How to Set Goals

Kicking a ball around a field with a bunch of friends is fun. Kind of. Add some aluminum posts and a polyethylene net at each end of the field, though, and you have a game that is not only more meaningful for the participants but is also an enjoyable spectator sport.

Why We Need Goals

That’s what goals will do for you. In life, as in soccer, goals provide direction, structure, and purpose. Without goals, we’re more likely to drift aimlessly and feel depressed. And we are certainly less likely to accomplish anything meaningful. Of course, most of us do have goals, whether we think about them regularly or not. We might express this in terms of “I would like to . . . “ or “It will be great when I . . . .” If you are in a master’s or doctoral program, chances are you have a goal to graduate with a degree. You probably have other goals related to family, career, or personal ambitions. Too often, though, our goals can be kind of hazy and dreamlike. They may not even be rooted in what we really value or want from life, but just in some kind of vague picture of a pleasant future that doesn’t involve early mornings writing papers or late night staring at spreadsheets of data.

Hazy, dreamlike goals rarely drive progress. Completing a graduate degree is difficult; to get through those days when reading, research, and writing seem about as pointless as kicking a ball around a field (and a lot less fun), you need clear goals. Next week, I’ll write more about honing goals. This week, though, I want to focus on how to come up with good goals.

What Is a “Good” Goal

In the spirit of clarity, I should probably start by defining what I mean by a “good” goal. In the same way that a soccer goal or a basketball hoop brings direction, structure, and order to the sport, a good goal should bring direction, structure, and order to your life.

Good goals should

• allow you to aim your efforts in a direction that aligns with what’s important to you.
• provide structure, so you can judge the worth of the activities you are engaging in by whether those activities move you toward the goal.
• provide order, so that you can make decisions to pursue opportunities or relationships based on their relevance to your goals.

A Caveat for the Goal-Directed

I am going to focus on academic goals here, so I want to insert the caveat that I am not recommending single-minded selfishness, a robotic approach to life, or the rejection of all that is inefficient. It’s important for our souls and the souls of those we love to take aimless walks, stare at the sunset, or get on your hands and knees and chase your grandchild around while growling like a lion. Our lives should not be narrowly directed at measuring progress toward goals. However, if we have clear goals, we can use the time we spend on academics (for example) more effectively, which will, ultimately, leave more time and headspace for other parts of life. Furthermore, taking the time to set academic goals can help put that degree in its appropriate place with life’s other desires and obligations, enabling a life with greater balance and integration.

Reflection and Goal Setting

So, now that I have that off my chest, let’s move on to how to set good goals. The tool you’re going to use here is reflection. I will define reflection as considering experiences and information with the purpose of understanding and application. So, you’re going to think about things you’ve learned and things that have happened, then try to use that thinking to direct your future action. To make this process more concrete, I’ll start with some reflection questions that will be helpful if you just need a little goal nudge. Then I’ll share some ideas for reflection if you need a serious examination of your goals.

A Little Light Reflection

Maybe you have a basic idea of your academic goals, but just need to clarify them. This is a good activity for the beginning of each semester. It allows you check whether you are on track and see where you might make course corrections.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• What went well last semester that I want to continue?
• What did not go well last semester that I want to change?
• What tasks do I need to accomplish this semester?
• Where would I like to be in my program by the end of the semester?

It works best if you set aside some uninterrupted time to think about the answers to these questions. It’s also helpful to write out (or type if you prefer) the answers. And talking through these questions with a friend, mentor, or coach can be useful as well. For this level of reflection, probably 30-60 minutes is enough. Once you have answered the questions, either alone or in discussion with someone else, it’s time to set goals. Aim for 1-3 academic goals for the semester. These goals could have to do with courses you’d like to complete, concepts you’d like to learn or bodies of literature you’d like to explore, sections of a dissertation you’d like to finish, or grant or conference proposals you’d like to submit. They could also have to do with time (daily or weekly) you’d like to dedicate to pursuing your degree, academic relationships you’d like to develop, or help you’d like to seek.

Some Sample Academic Goals

• Submit capstone project for IRB approval
• Write one dissertation chapter each month
• Successfully complete EDTC 681
• Identify and read important literature on educational change

A Deeper Dive into the Reflecting Pool

When I started my Ed.D., I was working as the First-Year Experience Coordinator at a small, Christian university. My goal was to use the Ed.D. to explore student success at that institution. I had access to some ready-made research participants, support from my administration, and every indication that my work could both advance my career and help students. Then my school closed. I (along with everyone else at the institution) lost my job. I was enjoying the coursework in my doctoral program, but suddenly that coursework was no longer related to my career goals. I also had no students to study and no colleagues to help me hone my ideas.

If you find yourself in a situation like mine, you may need more than just a goal refresh. You may need a whole new direction.

In that case, some deeper reflection can be helpful. The next sections detail some items to consider as you reflect. Again, setting aside dedicated time, committing your thoughts to writing, and talking to someone about your reflections are all helpful practices. You’ll probably need to spend a few hours at different times, or maybe half a day on a weekend, to come up with goals.

Consider Values

What is important to you? What are the non-negotiable things in your life? What are the underlying principles that guide you? When you are at a reset point, it can be tempting to grab onto whatever seems easy, whether it is a new job or a new research topic. By reminding yourself of your values, you can help avoid choices you’ll regret later.

Consider Lifestyle

Related to values, lifestyle can encompass things like what kind of job you want to have, where you want to live, and the kind of relationships you want to maintain. Considering lifestyle also means considering obligations you have both in the academic area of your life and in other areas. Again, you want to make sure that goals you are pursuing align with a lifestyle that makes sense for you and the people and things to which you are committed.

Consider Flow

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (2015 and a whole bunch of other places, too) identified the concept of flow, which is a state of intense mental focus that is conducive to both productivity and happiness. When you are setting goals, think about times when you experience this state – when you are so involved in a task that you lose track of time. Thinking about flow can help you understand what you enjoy and are good at.

Reflecting on values, lifestyle, and flow can help you reset your goals when your direction is unclear. Sometimes, though, the future may be so murky – or the need to move forward in some way so pressing — that it’s not possible to completely reset. In that case, an interim goal may be helpful.

An Interim Goal

When I lost my job, I had been working remotely from overseas, and had no work permit in the country where I was living. This made it difficult to immediately seek another job. I knew that for the sake of my degree I needed to be part of a university where I could interact with students and colleagues, and pursue research that would be useful to someone. So, my goal became to find an internship, which would give me course credit in my doctoral program while connecting me to an academic community. This interim goal ended up allowing me to refocus my research and eventually led to a full-time job, getting me back on track in both my academics and my career and allowing me, eventually, to set some longer-term goals.

Reflection, Goal Setting, and Motivation

Reflection, whether in short bursts at the beginning of the semester or in longer sessions when you’ve drifted – or been shoved – off course, is an important precursor to goal setting. And goal setting is an important ingredient of motivation. Next week, I’ll write about how to take the good goals you’ve developed through reflection and make them sharper, so that they provide the best possible direction, structure, and order for your academic life.

Reference

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2015). Reflections on Enjoyment. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 28(4), 489–497. https://doi-org/10.1353/pbm.1985.0019

Photo by Chaos Soccer Gear on Unsplash