Goals Word Search

Find the goal setting words, then print the puzzle with lines to write a goal and its answer key.

Name Date

Goals Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 15 words found

PDWIOGTNNWITDCI

WXTVIDTWTOMASPI

KROOSETNMEPSPTJ

STGPHTEFFORTEEG

FQLRJCIZYSOPCBR

MILESTONEEVWICH

EPROGRESSUEOFER

ASHABITGOALOILN

SUGYWBVYYCEECEM

UCKTXKHRVHGKXBS

RCNAJYREMINDERI

AEIRUIRVMEXIPAO

BEXGEENIEVTHLTA

LDIEZTHEYEMRAEO

EHITEMLWNLERNRU

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

GoalGOAL
TargetTARGET
SpecificSPECIFIC
MeasurableMEASURABLE
PlanPLAN
MilestoneMILESTONE
ReminderREMINDER
EffortEFFORT
ImproveIMPROVE
HabitHABIT
ProgressPROGRESS
ReviewREVIEW
AchieveACHIEVE
SucceedSUCCEED
CelebrateCELEBRATE

15 of 23 words from the Goal Setting list.

Write one goal for this term and the first step you will take.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Goals Word Search

PDWIOGTNNWITDCI

WXTVIDTWTOMASPI

KROOSETNMEPSPTJ

STGPHTEFFORTEEG

FQLRJCIZYSOPCBR

MILESTONEEVWICH

EPROGRESSUEOFER

ASHABITGOALOILN

SUGYWBVYYCEECEM

UCKTXKHRVHGKXBS

RCNAJYREMINDERI

AEIRUIRVMEXIPAO

BEXGEENIEVTHLTA

LDIEZTHEYEMRAEO

EHITEMLWNLERNRU

GOAL, TARGET, SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, PLAN, MILESTONE, REMINDER, EFFORT, IMPROVE, HABIT, PROGRESS, REVIEW, ACHIEVE, SUCCEED, CELEBRATE

Next step Print the responsibility word search Make a word search from your class's own goals

All 133 words

Kinds of Goals 17

Academic Having to do with schoolwork and learning.
Ambitious Aiming high.
Aspiration A strong hope of doing something great.
Bucket list The things someone hopes to do in a lifetime, written down.
Fitness Being strong and able to keep moving.
Goal Something you decide to reach and then work toward.
Intention Something a person means to do.
Lifelong Lasting from childhood to old age.
Long term Said of an aim that takes many months or years.
Objective A lesson-plan word for the thing to be reached.
Outcome The result you hope to see at the end.
Promise Something you tell another person, or yourself, that you will do.
Quest A long search for something hard to reach.
Savings Money set aside for something wanted later.
Short term Said of an aim that can be met soon, in days or weeks.
Target The mark an archer aims at, and so any result to hit.
Wish A hope with no plan behind it yet.

Show all 133 words (116 more)

SMART Goals 16

Acronym A word made from first letters, as SMART is.
Assignable The A in the first SMART list, printed in 1981: it can be handed to someone to do.
Attainable A later reading of the A in SMART: within reach.
Clear Easy to understand; leaving no doubt.
Criteria The tests a thing has to pass. SMART names five of them.
Detail A small exact fact, such as how many or by when.
Exact Precise, down to the number and the date.
Measurable The M in SMART: it can be counted or checked.
Mnemonic A memory aid, such as a word built from first letters.
Number A count, such as 20 pages or 3 laps, that lets you tell when you are done.
Realistic The R in the first SMART list, printed in 1981: possible, not just hoped for.
Relevant A later reading of the R in SMART: tied to what matters to you.
Specific The S in SMART: clear and exact, not vague.
Time bound The T in SMART: having an end date.
Timely A later reading of the T in SMART: done by a set date.
Vague Fuzzy and unclear: what a SMART aim is not.

Making a Plan 19

Blueprint A detailed plan, named after the old copies of builders' drawings with their white lines.
Calendar A chart of days, weeks and months.
Checklist Jobs written one under another, each with a box to tick.
Countdown The numbers called backward to a big moment.
Daily Once in every 24 hours.
Deadline The day when the work is due.
First step The action that gets everything started.
Milestone A marked point along the way. Roman road builders set them beside their roads.
Monthly Once in each of the twelve parts of the year.
Organize To put things in order.
Outline A short list of the main points, before the details.
Plan The path you mean to take, worked out ahead of time.
Prepare To get things ready before they are needed.
Reminder A note or alarm that keeps you from forgetting.
Roadmap A plan that shows the stages ahead, named for a driver's chart.
Routine The same things done at the same hour each day.
Steps The small actions, in order, that lead to something big.
Strategy A careful way of going after something hard.
Weekly Once every seven days.

Doing the Work 25

Adjust To change a plan a little so that it works better.
Attempt A try.
Concentrate To hold your whole mind on one thing.
Consistent Doing the same good thing day after day.
Dedication Giving your time and energy to one thing.
Detour A longer way around a blocked road.
Diligence Careful, steady effort.
Distraction Something that pulls your attention away.
Effort Hard trying; the energy you put in.
Endeavor A serious attempt.
Focus Attention kept on one thing.
Habit Something done so regularly that it takes little thought.
Hard work Steady, tiring effort.
Hurdle A low fence that runners jump, and so any difficulty to get over.
Improve To make or become better.
Motivation The reason you want to do something.
Obstacle Something in the way.
Perseverance Keeping on in spite of difficulty.
Practice Doing a thing over and over so that it comes easier.
Rehearse To practice a performance before the real one.
Rethink To consider a plan again.
Retry To have another go after a miss.
Step by step Gradually, one small stage at a time.
Train To get ready by practicing, as a runner does.
Willpower The strength to do what you planned when you would rather not.

Tracking Progress 21

Baseline Where you stand at the beginning, before any change.
Benchmark A standard to compare with. The word comes from marks that surveyors chiseled in stone.
Chart A sheet that shows numbers as bars, lines or boxes.
Check in A short stop to see how things are going.
Data Facts and numbers gathered to learn something.
Graph A drawing that shows how numbers rise and fall.
Growth An increase that shows over time.
Halfway At the middle point between start and finish.
Journal A notebook written in day by day.
Logbook Where each day's distance, time or pages are written down.
Measure To find out how much or how many.
Percent A share out of each hundred.
Progress Movement toward where you want to be.
Reflect To think back about what went well and what did not.
Results What the numbers show at the end.
Review To look back over what has been done.
Sticker A small gummed picture put on a chart for each day done.
Streak An unbroken run of days on which you did the thing.
Tally A count kept with marks, one stroke at a time.
Track To follow how something changes over time.
Update To bring a record up to the present.

Reaching a Goal 17

Achieve To reach something by effort.
Award A prize given for doing well.
Celebrate To mark a happy event with something special.
Complete To finish every part.
Diploma The paper given for finishing a school.
Done Finished.
Earn To gain something by working for it.
Finish line The mark that ends a race.
Fulfill To make a hope or a promise come true.
Honor roll A school's list of students with top marks.
Payoff The good that comes at the end of long effort.
Personal best Your own top result so far.
Pride The good feeling of a job well done.
Ribbon A strip of colored cloth pinned on a winner.
Satisfaction The contented feeling of having done what you wanted.
Succeed To do what you set out to do.
Victory lap An extra circuit of the track taken by the winner.

New Year and New Term 18

Beginning The first part of anything.
Clean slate A new beginning with old marks wiped away, as chalk is wiped from a writing tablet.
First day When a school year or a job opens.
Fresh start A chance to begin again.
Future All the time that has not happened yet.
January The month named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings.
Launch To set something going.
Midyear The point when half of the school calendar is over.
New year It begins on January 1.
Quarter One of four parts of a school year.
Report card A school's written record of a student's marks.
Resolution A promise to yourself, often made on January 1. Babylonians made new year promises around 2000 BC.
Season One of the four parts of the year; also the months in which a sport is played.
Semester One of the two parts of a school year.
Someday At a time not yet chosen: the opposite of a deadline.
Tomorrow The day that follows this one.
Trimester One of three parts of a school year.
Vision board A poster of pictures and words that show what you hope for.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Word meanings were checked on 8 October 2026 against the words' entries in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goal and the entries for the other words that have one). Facts in the clues were checked the same day against these English Wikipedia articles: SMART criteria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria), New Year's resolution, January, Milestone, Blueprint, Benchmark (surveying) and Academic term. Licence: own work

How it works

For a new year or a new term, this goals word search opens on 23 goal setting words, such as Plan, Effort, Progress, Practice, Deadline, Focus, Improve and Achieve. Seven lists follow a goal from wish to finish line.

Read the full guide

From setting a goal to reaching it

Kinds of Goals has Short term, Long term and Bucket list. Making a Plan has Steps, Milestone, Checklist and Blueprint. Doing the Work has Habit, Obstacle and Perseverance, Tracking Progress has Tally, Streak and Baseline, and Reaching a Goal has Finish line and Personal best. New Year and New Term adds Resolution, January, Semester and Fresh start.

The SMART Goals list

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely and Time bound sit beside Realistic and Assignable, two words of the first SMART list. Clear, Exact and Vague are there to test a goal against: Vague is what a SMART goal is not.

Print New Year and New Term in January, and SMART Goals on the day the class writes its own.

Questions and answers

Is there a goal setting word search here?

Yes. The opening list is named Goal Setting, so this is a setting goals word search printable as well: press Print or save as PDF for the puzzle, with its writing strip, and the answer key on a second page.

Can I use it as a goal word search for New Year resolutions?

Yes. Pick New Year and New Term: 19 words such as Resolution, January, Countdown, Fresh start and Clean slate. Babylonians made new year promises around 2000 BC. Source: Wikipedia, New Year's resolution, read 8 October 2026.

What does SMART stand for in goal setting?

In the first list, printed in November 1981: specific, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-related. Later versions use attainable, relevant and timely. Source: Wikipedia, SMART criteria, read 8 October 2026.

Which list suits younger students?

Short and Easy: 12 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Goal, Plan, Wish, Steps, Track and Tally. Tracking Progress is the next step up, with Chart, Graph, Streak and Sticker.

All 133 words

Kinds of Goals 17

SMART Goals 16

Making a Plan 19

Doing the Work 25

Tracking Progress 21

Reaching a Goal 17

New Year and New Term 18

How it works

From setting a goal to reaching it

The SMART Goals list

Questions and answers

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