Learning Goal — AI skill for Claude Code

Learning Goal: A Claude Code Skill for Structured Goal Setting with Mental Contrasting

This skill guides you through semi-structured, interactive goal-setting using the technique of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII), an evidence-based psychological exercise that draws on a self-regulation strategy to improve learning motivation and follow-through, decrease stress, and increase engagement and persistence. The exercise takes about 10-15 minutes and produces a concrete learning goal card you can keep, revisit, and reference in your agentic coding projects.

Pairs well with [Learning-Opportunities](https://github.com/DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities), a skill that uses an adaptive "dynamic textbook" approach to help you integrate science-based expertise building exercises while doing agentic coding.

Installation

This repository is a [Claude Code plugin marketplace](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/plugins). To install:

1. Add the marketplace:

   /plugin marketplace add https://github.com/DrCatHicks/learning-goal.git

2. Install the plugin:

   /plugin install learning-goal@learning-goal

3. Restart Claude Code to activate

For more on Claude Code plugins, see the [plugin documentation](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/plugins).

Why You Might Want to Experiment with This Skill

Across my research and qualitative interviews with people doing technical work, one of the top concerns I've heard from practitioners is that using AI will stifle their ability to learn and decrease the amount of active learning that happens in their workplaces. This Skill helps you build back a protective habit into your day: developing a concrete learning goal with a plan to recommit to it when encountering obstacles.

Most people believe that their personal learning goals will be obvious and easily remembered. But in practice, people often fail to achieve learning goals not for lack of desire to achieve them,