Goal Setting

Goals can increase the likelihood of realizing your hopes for the future. They help provide direction and motivation and increase commitment and persistence. By setting goals you may feel less overwhelmed by what you are trying to accomplish because they break change down into realistic steps. Goals also help you to prioritize and organize your efforts towards desired changes.

Effective Goals:

• Come from your values and wishes, rather than from other people’s expectations, or “shoulds”
• Are specific, obtainable, possible, and realistic. You will be able to tell if you are meeting your goals.
• Involve changes in your behavior, not that of others.

How to Set Academic Goals:

• Develop a plan of action that is specific and realistic by asking yourself the following questions: (sample answers are included in parentheses)
• What do you hope for or wish could be different this semester? (I want to improve my grades)
• Picture yourself accomplishing your goal; what would you be doing differently that would be helping you succeed? (attending classes and staying caught up with my studying on a daily basis)
• What are some of your strengths, abilities or current behaviors that could help you realize your goal? (When I attend classes, I tend to learn easily and remember the material presented)
• What are some positive steps that you would have to take to increase the likelihood of meeting your goals?
• What are some things that you would need to change because they get in the way of achieving your goals?