Engaging kids with quotes about goals helps them identify and understand the concept of becoming resourceful and its connection to success and achievement.
Resourcefulness is the ability to find and use available resources to achieve goals, problem solve, and shape the future. It draws on skills like planning, goal setting, strategic thinking, and organizing. Research shows that resourcefulness is one of eight core abilities that drive successful kids.
Parents and teachers help young people become resourceful by challenging them to set high expectations for themselves, and then supporting youth as they seek to accomplish their goals. When adults encourage young people to be flexible and strategic, youth become adaptable problem-solvers and learn to live without rigid rules or preconceived ideas.
Often, the most difficult thing for caring adults to do is to allow children to discover their own innate resourcefulness. Instead, they provide children with prescribed answers and an abundance of resources to help them accomplish their goals. This approach builds an over-reliance on others rather than helping children develop their own skills to succeed.
From the Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca to American soccer player Mia Hamm, the following quotes about goals are short, simple, and memorable. Children from elementary through high school will find meaning in these goals quotes appropriate to their level of development and understanding.
25 Kid-Friendly Quotes About Goals
Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
Helen Keller
We have to do the best we know how at the moment; If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.
Estee Lauder
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I . . . I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.
Sonia Sotomayor
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert F. Kennedy
The ability to recognize opportunities and move in new – and sometimes unexpected – directions will benefit you no matter your interests or aspirations.
Drew Gilpin Faust
Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.
Frederick Wilcox
If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.
Venus Williams
I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
Pablo Picasso
I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.
Mia Hamm
Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.
Jackson Brown, Jr.
Pearls don’t lie on the seashore. If you want one, you must dive for it.
Chinese Proverb
Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.
Samuel Johnson
If you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.
Cher
You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Wayne Gretzky
You must never feel badly about making mistakes … as long as you take the trouble to learn from them.
Norton Juster
You can’t pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that’s the blessing.
Natalie Babbit
You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.
Jack London
You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.
Charles C. Noble
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
J.K. Rowling
There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.
Indira Gandhi
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Theodore Roosevelt
Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.
Jimmy Carter
Goals Quotes: Discussion Starters
The following discussion starters are just a few of many that can be used by parents, teachers, and after-school program leaders to engage children with quotes about goals and resourcefulness.
- How would you define resourcefulness?
- What are your favorite quotes about goals and resourcefulness from the list? Why?
- Do you see yourself as a resourceful person? Why or why not?
- Describe a resourceful person you know or have learned about. What do you most admire about that person? Why?
- Share a story about a time you accomplished a personal or academic goal. Which quote most resonates with you about that story and why?
- What skills needed for resourcefulness, like planning, problem-solving, risk-taking, and decision-making, are you best at?
- What are the positives and negatives of being resourceful?
- How do people learn to become resourceful?
Resourcefulness in Action
- In what ways could your resourcefulness help others?
- What problems in the world, such as those related to education or pollution, would resourcefulness help contribute to solutions?
Additional Activities and the Wisdom Archive
There are many fun activities using quotes that can become learning opportunities for children. One activity is to have children develop their own quote that might inspire others. They could choose one of the abilities in the Compass Advantage on which to focus their original quote. Quotes can become artwork to be posted at home or school.
Children can be invited to think about other human values, like humor, tolerance, justice, respect, optimism, etc. They can search the Wisdom Archive, a wonderful quote search engine, for quotations that speak to them. A listing can be compiled of quotes with the most meaning, or posters can be created for home or school. Ideas are only limited by children’s imagination!
Articles in the “Quotes for Kids” Series
Quotes for Kids That Promote Healthy Development (Series Introduction)
Quotes About Curiosity That Inspire Kids’ Life-Long Learning (Curiosity)
Motivational Quotes for Kids That Help Build Positive Relationships (Sociability)
Quotes About Resilience That Foster Children’s Determination and Self-Confidence (Resilience)
Self-Awareness Quotes That Help Kids Explore Their Inner Selves (Self-Awareness)
Integrity Quotes That Teach Kids the Importance of Character (Integrity)
Quotes about Goals That Motivate Kids Toward Success (Resourcefulness)
Creativity Quotes That Inspire Kids’ Inner Genius (Creativity)
Kindness Quotes That Teach Kids to Care (Empathy)
Published: August 20, 2018
