Study Skills: Student's guide to goal setting

• WHAT you will do
• WHY you will do it
• When you will do it and
• HOW you will do it

If you like football, you’ll probably have watched countless times a player lines up to kick the ball between the goalposts. He sets his target, he aims and kicks. If he kicks a goal he’s met a sub-goal, winning the game of course is the primary goal. The ultimate goal is to win a premiership.

Did you notice that an ultimate goal can be broken down into smaller achievable sub-goal?

Setting goals for yourself can be a lot like kicking goals.

• You get your target (you work out what you want)
• Your aim (you get a strategy/action in place to get the goal)
• You kick a goal (you get what you want!)

I know.... this is one of those easier said than done things  .... so below are some tips on how you can get started.

1. Determined the things that you really want to achieve and write them down.
2. Write goals that you know you are”do-able”. Take care not to set goals too low or too high.
3. Be goal specific. Vague goals like “ I want to better at sport won’t work.
4. Break down each goal into smaller, achievable sub-goals with action plans
5. Give yourself a specific deadline and leave yourself plenty of time.
6. Try to anticipate obstacles that might come up.
7. Identify all the resources /people that might help you.
8. Think about rewards for meeting your goal.
9. Review, modify and up-date your goal constantly. They can keep you motivated
10. Give yourself a reward. But don’t reward yourself until you’ve achieved your goal.

• To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift. - Franklin Roosevelt

• There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
  - Henry Ford
• It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire. - Dale Carnegie
• To achieve happiness, we should make certain that we are never without an important goal. - Ralph Waldo Emereson
• A goal is not the same as a desire, and this is an important distinction to make. You can have a desire you don't intend to act on. But you can't have a goal you don't intend to act on. - Tom Morris

• Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.- Thomas A Edison
• When you get to the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on.- Franklin D Roosevelt
• You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. - Christopher Columbus
• Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
  - Confucious

• Study Skills Hubs

  A student's guide to effective study skills, to help you achieve your goals and at the same time enjoy your studies.