Setting goals for school can help you have short-term success. By setting goals you can also set yourself on a path for future successes. While you shouldn't let a rigid focus on achieving your goals create an unbalanced life, your goals can serve as useful guideposts to remind you of where you want to go.
Short Term Goals as Stepping Stones
Michael Jordan was successful on the court as well as off, dominating basketball for decades and branding himself as a global icon of athleticism, power, and excellence. Part of his secret: short-term goals. He advised students who wanted to be doctors to first focus on getting Bs and then As in classes that form the foundation of the medical field, including biology. The next step would be to get As in physics or chemistry. These "small steps," Jordan explains, can help you measure meaningful success where you can focus all of your effort.
Clearly Defined, Measurable Goals
If you have problems in a particular subject, such as math, set yourself goals that are even more specific than "Get an A." Think about what you need to do to get an A in math: you'll need to do your homework every night. You'll need to prepare for tests. And you'll need to ask for help for sections you find extra tough. So an example of measurable, clearly defined goals to get an A could be to work one hour on math homework each night, review one hour extra each pre-test night and ask two questions after class each day. Research cited by goal-setting experts from Flotrack, a leading track and field magazine, points to the importance of measurable goals.
Write Down Goals
Writing down what you'd like to achieve makes your goal real--after all, it's sitting right in front of you on a piece of paper. Written goals can be posted to remind you of what you want when you're deciding between flipping on the television or starting your research paper. Besides serving as motivation, writing your goals makes you need to think about what you would really like. As such, writing goals down can be a part of the goalsetting process as well as the end outcome once you've thought through your dreams and decided what you'd like to achieve.
Stay Positive
Plenty of people will tell you what you can't do. But all you need to achieve your goals is belief in yourself. Forget the naysayers and be positive when articulating what to do to keep the negativity away. For example, if one of your weak spots is on standardized tests, you could be thinking to yourself, "Don't take too much time on any one problem." You should frame this goal in a positive way for yourself, telling yourself what you DO want to do: "Keep an even, steady pace and always use a watch."
Share Goals
Sharing goals is another incredibly helpful way to stay motivated. Tell your family, teachers and others who will support you about what you aspire to achieve, whether it's winning your school's science fair, being valedictorian or getting 100 percent on your spelling test. The people around you will remind you about your goals when you least expect it. And once they know how much you care, they will be more likely to help you with extra tips or with respecting your need to study instead of doing the dishes.
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