You’re a month into the new semester, you’re excitement and initial motivation has given you some momentum towards the goals you set but now you’re starting to hit a wall. It’s getting hard and uncomfortable, maybe you’re not seeing the results you thought you would and you’re thinking about quitting. Is this cycle sounding familiar?
In this video, I’m going to walk you through how to create a plan to achieve your goals in college.
This is a whole goal setting series for college students so if you haven’t watched video 1 and video 2, stop watching this one now, and go watch those two first.
If you’ve been following along, by this point you’ve done a self-reflection, you know your #1 priority, you have your specific and realistic goal, but what’s the plan to actually achieve it?
This is the missing piece when most people set goals. The plan and strategy behind making it happen.
These are the steps to help you create that plan.
First I want you to brainstorm all the things you can do that could help you reach your goal and why you believe it will help you reach your goal.
Example Goal: Go from C- to a B- on your first exam of the semester in each of your classes.
- Attend every lecture
- write notes immediately after class
- Get tutoring
- Get help from a friend
- Get help from the professor
- Stay on top of your reading + notes
- Create flashcards
- Buy the textbook study guide
- Create a study plan
- Watch Khan academy lectures
- Record and re-listen to the lecture
- Practice problems and or questions [spaced retrieval]
- Join a study group
- Spaced retrieval of flashcards on anki
Next you’re going to go review each of the things you wrote down and you’re going to pick 1-3 actions that if you consistently did them over the next 4 weeks it would make it almost inevitable for you to jump 10-15 points on your first exam?
Some things to consider when you’re choosing your 1-3 actions.
- Do you have the skill?
- Do you have the time?
- Do you have the resources?
- Is there anything that could potentially get in the way of me being able to do this action? If so, what is it?
If one of the above things is missing, then one of the actions you pick to focus on for the next 4 weeks has to be around the thing that would prevent you from moving forward. .
Example: If your 1-3 actions are the following…
- Attend every lecture
- Read and write notes for that class topic the next morning
- Complete the end of chapter questions at the end of the week as one of your spaced retrieval methods.
But your lecture is at 8 AM and you always oversleep or hit snooze. You have to find out why you oversleep. Are you tired or just plain lazy? I don’t want you to judge the reason, just find it so that you can create a plan to move through it.
So what is an action that will help you get up for your 8 AM class that YOU have full control over?
Maybe it’s going to bed by a certain time. Maybe it’s putting a traditional alarm clock far from your bed so that you can’t easily hit snooze on.
Boom, those can be one of your actions that you’ll be focusing on over the next 4 weeks.
Example 2: Maybe you want to take notes and read before class but you don’t have great note taking/reading comprehension skills. It won’t matter that you’re notes and reading are done if you didn’t understand what you read and your notes are full of useless info.
So maybe your action is to attend 1 reading or note taking comprehension workshop this month and apply 1 skill you learned.
Maybe you hire a reading or note taking expert.
Or maybe you decide to work on one set of notes with your professor.
Now, find the workshop put it on your schedule and go. Or wet up two office hour sessions with your professor where you work on the notes together. It’s that simple.
The purpose of this is to intentionally create a container/space for yourself to succeed. You’re thinking through all the hurdles ahead of time.
What’s still missing from your plan is the measurable part.
How are you going to assess if you’re making progress?
The third step in creating a plan to help you achieve your goals in college is to get specific on how often you’re going to do these actions when.
Example: If your 1-3 actions are.
- Attend every lecture M,W,F @ 8 AM
- Read and write notes for that class topic the next morning T,F,Sat @ 10AM
- Complete the end of chapter questions at the end of the week as one of your spaced retrieval methods. Saturday @ 12pm
The last and probably most essential part of setting and achieving goals is tracking your results and feedback process called the academic scorecard.
To learn all about it you’ll have to come back and watch my next video.