As the first day of school approaches, the excitement over a fresh start fills the air. Students dump last year’s tear-stained math notebook and buy a new one. They stock up on pencils that don’t have the erasers bitten off. They (ideally) wash and sanitize their backpacks. It’s a physical reset and the epitome of the phrase “new year, new me.”

Amid this flurry of stocking up on supplies and organizing schedules, students often overlook goal-setting.

Like sports teams set a game plan before a match, students should head to school with well-defined objectives to help them navigate the academic year. Setting realistic, flexible goals leaves you with a roadmap for personal growth. Today, we’ll be giving a basic overview of setting and sticking to these goals.

What are my goals?

If you want to set good goals, it’s first essential to examine your weak points closely. What have you struggled with in the past? While we may not like to think about our shortcomings, closely examining some of our issues might help us uncover an underlying problem.

A strong goal should have the following traits:

1. Specific: Saying “I want better test scores” is a reasonable desire, but turn it into a goal by narrowing in on what you define as better test scores. Maybe a more specific goal would be “I want to get over 1400 on my SAT” or “I want my math scores to go up by 10%.”
2. Achievable: Goals should be challenging but attainable. Think about your workload and resources.
3. Relevant: Your goals should align with your aspirations and interests. Sometimes, people get too caught up in the past when goal-setting. Learn to go when you need to. Working on your spiking skills isn’t a relevant goal if you don’t plan to rejoin the volleyball team. Dedicate energy to the things that will help you in the future.
4. Measurable: You need some way to track your progress on goals. Set criteria to see if you’re improving. For instance, “turn in all assignments on time” is a measurable goal.
5. Flexible: A lot of times, we get caught up in the burst of motivation when goal-setting, and we forget about our inescapable “human-ness.” Things do not always go as planned. Instead of saying, “I’m going to study for an hour every school night,” try, “I’m going to study for five hours every week.” While the total studying time for both goals is the same, the latter allows you to take a day off without feeling like you’ve failed your goal.
6. Stepping Stones: Break down big goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. If you aim to become captain of your school baseball team, smaller tasks might include befriending teammates, practicing your pitches, and improving your cardio.

How to Keep With It

So, you’ve gone into the first week of school with ten new goals. You start out super strong, and adhere to almost all your improvement criteria.

After a few weeks, it starts to feel exhausting. You’ve got a lot on your plate and are now returning to your old habits. You’re where you ended last year.

How can you stay out of the “slump”?

First off, it’s important to note that we sometimes overestimate our abilities, and that’s okay. While a goal may seem doable when we write it, adding it to ten others can make even the biggest brain explode.

Here are the best ways to catch yourself:

1. Prioritize the important things: Not all goals are built equally. Rank your goals and their tasks by importance, and tackle the most critical ones first. If your goal of studying for AP exams months in advance interferes with your goal of improving your sleep schedule, it’s worth considering leaving AP studying on the back burner.
2. Build up to new routines: When people want to run in a marathon, they don’t start by challenging themselves to run 26 miles. They break it down, go for light jogs, and work their way up. Avoid falling victim to burnout by pacing your way up.
3. Accountability system: Set up an accountability system by sharing goals with friends or family. It is even better if you can find common goals with your peers, like a friend who also wants to start going to the gym or who is setting aside dedicated study time. Having a “study buddy” or gym spotter makes avoiding the routine harder.
4. Reward yourself for milestones: Goals are challenging, and completing them is a lot of work! Find a reward system that works for you. You could go out and buy a pastry. Maybe you have a specific show that you only let yourself watch after finishing all your assignments.
5. Get it out of your head and onto paper: Visual reminders such as sticky notes, vision boards, or charts help to track progress and remind you what you’re working towards. You can graph run times in Google Sheets to see if your endurance is increasing. Or, use a paper or online planner to block out specific times to work towards your goals.

Forgiveness is Important.

When working towards self-improvement, it’s important to remember the phrase “two steps forward, one step back.” Altering deep-seated habits or mindsets isn’t easy. Motivation will come and go in bursts.

You may have to compromise. The changes you want to see might happen slower than you expect.

You can always try again. Even just taking the time to sketch out your goals puts you in a better position than someone who doesn’t reflect on their past school year experiences. It is never too late in the school year to revamp a goal.