Page 50 - Irvine Valley College Student Planner 2022-2023

IMPORTANT STUDY SKILLS
GOAL SETTING
A goal is something you want to accomplish.
A short-term goal is something you want to achieve soon.
Examples of short-term goals are passing a class and raising your GPA.
A long-term goal is something you want to accomplish at some later date.
An example of a long-term goal is to transfer to a four-year university.
To set appropriate goals, you must know what you want to accomplish. Then you must set specific and clearly defined objectives (steps). These provide direction and focus. It is important that each objective include some element of what, where, when and how:
• What activities need to be accomplished to achieve your goal?
• Where will you accomplish these activities?
• When will these activities be accomplished?
• How will you accomplish these activities?
For example, if you’re working on a research paper, a list of objectives might include the following steps: gather information (what) from the library (where) tonight (when) by accessing the library’s online resources (how). For greater specificity, you can also list the types of library resources and types of information needed.
Keep in mind that goals and objectives need to be:
• Realistic--Don’t try to do too much or too little.
• Flexible--Sometimes things may not go the way you anticipate and you
may need to change your goal and objectives.
• Measurable--It’s important to be able to measure your progress toward
your goal. It’s especially important to recognize when you have
accomplished your goal and need to go no further.
• Within your control--Accomplishing your goal should not depend on
other students. Choose a goal that is within your grasp.
Setting your goals and objectives
Use your planner as a goal journal. It will give you a place to record and analyze your goals. Remember, a goal is something you want to achieve. Be sure that your objectives are tied to your goal. Objectives can be scheduled in your calendar, which will help promote action and motivation.
A goal should state what you want, whereas an objective will show you how to achieve it. In doing so, objectives should describe what, where, when and how you’ll accomplish specific activities that will help you achieve your goal. Once you identify these activities, you can then begin the planning phase. Planning involves prioritizing each objective and then translating them into activities.
For example, after listing each objective by priority, you can then turn these steps into specific activities to be scheduled on the calendar in your planner. Once these
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