Goal setting is often thought of as a great idea and something everyone needs to do but we rarely do it and when we do, we usually lose track of the goal along the way. In this workshop, goals are brought to life through creation and conversation. Everyone participating will create a goal and a visual display for that goal during the workshop. This process can be done with family members over and over again as well as with other homeschool groups as activities. The process is created in a fun and fast paced style with everyone having an opportunity to create and share their goal that will leave each participant inspired by their goal and by the goals of others.

1. Goal-Setting:
Creating Your Future
Dennis DiNoia, M.A.Ed.

2. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
Creating Your Future
Step by step, you are going to invent a future that has what you will do and
when you will do it.
PART I – Determining What You Want
Step 1 – What do you want?
Step 2 – What are 6 things that will have to happen to get what you want?
Step 3 – What are 2 things that will have to happen to get you each of those
6 things to get what you want?
PART II – Determining When You Will Get What You Want
Step 1 – Put your 6 things in the order of which they will need to happen. (It
is fine if two happen at the same time or close to the same time)
Step 2 – Pick dates for when the 6 things will happen
PART III – Creating the Future
Step 1 – Write a story about you getting what you want.
Rules for the story:
1. It must be a reflective story, like it has already happened.
2. It must start with you describing yourself after you have gotten what you
wanted
3. It must then go back and reminisce about all the things that happened
and when they happened that got you to the future.

3. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
4. You MUST know that whatever you write can and often does happen
exactly the way you create it.
5. Have fun, be creative and be open to a world where anything is possible.
Use the Cluster Diagram to design the layout for your story.
How to Use the Cluster Diagram
1. The large rectangle in the middle is for what you want
2. The ellipses (the stretched out circles) are for the 6 things that
will happen. (There are 4 shown below)
3. The rectangles around the ellipses are the 2 things that will
have to happen to have what is in the ellipse happen. (There are
4 shown below)
4. Put the dates that you say they will have to happen by.
The example on the next page is a piece of the Cluster Diagram™
showing how to use it.

4. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
PART I – 3 Steps to determining what you want
Step 1 – What do you want? __________________________________________
(Put this in the center rectangle of the Cluster Diagram)
Step 2 – What are 6 things that will have to happen to get what you want?
1) _____________________________________________________________________
2) _____________________________________________________________________
3) _____________________________________________________________________
Put what will happen
here with date.
Put what will happen
here with date.
Put what will happen
here with date.
Put what will happen
here with date.
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
What has to happen to
have ellipse happen?
Put what you want here.
Put the date that you will have it by.

5. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
4) _____________________________________________________________________
5) _____________________________________________________________________
6) _____________________________________________________________________
(Put these in the ellipses on the Cluster Diagram)
Step 3 – What are 2 things that will have to happen to get each of the 6
things?
1) ______________________________ 2) _________________________________
1) ________________________ 1) ___________________________
2) ________________________ 2) ___________________________
3) ______________________________ 4) _________________________________
1) ________________________ 1) ___________________________
2) ________________________ 2) ___________________________
5) ______________________________ 6) _________________________________
1) ________________________ 1) ___________________________
2) ________________________ 2) ___________________________
(Put these in the small rectangles around the ellipses on the Cluster Diagram)
PART II – 2 Steps to determining when you get what you want
Step 1 – Take the 6 things from PART I and put them in the order of which
they will need to happen. (It is fine if two things happen at the same time or
close to the same time)
Step 2 – Pick dates for when the 6 things will happen

6. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
1) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
2) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
3) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
4) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
5) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
6) ________________________________________________ Date ________________
(Add the dates to the ellipses on the Cluster Diagram)
PART III – 1 Step to Creating the Future
Step 1 – Write a story about you getting what you want.
Rules for your story:
1. It must be a reflective story, like it has already happened.
2. It must start with you describing yourself after you have gotten what
you wanted.
3. It must then go back and reminisce about all the things that happened
and when they happened that got you to the future.
4. You MUST know that whatever you write can and often does happen
exactly the way you create it.
5. Have fun, be creative and be open to a world where anything is
possible.
Use your Cluster Diagram to develop the timeline of your story. You will also
know then how to put the story together.
 Just follow what you created step by step and date by date.
 Let yourself experience how it felt when that happened and write
down that feeling.

7. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
 Write about how your family or friends are impacted by your
accomplishments.
 Write about each accomplishment and write about what it was like for
you to go through what you had to go through to accomplish your
goals.
 Write about the people you meet and the relationships that are
created.
 Be willing to dream!

8. © Mr. D Math LLC, 2015. All rights reserved.
The Cluster Diagram