If you are anything like me, you have grown emotionally attached to your planner and have anxiety at the thought of losing it.
At the beginning of each semester, I develop the urge to buy sticky notes, colored pens, a whiteboard, whiteboard markers, wood pencils, colored pencils, mechanical pencils, those fancy pencils with the roll-up erasers, and so many folders, notebooks and binders that it looks like I bought the entire “back to school” aisle at Staples. Needless to say, the beginning of any school year is a scary time, but before you decide to drop all of your classes and join the circus — come on, we’ve all thought about it — just hear me out.
Each year, along with all of my new school supplies, I seem to develop a renewed sense of ambition. Classes aren’t hard yet, and even though I can tell some of them (shout out Chem 351) are going to be more than a handful, I somehow have a “bring it on!” attitude. Each semester, I feel ready to take on the world, but like clockwork, after the first set of midterms rolls around, I find myself halfway through a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, asking, “What did I get myself into?”
Last semester, I decided to address this problem head-on. If I had so much motivation at the beginning of the semester, how could I maintain that mindset throughout the year? In Public Health 300 last winter (a class that I highly recommend), Dr. Vic Strecher talked about goal setting theory. The theory points out that specific goals, in combination with feedback, lead to higher performances than does having no goals or vague goals.
Though goal-setting may sound cliché, I realized that goals have a tendency to manifest in every aspect of my life, whether I make the conscious effort or not. Beginning in freshman health class in high school, we talked about setting goals at the most basic level. Before that, I was setting goals in gymnastics and working on them not just physically, but also visually. Today, on the wall at my gym, there are dozens of names under which people write, rewrite and eventually check off their personal goals. For me, goal setting has always been an important part of my athletic life, but I have realized that it can be extended outside to all realms of personal health; maintaining academic sanity, for one.
Enter: colored sharpies.
Since putting all of this together, which seems more like common sense after writing it down, I have taken advantage of my extensive collection of ink, chalk and whiteboard markers, and written down the different goals I have right now. The process of writing these goals was much more difficult than I expected, which is why I want to break down a few specifics:
1. Know your values: Before being able to write any sort of goal, it’s important to zero in on your personal values, and make sure that any goal you write is in support of and enhances those values.
2. Start in the future: Think about where you want to end up in 10 years first. There will only be a few goals, but that’s a good thing; no one should have their entire life planned during their junior year in college. After you have your 10-year goals, move back to five years, then one year and then six months. You’ll start to see what you can do now to actually attain those goals that seem so far away. Short-term goals are a great way to reach those in the long-term.
3. SMART (or something like that): The concept of SMART goals (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound) has been hammered into my mind since my high-school health class. I would add to this only the letter “C” for challenging (sorry if that screws up the acronym). In Strecher’s class last semester, we learned individuals committed to a goal would perform better when the goal difficulty is high. Still, it’s important to know yourself and set goals accordingly (see “R” above).
4. Write ‘em where you can see ‘em: This is a point that I cannot stress enough. Writing goals down and putting them somewhere you can see them reminds you every day what you’re working toward. Those ridiculously colorful words on my wall could mean the difference between success and ending up back with Ben & Jerry.
5. Don’t be afraid of change: Life is stressful, complicated and unpredictable. Roll with it! Staples sells erasers too! Goals are important only so long as you take a step back every once in a while to assess your progress, acknowledge what is going well or poorly and make modifications.
Right now I’m thinking about how difficult this year is going to be. For me it’s one of those times when I ask myself how I’m going to do it all. The classes, research, volunteering and clubs … it can definitely get to be a bit much. I set my goals to remind me what I’m working toward, one day at a time.
How well will it go? I’ll keep you posted.
Grace Carey can be reached at gecarey@umich.edu.