Let’s begin by understanding what it means to set NDIS goals. As a participant, your goals are essentially the things that you want to achieve with the help of the support that the NDIS provides. As part of your planning meeting or plan review, you are able to tell your Local Area Coordinator (LAC), or Support Coordinator (SC) what you would like to achieve throughout the year. Your LAC, SC or Plan Manager will help you work out what supports you need to accomplish your goals as part of your NDIS plan.

Setting goals is an important part of developing the right plan for each individual. Goals help LACs, SCs and Plan Managers get to know each participant and what’s important for each individual. Talking about your daily life, your interests, hobbies, and what you want to do in the future is the best way to express yourself to your plan manager and is the best way for them to create a plan that helps you live your life to the fullest.

This part is entirely up to you. You might want to set one or more small goals that are easily achievable, or you might want to set a big, long-term goal that can create bigger changes in your life. Both are okay, and you may even want to set both. How far you pursue your goals is also up to you. You may find that a goal you set is not turning out how you would have hoped. That’s okay too, just let your care team know and they can help you change your goals.

You can get help from those around you to identify and prepare for your goals. Your friends and family can help you determine what your strengths and weaknesses are, as well as where your interests align with them. That can make it easier to choose what goals you’d like to set.

While each individual’s goals will depend on their situation, there is a list of characteristics that will make your NDIS goals ‘good’. These include:

• • Focus on what you want to achieve – this means that it’s a better idea to look at what you want out of your goal, rather than what steps need to be taken to achieve it.
  • Try to be flexible – deciding that you want to learn or take part in a specific hobby for example, may be less achievable than simply saying that you would like to pick up a new hobby.
  • Improvements – try looking for ways that you can improve your life, specifically. This may mean wanting to exercise more, socialise more, or learning how to use public transport, or how to drive.
  • Set time frames – it’s often important to state when you’d like to achieve a goal. This makes it easier for plan managers to create a better plan, and it keeps you motivated.
  • Personal preferences – at the end of the day, the most important part of goal setting is choosing goals that YOU want to achieve.

A quick way to set goals includes:

1. 1. Think about what’s important to you, and how you want your life to look in the future.
   2. Workout what you want to achieve based on step 1.
   3. Break down your goal into steps that you can more easily follow.
   4. Write down the supports you need based on the steps and the goal.

We hope this guide is helpful and makes it easier to understand and create NDIS goals. Here at Help at Hand Support, we pride ourselves on learning about each individual participant and how we can help them live the best quality of life possible. Contact us today and find out more about how we can help you achieve YOUR individual goals with the NDIS.