New Semester Goal Setting Ritual

Objective: Students will self-reflect and articulate leverage points for positive self-transformation.

Overview: Students will burn a paper effigy of a habit they want to be rid of and create a power symbol to represent their commitment to a new habit they wish to form.

Resources:

• See attached worksheet

Activity:

1. Warm-up discussion prompt (10 min):

1. “Bad habits are familiar patterns of behavior that often go unnoticed until they are getting in the way of something we want for ourselves. Good habits help provide us the structure we need to make long-term progress towards what we want for ourselves, especially when what we want is something that takes a long time to attain. Changing our own habits is often difficult because we, or the people who raised us, may have become attached to them in the past as strategies for coping or survival. Without realizing it, we can hang on to habits that may have "worked" for us in the past without realizing how limiting they have become for our present situation. With consciousness and effort, it is possible to recognize and change our own habits to better serve our dreams. “

2. Discussion Questions:
1. Do fully you agree with the quote's definition of bad habits? Why? Why not?
2. Give an example of a goal that takes a long time to attain. What habits would support the achievement of that goal?
   
3. Why are habits hard to change?
4. Give an example of a bad habit that "works" in the sense that it allows someone to cope?
   
2. 
   
1. Writing prompts:
1. Describe at least one habit you have that might be "getting in the way," or limiting your ability to achieve a long-term goal for yourself. Describe the habit, your goal, and how the habit is getting in the way of reaching your goal.
   

2. Describe a habit you would like to form that would better support your goals. How will you go about forming this habit?

3. What's next?
1. Have students share their reflections on a voluntary basis. It helps if the teacher also does the activity, and shares something personal.
2. Present the students with the idea of creating an "effigy" of their bad habit (they will later be burning in a ritual to help them commit to changing it) and a "power totem" thay will create to represent the good habit they wish to form. Begin the brainstorming process, letting them think about different flammable (paper-based) representations they might create.