The Beyond the Classroom Blog Series includes tips and tricks from Westside's Counseling and Learning Support Teams.
1.10.23 - What's Working?
Written by Adam Elder, Director of Counseling and SEL
New beginnings are an excellent time to reflect on our past and set goals for the future, and I encourage your family to make time to practice these important life skills. As you reflect and set goals, consider starting your process by asking “What’s working?” By focusing on this question, we are able to:
- Celebrate our accomplishments
- Reflect on the skills we have that are leading to positive outcomes
- Develop goals that are more achievable by building on our current skills and successes
Often our goal-setting or “resolutions” come from a place of reflecting on what isn’t working. As a result, we can unknowingly set goals that require us to establish new habits while simultaneously building new skills. This is incredibly difficult to sustain! It is much easier to establish new habits by building on what’s working. Here are a couple of simple examples:
A common resolution is to be more active. Ask yourself, “What’s working?” When are you already in motion? Could you add 5 more minutes or increase your distance incrementally?
When you ask, “What’s working?” you might also begin to notice common areas of your life that are working well. For example, you may notice that much of what you are celebrating includes time with your family. Consider habits and goals that incorporate this. Want to learn a new skill? Try to get the whole family involved!
Take a moment to reflect on What’s Working (and enjoy it!). Then use that as your launchpad for the next great things you’ll do this year!