Every student must understand the importance of setting personal and academic goals. It’s important to have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish and plan your schedule accordingly. Goals gives you motivation, a sense of responsibility and increase your focus. Setting clear and achievable goals is the key for personal growth and academic excellence. Spending some time on setting goals and work planning are totally worth it.
This guide is specially created to help students in setting realistic personal and academic goals. Through this guide you will learn how to set and achieve both personal and academic goals. The best approach is to set goals for yourself and then proceed to work planning.
Is it important to set Academic Goals?
The answer is Yes. You should set academic goals in order to stay organized, focused, and motivated throughout the academic year. An academic year without any goals is often directionless and confusing. Learn the skill to set clear and achievable goals.
Following are some of the reason why it’s important to set academic goals:
Clear Focus
Setting clear goals makes you more focused and organized. You know what you want to accomplish so you plan your day to day activities accordingly which further makes it easier to prioritize activities and avoid distractions.
Motivation & Accountability
Motivation plays a huge role in a long run. You tend to work harder when you feel motivated and energized. Setting clear goals keeps you motivated and accountable as well. You will a sense of responsibility when you know what you want to accomplish.
Discipline & Growth
The whole purpose of setting goals is to make the most out of an academic year. By setting personal and academic goals, you’re actually stepping out of your comfort zone which open the window to learn new things. Disciplines comes when you have a clear goal and a clear work plan.
Make sure to set realistic and achievable goals. Setting unrealistic goals may leads to stress, burden, and lack of focus.
What’s the best approach to set Goals?
There is a very popular method when it comes to set personal and academic goals i.e. SMART framework. Use this framework to set goals for yourself. Here is how you can use it.
S means Specific
Your goals should be specific and very clear. There should not be any second thought when it comes to goals because you have to plan your schedule accordingly. Set goals which are specific and clear.
M means Measurable
Goals should be easily measurable. What’s the point of setting goals if you cannot track or measure them. Make sure to get goals which are easy to measure and track.
A means Achievable
Is there any point in setting unachievable goals? Unrealistic goals often leads to stress, burden, lack of motivation, etc. Set goals which are realistic and achievable only.
R means Relevant
Align your goal with your values, interests, and long-term objectives. Goals should contribute to the overall growth and set them accordingly.
T means Time-bound
There should be a time limit for each and every goal so you can understand the urgency and plan them accordingly. You may procrastinate a lot if there is no time limit.
How to Balance Academic & Personal Goals?
Both academic and personal goals are important and they play a huge role in the overall development of student. Many of us often struggles to maintain a balance between academic and personal goals. In this section, you will learn how to strike a good balance between them.
Set Academic & Personal Goals Separately
Make sure to set them separately and don’t get confused between the two. Personal goals focus on your personal life i.e. self care, social activities, hobbies, etc and academic goals focus on your academic life i.e. good grades, completion of an assignment, reading, etc.
Allocate Time for Both
Your schedule should have time allotted to both Academic & Personal Goals. You can use many smart techniques to work on both goals side by side.
For example, let’s say you have planned to work on an assignment for 3 hours. Then what you can do is work on assignment for 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break. During a break, you can work on your personal goal i.e. walk, etc.
Conclusion
Setting goals is a life skill and every student must learn it in order to accomplish their desired goals or objectives. Set both academic and personal goals for an overall development. Use SMART framework to set goals for yourself, break large goals into smaller manageable goals, and stay committed to the process. Make sure to keep a track of your work progress and see where improvements can be made. The whole idea of setting goals is to get more organized, focused, and disciplined.