| According to a recent study, students who had | | | | Your elephant is graduation, your short term goals |
| study goals performed better than those who did | | | | are your bites. |
| not. Somehow, setting goals helped them achieve | | | | Say, for example, your long-term goal is to graduate |
| more in their academics. What are study goals and | | | | with a certain target GPA. To reach this goal, you |
| how do they help the student? How do you set | | | | have to make sure that the average of your grades |
| study goals? | | | | for each semester will fall within your target GPA. If |
| Understanding why study goals are important | | | | a particular subject weighs you down, then you can |
| Setting goals is a vital step in achieving success in life. | | | | set short-term goals to improve on that subject, |
| A goal is something that you aim for, something that | | | | such as doing efficient note taking in class or focusing |
| you reach for, and something that you work for. A | | | | on particular topics during daily study hours or writing |
| goal helps you set a mark and helps assess your | | | | a brilliant paper to boost your grade. |
| progress as you go along. Without a goal, you will not | | | | After identifying your short-term goals, you can now |
| have a very clear idea of where to go and which | | | | make a daily schedule of activities to help you attain |
| steps to take. | | | | these goals. For example, if you need a higher grade |
| Study goals simply reflect your aspirations for your | | | | in History because it is weighing you down, then you |
| studies or the things that you are hoping to achieve | | | | have to spend more study time for that subject. |
| in your studies. They serve as an excellent tool to | | | | Perhaps you will also need more library time for |
| keep you focused in your academics. | | | | research and further reading. |
| Setting your study goals | | | | Creating a daily schedule not only helps you focus |
| There are two kinds of goals: long-term and | | | | your activities; it also helps you identify time wasters. |
| short-term. A long-term goal, as the name suggests, | | | | You will be amazed at how much more you can do in |
| can be achieved over a longer period of time. A | | | | a day just by dropping certain habits and |
| short-term goal can be accomplished in a shorter | | | | unnecessary activities. Discipline is of the utmost |
| period time and is aligned with or is intended to result | | | | importance in following your schedule. If you are not |
| in realizing the long-term goal. | | | | used to following a daily schedule, then be prepared |
| For example, you can set a long-term study goal of | | | | for a change in lifestyle. |
| finishing your degree in four years. In order to reach | | | | Checking your progress |
| that goal, you set short-term goals like setting aside | | | | You can review your action plan against your study |
| a number of hours each day to study or passing the | | | | goals periodically so you can see which ones you |
| weekly quizzes or getting good grades in your | | | | were able to follow and which ones you were not |
| exams. | | | | able to do and why. This helps you monitor your |
| Your study goals should be measurable. In other | | | | progress in light of your short-term and long-term |
| words, you need to provide parameters by which | | | | study goals. |
| your goals can be gauged. For example, you can say, | | | | Sometimes, circumstances will keep you from |
| "In the next exam, I should aim for this grade," or | | | | following your action plan, in which case you need to |
| "By the end of this week, I should finish writing my | | | | revise it to keep it aligned with your goals. The |
| paper." | | | | important thing is for you to keep going and maintain |
| Formulating your action plan | | | | your focus on what you are hoping to achieve in |
| So how does it work? First, you need to specify | | | | your studies. |
| your long-term goal. After writing down your | | | | Many students grope their way through their |
| long-term goal, you can start making your action plan. | | | | academics, hoping to make it better but not really |
| This contains your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly | | | | succeeding. If they only knew how to set study |
| (if applicable) study goals and the steps you will take | | | | goals and formulate and apply their action plans, they |
| to achieve them. The idea is to reach your ultimate | | | | would be able to get better grades and perform well |
| goal by doing smaller and manageable steps as you | | | | in school. You can avoid this mistake. Study goals will |
| go along. As the old saying goes, "How do you eat | | | | help motivate you to do better in your studies. |
| an elephant?" The answer is, "One bite at a time." | | | | |