Long-term, Intermediate Short-term Goals; the ‘Divide and Conquer’ Principle;
and the ‘To-do-list’…

Long-term Goals

Long-term goals are your dreams. The reason you are studying today has to be linked to some dream about how you want to spend your life. It is usually a career goal – something that will last much of your adult life. What vision of your life really grabs your imagination?  Imagine your life ten years from now. What do you want to be doing?

Intermediate (in between) Goals

Intermediate goals are usually for three to five years in the future and are one of the keys to achieving your long-term goals. For example, if you want to be an interpreter, then a necessary intermediate goal would be to master the required languages in the first place.

Short-term Goals

The steps toward your intermediate goal are a series of short-term goals, usually for six months to 2 years in the future.
Immediate Goals
You cannot master languages if you do not get today’s homework assignment completed to the very best of your ability. Immediate goals are those that lead to the accomplishment of short-term goals. This is where the principle of “divide and conquer” comes into play most strongly.

Divide & Conquer

Whenever you are faced with what seems to be too much work, take each big task and break it down into (divide it into) smaller pieces.  If those pieces still seem too big, then break those down too.  Keep doing that until you have a long list of tasks (things to do) – each of which you could start now and finish in an hour or even half an hour. This will help you to get the job done now. It will also help you see real progress and make you feel more in control of your situation.

A ‘To-do List’

When you write down your immediate goals (and please remember that you must always write down your goals), and put them in priority order (the order of importance), then you have created a ‘to-do list’ for today’s study. Every ‘immediate (study) goal’ that becomes part of your ‘to-do list’ must be -
• Specific (exact – not “do some studying”, but “to understand and be able to use 5 new English words”)
• Reasonable (something that can be done in 30 to 60 minutes)
• Verifiable (something that can be measured – you can tell when you’re finished)
• Rewarded (watching a little TV or a walk in the park – but finishing the task is the best reward)

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important to your goals then:

“just do it and do it now!”

Plan Your Time, Help Others, and Enjoy the Journey:

Plan Your Time

We all have 24 hours in a day, and we can all choose how we spend that time.  Do you know what you do with your time?  If you don’t have some plan for your time then many times it gets wasted on meaningless activities.
You should plan for work, rest, and play.  Time for rest and play is just as important as time planned for work.  We all need to take ‘time out’ of our busy lives to have some fun, but the important thing is that we need to plan it so that it fits into our ‘schedules’.
Remember, having priorities is important to success.

How Helping Others Can Help You

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you”(this is one of the main teachings of the ‘Bible’).
It really is a universal law that ‘as you give so will you receive’.
If you are extremely generous with your time, money and energy, then others will tend to give to you in the same way.  If you’re only interested in taking from people all the time, then others will not be generous with you.
We all have dreams that we would like to see come true, but many times we cannot achieve them alone; we need the help of others.
Consider taking the role of ‘teacher’ sometimes.  Helping fellow learners with what you think you know and understand requires that you put forward your ideas in a clear and understandable way.  Through your teaching you find ways to organise your thoughts and make what you think you know clearer in your own mind.  You can learn a lot from teaching.
If you can help people in the things that you can help them with; things that you may consider as small; then maybe some day you’ll be able to help others in a big way; out of the rewards of a generous life.

Enjoy the Journey

Goal setting, like language, is just a ‘tool’.  It’s a very important and extremely valuable tool, but it is no more than that.
Don’t let goal setting become the main objective (goal) and so ignore the joy of your ‘life’s journey’.  Rather, goal setting is for people who strive to enjoy each moment of their lives; people who find purpose.  These kinds of people generally achieve a lot in life.
Remind yourself to ‘enjoy the journey’, and don’t always be concerned with the journey’s end.

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important to your goals then:

“just do it and do it now!”

Failure, Change, and Linking Your Goals:

Expect Failure

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.
That which is truly challenging (difficult) and inspirational (stimulating; exciting) is rarely easy. Don’t give up just because you don’t find success immediately, or because the path seems to be too difficult. If your dreams still feel right for you and still inspire you, your failure should be nothing more than a message that you need to re-evaluate (reassess; think about again) your action plan. Learn from your failures (mistakes), but don’t let them determine (decide) the direction of your life.
It is the struggle that makes you strong and beautiful!

You are allowed to Change

Setting goals does not set your life in stone.
Take time to reconsider (think about again) your goals and change them a little, or change them completely if you think it’s necessary.  Your path through life may lead you into contact with better, more inspiring goals.
Be prepared to make change that leads to better things.

Link (connect) Your Goals

There should be a connection between what you do today, and your longest-term dreams and goals.
When the action you are taking right now is directly supporting your long-term goal, and is directing you ‘step by step’ toward it, then you are experiencing the power of goal setting as a motivator (something that stimulates your interest in something), focusing agent (thing that helps you to pay attention to what’s important; helps you to concentrate), and cure for procrastination (a remedy for when you delay or put off action necessary for something to be completed).

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important to your goals then:

“just do it and do it now!”

“If you don’t plan to succeed, then you’re planning to fail!”

We’re absolutely sure that you’d like to be successful in your studies; but we ask this question, “Do you have a plan?” Goal Setting can be your pathway to success, and it is an important skill to be learnt; especially for students.
Please read on to learn more…

Why is ‘Goal-Setting’ Important?
Problems such as procrastination (procrastinate: to delay or put off action necessary for something to be completed), poor concentration (lack of attention or focus), and lack of motivation (lack of interest) come from not having clear goals.

Goal setting is a skill that you can develop (improve).  Without goals that are carefully planned, that can be expressed in words, and can be written down, you will drift through your learning and study sessions.
If you do not have a clear ‘vision’ (an idea that is clear in your imagination) of what is important to you in your studies, you will allow yourself to be distracted by whatever comes along.

Goal setting is about ‘priorities’ (things that are most important)
You can’t do everything you want to do. You must set priorities or you will end up wasting your time and energy, and not accomplishing (doing) anything to your fullest potential.

In this series of posts on ‘Goal Setting’ we’ll be looking at how you can set your goals for better spoken English!

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important:

“just do it and do it now!”

Here are some examples of how you can help motivate (stimulate the interest of a person in an activity) yourself in your study, and keep yourself ‘on track’ (heading in the right direction) for achieving the results you want.

Challenge Yourself (make demands on yourself)

Keep your goals high enough to ‘inspire’ (excite) you, and reasonable enough to be within your reach. Excellence is never achieved (got) by luck or accident. It requires that you push yourself beyond your ‘comfort zone’ (that which you find easy and comfortable to do) and challenge yourself. You have to be practical, but there are always ways to achieve some version (form or outward appearance) of your dreams.

Be Specific (clearly defined)

Goals aren’t helpful if they’re not specific.  Don’t set your long term career goal as something vague (unclear), such as “helping people” or “making a lot of money”.  You should express your goal in specific terms, such as “I will be an interpreter” or “I will teach English in China” or “I will run my own public relations company”.  The more exact (accurate; precise) you are, the easier it is to measure your progress (know how far you have gone in getting what you want).  It’s also easier to tell when you’re finished and ready to move on to the next goal.

Include Actions

Just setting a goal by itself isn’t enough. You need to commit yourself (promise to do) to the actions required to achieve your goal. The things you need to do to achieve ‘long-term goals’ become the ‘small goals’ you set for yourself this month or this week, or what you write on a list of things that you need to do today (today’s ‘to-do list’).

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important to your goals then:

“just do it and do it now!”