Motivational Goal Setting

My students often struggle with motivation.  Some students find that there are so many fun and distracting things to do that academics comes last.  Other students have an extremely tight schedule with family and/or work obligations and find it hard to squeeze in studying.  One way to keep you motivated and on track is to set goals for yourself.  An effective goal has three characteristics:

• It must be measurable
• It must be attainable
• It must have a definite time limit

Goals can be short term (day or week), medium length (month or semester), or long term (one or several years).

Here is a plan:

1. Set your goal for the week on Sunday night or Monday morning.  Make sure it fits the above three criteria.
2. Write it down.
3. Put it where you can see it daily.
4. At the end of the week, evaluate how you did and set a new or the same goal for the next week.

Here are some examples

Too vague, unattainable:

I will study harder.

I will never miss another point on an exam.

I will earn better grades.

Great goals:

This week I will go to all of my classes.

This week I will review my notes after every class.

I will study 1 hour a day for my exam next Friday.

What is your goal for the week?   Send it as a comment to this post or write it down and tape it to your bathroom mirror.  Good luck!