While this sort of general self-help advice is deservedly ridiculed*, it does have some application in education. Kids often have no idea what they want or wher

While this sort of general self-help advice is deservedly ridiculed*, it does have some application in education. Kids often have no idea what they want or where they are going. It's too personal and subjective for schools to teach. Parents find it overbearing and invasive. Nevertheless, just asking kids to come up with ideas can get them thinking. Short-term plans that are followed through give them confidence that achievement is something they can systematically work on. * If you are wondering why people laugh at this, it's because goal-setting and high-level planning is so much easier than actually doing something, which is where it all fails. See also TODO bankruptcy.