Academic Goals and How to Set Them
Goals are necessary to reach any accomplishment. Whether that is in a sport, a hobby, or in school, the opportunity to set goals is always around us. By creating goals you are setting yourself up for success by creating healthy patterns that will lead you to reach an accomplishment.
Academic goals are no different as setting them allows you to develop as a student. However, it can be hard to create and accomplish academic goals when you do not know where to start. Here is a guide on setting academic goals that will allow you to become the most successful student you can be.
What are Academic Goals?
It's important to first understand what academic goals are and what they look like. Simply put, academic goals are things that you want to achieve to further grow your academic career.
Academic goals can be however big or small you want them to be, all that matters is that they are helping you advance your education. They can be as small as doing well on an upcoming test or as large as being successful in a specific class.
Setting these goals is important because they create a clear plan of action that leads to success. They also provide you with motivation and a drive to reach making it easier to reach your goals.
How to Set Academic Goals
1. Identification
The first step of setting academic goals is to identify an area you want to improve in school. For example, if you find yourself unsatisfied with your current math grade you can create a goal to improve it.
Additionally, you want to set goals in areas that are hurting your motivation and creating more stress. For example, if you find that you are constantly nervous before every Spanish class, you can set a goal to improve your confidence in that class.
Targeting these areas/subjects is crucial to becoming the most successful student possible as stress and a lack of motivation can deter your academic performance. It's also important to consider identifying these goals as short-term goals and long-term goals.
2. creating a plan
The next step in setting academic goals is creating a plan. While having a goal is important, creating a way to accomplish that goal is even more necessary. When creating a plan, you ideally want to have an end goal. That can be achieving a certain good grade or completing a certain task.
This is important because if your end goal is vague it is hard to know when you have accomplished that goal and this can lead you to lose motivation. I recommend creating a simple goal that is easily measurable.
For example, looking back at the past example of being nervous before Spanish class, a clear goal would be to be able to enter that class without any nerves or apprehension. Or if you aren’t performing well in math, a clear goal would be to end a Semester with a B average.
The next part of creating a plan is finding out how you are going to achieve that goal. The best way is to practice your skills or get outside help and find some academic goals and examples that can help you.
Oftentimes someone is nervous before a language class because they are embarrassed by their accent or limited vocabulary. A plan to combat this is practicing speaking out loud and expanding your vocabulary in that language class.
Additionally, if you find yourself struggling in a class, a simple plan would be to use outside help like a tutor or learning aids. When creating a plan, choose what works for you best. If you are a visual learner, use videos to improve your skills.
You can also use UPchieve tutors who can help you work to reach your goals by helping you in subjects you may be struggling with.
3. Following That Plan
Once you have a plan you must follow through to ensure success in reaching your academic goals. The best way to follow through with your plan is to work towards it in small steps day by day.
If you plan to reach your academic goal by using tutors, be sure to plan tutoring sessions prior and approach your tutor with the goal you are trying to reach so they can better help you. Or, If you want to build your confidence in speaking a new language, try to set aside twenty minutes each day to talk aloud to yourself.
Creating these healthy habits is vital to achieving your academic goal. And not only do healthy habits make your goals more attainable, but you can also avoid stress and exhaustion.
Final Thoughts on Academic Goals
Setting and following academic goals is not only important for academic success but for your mental health. This is because academic goals target areas that may cause stress and enable you to create a plan to combat these challenges.
While achieving academic goals is important do not be discouraged if that grade you were targeting was a few points off or you did not perform as you wanted on a project. By simply setting goals and working towards them you are creating healthy patterns that will ensure academic success down the road. We hope this guide helps you when it comes to setting academic goals for high school or even academic goals for college!
Need an extra nudge and some help with goal setting? Sign up for a free tutoring session with UPchieve!