Module One: Setting Goals What Are Goals? • • • • • • • •

Goals are something we want and will work to obtain. Goals help us give our life direction. They take us along the path to where we want to be. Goals let us measure our progress. Goals are measurable, attainable and achievable. Goals are today's small successes. One by one they become tomorrow's dream achieved. Goals are large (saving for retirement) and small (painting the bedroom this fall), general (becoming a better person) and specific (writing a term paper ) immediate (making dinner) and long term (earning a university degree).

How to Set Effective Goals Consider your own general life's definition. Answer the following questions. Think positively. Write your answers down if you choose. They will motivate you. • • •

What makes me feel important now? What is most important to me now? What would I most like to do with my life if anything was possible?

Now think about your academic objectives or goals. A Proclamation of Intent is written by you for you. It will help to focus your studies begin and will guide you back should you wander off the path.

Write your Proclamation of Intent. Answer the following: • • •

Why I want an education What I want to do after I complete my education What other things I want to accomplish

Keep your Proclamation of Intent handy. Refer to it often. Changes in your life may cause a change to your Proclamation. That's just fine. Refine your statement to reflect your new reality.

Write your goals in a memo to yourself. Seeing your own goals written in your own handwriting, will remind you the goals are yours and yours alone. No one has imposed them upon you. They are freely assumed. You have complete ownership for them. An example of how your memo might look is included in this section. Remember this is only an example and that your memo might look quite different. This exercise is harder than it looks and may take some time. Have an attempt and then return to it later if necessary.

Review your goal memo weekly to see how you are doing and check off attained goals. Having check marks on your "to do" or goal lists gives a visual reminder that you really are making progress.

Set goals based on performance not outcomes. Goals based on your performance goals are goals over which you have the most control. You can set a goal to study one hour per day every day in a given week. The goal is manageable and under your control. You can reasonably expect that you will accomplish your goal and feel a sense of accomplishment. Goals based on outcomes are subject to failure because of factors over which you have no control. Failing to achieve a personal goal due to external factors such as bad weather or misjudgment can be very discouraging. Your goal might be to attain the highest mark in your class. When the final marks are in, you might have 90% and a classmate might have 91% which means you have not attained your goal but yet you have done an exceptional job. If your goal was to achieve a grade of 90%, you would have been successful independent of what your classmates might have done.

Make your goals precise. Define your goals in specific ways that can be measured such as "I will study until I can complete the end of chapter review test with not more than three mistakes." If you fail to achieve your goal, you should analyze the reason for failure and then fix the problem. For instance, the material may be harder to grasp than you first realized when you set the goal.

You may not be able to even write the end of chapter test until you have spent more than one study session. You may need to revise your goal to say that "I will write the end of chapter test and if I have more than three mistakes I will continue working on the material tomorrow when I will rewrite the test."

Prioritize your goals. Some goals are immediate and some are long term. Decide what must be done in the short term and what for a bit or a lot longer. You can learn more about this in Time Management and Priority Setting in Student Support, Module One.

Make Goals Realistic. We tend to set goals too high or too low, neither of which serves our best interests. Setting goals at just the right level takes practice and you will make a mistake or two along the way. Consider this as learning and then reestablish the goals to more accurately reflect your ambitions. Your imagination will carry you to new opportunities.

Avoid the pitfalls of unrealistically high goals including: •

Always expecting an "A"... Stretching your normal limits helps you to become stronger. However, sometimes factors cause us to backslide and achieve less than we attempted. Maybe you don't have the time and energy to become an "A" student. Maybe a "B" is your normal performance level. It is far better to attempt to raise your normal average performance than to aim for a goal that is too far outside your normal frame of reference.

•

Your goals don't match with their expectations... If family and friends misunderstand your desires, they may set unrealistic goals for you. You may want to complete your degree part time while continuing to be gainfully employed and your support network may be impatient that you seem to be going to school forever. You need to get them to understand that you intend to complete your studies over several years and not to expect a quick fix.

•

You think you can do it all... Remember those days when you could accomplish everything you set out to do. Could you really? Or do you just remember what you did accomplish? What was important anyway? You have a responsibility to yourself to get proper rest, relaxation and to have fun. Balance family, personal and school responsibilities. Don't try to do it all. Do try to attend to all important things including self care.

Avoid the pitfalls of goals which may be set too low including: •

Fear of failure... Failure can be tough to take but think about that a minute. Most of us learn from our mistakes. When you set a goal, it means taking a risk that you may not

meet it. Go ahead. Take the risk. If you are unsuccessful in the attempt, you will at least learn what you did wrong. If you are successful, you have reached new heights and added to your knowledge base. •

Lack of commitment... If you set any easy goal, then you don't have to work very hard to attain it. You must be committed to hard work to be the best you can be. Your commitment to your own tough goals will raise your ability to a level that is only now in your dreams.

Goal Setting Memo To:

Your Name

From:

Your Name

Subject:

Top 6 goals to achieve this year {sample goals are in italics}

Date:

Today's date

I. Goal #1 Develop effective study habits A. Actions to be taken this month 1. Read Student Support Systems Modules 2. Find and use note taking method that works for me 3. Identify quiet study area B. Actions to be taken this week 1. Read Tips for Students, Getting Started and Student Guide to Note Taking from Student Support Module 2. Prepare study and personal schedule 3. Find out times the library or school is open for quiet study time

Il. Goal #2 Successfully pass course A. Actions to be taken this month 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Be prepared for every class Talk to instructor about major term paper Talk to instructor about my test anxiety and how to lessen it Prepare for first multiple choice test Learn about library research skills

B. Actions to be taken this week 1. Read textbook and course material for next week's class 2. Take notes on material from textbook 3. Begin thinking about topic for term paper

IlI. Goal #3 Volunteer at three community events A. Actions to be taken this month 1. Find out the yearly local events 2. Fit events into schedule 3. Offer assistance for an event happening in the next 2 months B. Actions to be taken this week 1. Ask informally around town about upcoming events

IV. Goal #4 Read three books not related to my studies A. Actions to be taken this month 1. Check out library and friends' collections to see what is of interest B. Actions to be taken this week 1. Find out library hours

V. Goal #5 Plan family vacation A. Actions to be taken this month 1. Ask family where they would like to go on vacation 2. Put money in vacation fund B. Actions to be taken this week 1. Open bank account for vacation fund

VI. Goal #6 Buy a new car A. Actions to be taken this month 1. Purchase or borrow new car buyers guide. B. Actions to be taken this week 2. Find out where to acquire buyers guide.