Goal Setting for a New School Year
It will soon be the start of another school year. If you are currently a student pursuing a career or just thinking about starting down the path of enrolling in a career program, it is important to think about goal setting for the new academic year.
What Exactly Does Goal Setting Mean?
According to Positive Psychology, goal setting is a useful tool for motivation and action by an individual or organization. Effective goal setting involves defining clear, specific, and achievable objectives that are in sync with personal values and goals. Beyond just motivation, goal setting is important and effective for success and achievement.
Long-term goals give you a sense of direction, and setting smaller goals along the way helps you take the steps needed to achieve your desired result.
- Goal setting can improve your chances of success and help keep you determined and motivated.
- Checking your goals periodically can help you keep your commitment and give you a sense of both accomplishment and growth.
Why Goal Setting is Important
When considering the upcoming school year, goal setting is important to keep you on track. Goal setting can provide helpful strategies for naming and accomplishing what you want to achieve and within what timeframe, and it can help you know what actions to take to reach your goals.
John Miner, in his book Organizational Behavior 1: Essential Theories of Motivation and Leadership, proposed that goal setting works in three ways:
- Goals energize performance through the motivation to expend the required effort in line with the difficulty of the task.
- Goals motivate people to be persistent in their actions to reach their goals over time.
- “Goals direct people’s attention to relevant behaviors and away from behaviors which are irrelevant or detrimental to the achievement of the task.”
Theories and Methods of Goal Setting
There are several goal-setting theories and methods. These are just a couple.
Locke and Latham’s goal-setting theory comprises five components that support the creation of effective and motivating goals. These are: clarity, challenge, acceptance, feedback, and complexity. In this goal-setting theory, it is important to have goals that are clear and specific, challenging enough to provide a sense of achievement, acceptable to you, measurable for progress, and reasonably complex without being unreachable.
Another popular method of goal setting is the S.M.A.R.T. goals method. The term was first proposed by George T. Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review (AMA Forum), where he suggested setting goals or objectives that are specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-bound–the acronym S.M.A.R.T. The acronym has slightly shifted overtime to include the following: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
In goal setting for the school year, picture yourself using the S.M.A.R.T. method:
- Specific: Define clearly and specifically what you want to achieve by enrolling in a program. Don’t just state, “I want to be a pharmacy technician. Rather, “To prepare to work as a pharmacy technician, I will devote one hour to studying each day, four times per week, to ensure retention of the material.”
- Measurable: Track your progress. Are you keeping to your study schedule and finding success?
- Achievable: Be realistic. Is the goal that you set reachable, or do you have to adjust your study time due to other life commitments?
- Relevant: Does the program provide the needed coursework and training to reach your overall career goals?
- Time-bound: Set a time frame for reaching your goal. For example, in a self-paced program, define your time for completion.
Defining Your Career Goals
There are many resources available to help you with goal setting. The Workbook for Goal-setting and Evidence-based Strategies for Success provides an abundance of goal-setting exercises and goal-setting worksheets to teach you the best practices for designing, pursuing, and achieving important goals. Indeed also offers helpful information on how to write SMART goals.
Other general tips to consider for goal setting and defining your goals when it comes to your career include:
- Deciding what skills you already have and what areas ignite your interests and passion.
- Using career assessment tools to explore and identify your skills and interests.
- If making a career change, deciding why you want to change careers.
- Considering what education might be beneficial to pursuing your desired career path.
- Researching job opportunities in the career area that you are considering.
If you are thinking about pursuing your education, Blackstone Career Institute (BCI), a DEAC and MSA accredited school, offers many online programs for careers in allied health, the legal field, and service careers. Students have up to 18 months to complete the career training programs at their own pace within the chosen payment plan option. Goal setting for your completion time and dedication to your schedule are important in self-paced, online programs to achieve success. If you are interested in learning about Blackstone’s career training options, schedule a phone appointment with Admissions.
Written by Jo Gambosi
