1 Long Term Goals
To be successful in university, you need to establish goals.
One of the most important things you can do to promote your academic success is to remind yourself why you are in university in the first place and how a university education contributes to your long term professional and personal goals. Remember: achieving your professional goals is often integral to achieving your personal goals. If you want to have a happy life, having a meaningful and fulfilling career is a big part of that. Many people spend just as much time (if not more) at work than they do on any other daily activity for a significant part of their lives.
SMART
Set goals The SMART way! SMART is acronym commonly used to describe the qualities of a sound goal. SMART goals are:
- S: Specific and significant
- M: Measurable, meaningful, and motivating
- A: Attainable and action oriented
- R: Relevant and rewarding
- T: Time bound and trackable
While the goals “to be happy” and “to do good on my schoolwork” may be meaningful and significant, they aren’t specific or time bound enough to be useful. Plus, there is no clear criteria for knowing when the goal has been achieved (what is good enough or happy enough?). Here is an example of SMART long term professional goals:
Long Term Professional Goal
- To graduate with my Honours BA in Sociology within the next three years
- To graduate with a grade point average (GPA) above 75% (B) to ensure that I meet the requirements for applying to graduate school
- To get into a Master of Social Work (MSW) program within the two years of completing my undergraduate degree
- To become a Registered Social Worker (RSW) within one year of graduating from my MSW degree
- To open my own private social work counseling practice before I turn forty
So, now, before you do anything else, stop and take a few minutes to construct your top five long-term and professional goals using the SMART approach!
