Goal Setting.

Have you heard of SMART goals? Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Well the textbook we use in my college success class, On Course, uses the acronym, DAPPS. Dated, Achievable, Personal, Positive, and Specific.

I like that they use “personal” as part of the goal making process. The goals you make need to be your own. How easy is it to disregard goals other people have set for you? I don’t like when people tell me what to do and how I should live my life. It makes me want to rebel against it. I have felt in the past that goals I haven’t set for myself don’t mean as much to me as the personal ones I have set. I have more drive to accomplish things when I have the true desire to do so.

Also, pay attention to the positivity of the goal. Bad self talk isn’t effective in the goal setting process. For example, if you say, “I am fat and ugly so I need to lose weight and not eat junk food.” or “I won’t smoke another cigarette so I won’t die.” These don’t sound very motivating at all. Using words such as won’t and not create a negative mindset which then makes it difficult to follow through in the goals you have set. Instead, swap out these negative words with positive ones. State what you can do to stay on track and accomplish your goals.

I like the ted talk by Patti Dobrowolski. She shares 3 steps on how to get from your current state to your desired new reality by “drawing your dreams into reality”. First, through seeing it. Then, by believing it. And lastly, acting on it.

It’s easier to see/achieve your dream when you are able to visualize/write it down. Having your dreams displayed through a picture helps you to be more motivated in accomplishing your dreams and turning them into a reality.

What drives you to making school a priority?

Why are you here? What drives you to making school a priority? Is it your family? Do you want financial security? Is it to have an engaged mind? Freedom? Mental health? A better job? The future? Is it for sports? Or just for fun?

I can continue to list many more reasons but I think you get the point. Before being successful in college you need to find what motivates you to stay and to graduate. College isn’t easy. And if you don’t have a strong enough reason to be here for yourself then that makes it so much harder. We need to start with the end in mind. What do you want to get out of college? I am here because I want security. I came from a divorced family and watched my mom bust her butt working three jobs just to be able to provide for me and my three brothers. I want a better future than that. We don’t know what the future holds so, it’s better to be prepared for it the best we can! I plan to be married and to have my husband provide the main source of income but again, I don’t know what to expect. I want to have a college degree so that I will be prepared in case something happens to my husband and he is unable to work. Or heaven forbid.. If I get divorced. So what’s your driving factor? Do you have any values that correspond with this drive? Do you want to have better habits? Get a better grasp on your life?

Motivation doesn’t only come from your values; but it also doesn’t come from expectation alone. There’s an equation tour book uses that helps with this:

MOTIVATION = VALUE x EXPECTATION

                             (likelihood for success)

If you value something then it will have a significance to your motivation. BUT, you need to have an expectation for success as well. Sometimes you need to adjust things. Going along with this, it is nice to have people in your corner to help you out. People serve as different roles in your life. For example, you need the people who are your cheerleaders, but also need the ones who give you the reality checks that you need. I like the quote from Roger von Oech that reads, “He who puts in four hours of ‘want to’ will almost always outperform the person who puts in eight hours of ‘have to’.”. I love this and think it holds completely true. Let’s find what drives us.