Yes,
summer seems to have flown by and a new academic year has begun. Where did the time go? That is the way of
college life: fast and furious (oops, that is also the title of a summer
blockbuster with Van Diesel & Tyrese). Unfortunately there will be no high
flying cars and actions in your class, but I can’t guarantee zero drama!! So, let’s begin this semester on some good,
solid academic footing. Setting goals are necessary for success. One must set goals, priorities, and
accountability. While setting goals, it
is important they are achievable, realistic, clear and specific.
Setting
Goals:
Goals
do not consist of a laundry list of “ALL” the things that you would like to get
done, just a few key desired outcomes.
These are accomplishments that you want to achieve in a 3-6 month time
period. In most cases, it is
establishing 4-5 goals per semester. As
you set the goals, you need to understand what and why?
Some
recommendations would be:
Build
relationships with faculty
Develop and improve skills such as communication, presentation, active listening
Take ownership of your education
Achieve/maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA for the semester
Plan and attend 2-3 activities such as: fairs, workshops, seminars, study groups, etc...
Get involved with one campus or community group
Gain experience through volunteering, research, or a job, internships
Develop and improve skills such as communication, presentation, active listening
Take ownership of your education
Achieve/maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA for the semester
Plan and attend 2-3 activities such as: fairs, workshops, seminars, study groups, etc...
Get involved with one campus or community group
Gain experience through volunteering, research, or a job, internships
The
Proverbs say: without a vision, the people perish. Write down your goal/vision
for the semester. Once you have set these goals, then steps can be established
to accomplish them. Planning steps
wisely and establishing a time-frame will help keep you focused and on track. Create a list of activities that will support
the achievement for each goal. Again,
start small. Since many of these goals are
written down, it will be easier to keep track of them. They become more attainable, and you grow as
you achieve these set goals. Also, you
can plan accordingly on how to reach these written goals.
Setting
Priorities:
In
my life, sometimes it feels like everything is important and should be done
“right now”. (Again, our fast, quick and
in a hurry mentality in our society.) In fact, it is not necessarily so. Take a step back and prioritize. In prioritizing goals, you are setting up an
order of importance. What is the most
pressing activity that will yield the most benefit? In classifying your goals, you can establish
specific activities that will help you reach these goals. Once that is established, then you can move
forward and act accordingly.
For
example, if one goal is to: “achieve & maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA”, then
these are some activities you may engage in:
Check
your schedule & make sure you are in the right classes
Do
a complete review of all your course syllabi
Become
familiar and write in your planner important due dates for exams and
projects.
Set
up "regular" study time throughout the week. Make it a daily occurrence.
Attend
office hours/ speak with class instructor once a month for each enrolled class.
Accountability:
Many
of us have a fear of accountability when it comes to our own self. According to
the dictionary, it means simply to be responsible to yourself for your own
actions. Yes, we can set goals and
prioritize, but we lack accountability.
What does that mean personally? It
is to track and monitor your own progress.
It is making sure that you hold your own self responsible for what you
have set out to do. Are you completing
the tasks/activities that you have set to achieve a positive outcome? These are your academics and your
education. As a college student, you are
in the driver’s seat and will determine the outcome of your education.
Why
go through all of these gyrations? As you work toward a goal it can provide you
with challenges and motivation to do better.
Ultimately it will impact your attitude, behavior and performance.
There
are tons of theories on goal setting and the impact on the individual and
organization. One of the most popular is
SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, result-focus/relevant, and
time-bound. You should check the many
websites to learn about SMART. Believe
it or not, there are tons of research, Youtube videos, and an APP for that too. Get SMART!!
References & links:
Weblinks
to goal setting theory:
Setting
Personal Goals:
Goal
setting & goal orientation:
Youtube
videos
Goal
setting:
No comments:
Post a Comment