The S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting formula that will get you straight As
Welcome to the 2nd edition of personal stories written by our Staff Writers at Homework Help Global. Our writer discusses what worked and what didn’t work for her while setting her SMART goals in University.
Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
By this definition, my approach to essay writing in my first year of university was totally crazy. All throughout my first semester, whenever I had a paper due, I’d follow the same (stupid) steps they teach you in high school. You know the drill: jot down a point-form outline, write a first draft of your intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion, proofread everything, and you’re all set to hand it in. Without fail, I’d get the same mid- to high-B grade on every essay. No surprise there: you don’t need Einstein to tell you that the same essay formula’s going to yield the same grade.
Once second semester started, it became clear I had to try a new and improved approach. It dawned on me that when you want to get stuff done in other areas of life, you set goals. For example, the first thing a personal trainer will tell someone who’s trying to get in shape is that they can’t do everything at once. To build a healthy lifestyle, you need to break huge, potentially overwhelming changes down into bite-sized pieces. The same is true for work. In most offices, human resources enforces a formal goal-setting process: employees document what they intend to achieve over the coming fiscal year, benchmark their progress half way through, and are held accountable to those goals at the end of the fourth quarter. I thought: why should school be any different?
I decided to try an experiment: I’d use the same formula gym rats and corporate ladder climbers swear by. Their tried-and-true method has five components, tidily summarized in the acronym SMART, that you too should swear by if you want to actually do something about your lackluster grades:
S stands for Specific
Your goal should be clear and focused. You’ll be tempted to start with something like, “do better in school,” but that’s too vague. Ask yourself how, exactly, you plan to improve: are you going to go to a writing clinic, work on improving your test-taking skills, visit your prof’s office hours for extra help, or do something else entirely? By honing in on what you actually want to “do better” on, you’ll have a clear vision of where you need to direct your energy.
M stands for Measurable
If you try to set a numberless goal, I can guarantee you’ll fail, because you won’t even know if you’ve reached your goal or not. For example, if you want to “do better in school” specifically by improving your writing, start by asking yourself exactly how much better you want to do. Do you want to do 3% better on your next essay than you did on your last? Do you want to go from a B to an A on your final course grade?
A stands for Attainable
We’d all love to get 100% in every course, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Don’t sabotage your goal-setting experiment by setting yourself up for disappointment. Consider what you can realistically accomplish given your course load, paid work, and other responsibilities.
R stands for Relevant
Your goal needs to matter to you, or you won’t be motivated to achieve it. For example, if it’s actually your parents who care about your grades, you probably don’t feel super inspired to chase them. That doesn’t mean your goal shouldn’t be about school. Instead, try reframing your goals to make them relevant to your interests: maybe you want to be a more convincing, interesting writer, or you want to have engaging weekly conversations with your T.A. Setting a goal you care about will ensure you stick with it.
T stands for Time-Bound
Part of making your goal measurable entails giving yourself a deadline — which also motivates you to get started! It’s simply impossible to transform your final grade from a C to an A overnight, so don’t wait until the last minute. Start the semester with carefully planned goals and give yourself check-ins every month to make sure you’re still on track.
Don’t have time to spend setting goals? Learn how to manage your busy schedule with organization tips from super successful people.
References
Salazar, R. (2012). If You Teach or Write 5-Paragraph Essays — Stop It! Chicago Now. Retrieved from: http://www.chicagonow.com/white-rhino/2012/05/if-you-teach-or-write-5-paragraph-essays-stop-it/
