal life. (Dallin H. Oaks, “You Can Do This,” New Era, Apr. 2020, 14)

What can help me accomplish my goals?

President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

President M. Russell Ballard

Experts on goal setting tell us that the simpler and more straightforward a goal is, the more power it will have. When we can reduce a goal to one clear image or one or two powerful and symbolic words, that goal can then become part of us and guide virtually everything we think and do. I believe that there are two words that, in this context, symbolize God’s goals for us and our most important goals for ourselves. The words are return and receive.

To return to His presence and to receive the eternal blessings that come from making and keeping covenants are the most important goals we can set. (M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 63)

To learn more about principles of effective goal setting, consider studying President Ballard’s entire address “Return and Receive.”

Supplemental Learning Activities

A prophet’s example

Consider displaying an image of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. Invite students to identify principles of goal setting in Joseph’s example.

• What principles do you see in Joseph Smith’s example that could be applied to setting goals? (see Joseph Smith—History 1:8–14, 18).

• How might we apply these principles in our own efforts to achieve our goals?

Examples of goal setting

To help students deepen their understanding of the pattern for growth, consider watching one of the following examples in “Video: You Can Do This Individually” (6:34), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Invite students to look for how the youth followed the pattern for growth.

• Ashley memorizes “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” (watch from time code 0:00 to 1:55).

• Eli runs every day (watch from time code 1:55 to 3:28).

• McKenna researches her family history (watch from time code 3:28 to 6:34).

Keep the Savior at the center of your plans

Consider sharing this statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

President Russell M. Nelson

As you set your goals to increase in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, please keep the Savior at the center of your plans. Always ask yourself, and prayerfully ask your Father in Heaven, “What can I do to become more like Jesus Christ?” As you do this each day, miracles will happen. (Russell M. Nelson, in a video message shared in Face to Face with Elder Gerrit W. Gong [worldwide children and youth broadcast, Nov. 17, 2019], broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

• How might centering plans on Jesus Christ influence the goals we set?

Invite students to prayerfully consider how to keep Jesus Christ at the center of their plans to achieve their goals.

Short-term and long-term goals

Consider sharing this statement by President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

President M. Russell Ballard

Wise goal setting includes the understanding that short-term goals are only effective if they lead to clearly understood longer-term goals. (M. Russell Ballard, “Return and Receive,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 63)

Give students a list of long-term goals a person might have, such as the following. Students could also create their own list of long-term goals.

• Serve a full-time mission.

• Get married in the temple.

• Attend college.

• Work in a chosen career.

Invite students to create examples of short-term goals that could help someone achieve these long-term goals. For example, if a person had a long-term goal to serve a mission, they might create short-term goals to save money or to read the entire Book of Mormon.

Gospel Living app

The Gospel Living app contains many resources to help youth work on their goals, including ideas, a place to record, and notifications. Consider inviting a student who is familiar with the app to share with the class how to use it to create and track personal goals.

A Pattern for Growth