As a student, those 3- 4 years of college are some of the best times of your life! The fun-filled canteen gossip, the vibrant fests, those adventurous night-outs with your roommates, etc., are memories that stay etched in your mind forever!
Nonetheless, those 3- 4 undergrad years are about more than just having fun. There are days when you feel stressed about meeting deadlines for assignments or feel pressurised the night before final exams. And being a part of one of the top girls’ colleges in Kolkata, handling your anxiety might feel a little too overwhelming on such important days.
So, what’s the best solution to make your student life well-balanced and hassle-free? Follow along to know in detail!
S.M.A.R.T Goals- The Best Solution
You must’ve heard how goals shape your career, and why every person should pursue their life with a specific goal in their mind.
However, despite setting goals, many of you might still lack the motivation or perseverance to work on them. That’s not because you don’t have the potential. Rather, that’s because you didn’t plan for S.M.A.R.T goals!
The S.M.A.R.T strategy helps you set achievable goals. While pursuing a long-term goal might bring frustration, SMART goals help you set short-term targets within a stipulated period. This is a great way to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and nurture confidence while moving forward toward your goal.
The SMART acronym stands for-
- (S)pecific: Studying at one of the best girls’ college in Kolkata instills a sense of competitive nature in you. You also want to aim higher in life and achieve bigger goals. However, most students cannot, and that’s because they set goals that are too long-term!
So, learn to be specific about your goals. Keep your long-term goal in mind, and focus on the immediate goals that can help you reach there. Figure out the actions you have to take to achieve your immediate goals. The more specific and granular you get, the easier will it be for you to work on your goal.
- (M)easurable: After dividing your long-term goals into smaller targets, now it’s time to make sure that your targets and your progress are measurable. Why? Because this will help you have a clear idea of what tweaks you need in your strategies, and what kind of pace you need to develop to achieve your targets.
- (A)chievable: This is probably the toughest part of this whole SMART strategy. That’s because you need to understand where you are standing currently regarding your aim. After you’ve assessed that, now it’s time to create a goal that’s achievable, yet challenging!
Achievable because if you set too long-term a goal, you might get lost on track. So, you have to keep it within your reach. Challenging because without hurdles, you won’t have any scope to outgrow yourself, or surpass your limitations, and therefore, won’t ever be able to achieve your goals!
- (R)elevant: Another essential thing that you need to do, is to set goals that are relevant to your career, or academic discipline. This will eventually help you proceed in the direction of your long-term goal.
For instance, if you’re pursuing a degree in English Literature from a reputed womens college in Kolkata like Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Vivekananda Vidyabhavan Girls’ College, your goals should be to develop a good vocabulary, enhance your writing skills, and have good communication and social skills. This relevancy should help you learn the language better, and score great in the examinations as well!
- (T)ime-bound: Every goal that you set for yourself, should have a deadline. Although no one’s going to poke you for this, but assigning a specific date for a goal helps to create a sense of need and urgency, and eventually makes you set your priorities straight.
This is a great strategy that lets you set more realistic targets and also helps juggle between academics and extracurriculars effectively.
Balancing Is the Key!
You must’ve heard the proverb “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Well, to thrive and compete in today’s competitive environment, just academic skills and brilliant results aren’t enough anymore! You have to have good physical and mental health, great social skills, and an array of interpersonal skills to make your mark and achieve your goal.
Hence, no matter what kind of professional courses after graduation you enroll for, balancing between your academics and extracurriculars is necessary, and SMART goals are the ones that can help you to achieve your goals and enjoy your college life at the same time!