31 How Can I Accomplish What I Need To?
Rosie Carbajal-Romo
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
There is a difference between a goal and a wish. A goal is something that requires action to complete. A wish is something we simply hope will happen without doing anything to achieve it. Students often confuse goals with wishes due to the expected probability of the outcome. For example, a student might say that owning a Ferrari or becoming a movie star were wishes, not goals, because the chance of them happening is slim. We could debate about realistic goals for a long time, but for this lesson, the probability of a goal is irrelevant. Think of it like this: the chances of winning the lottery may be slim, but we have no chance to win the lottery if we do not purchase a ticket. Purchasing a ticket requires action, and that distinguishes a difference between a goal and a wish.
When we apply this to education, there are many areas that require action in order to be successful. If I wish for good grades, but spend my time browsing social media instead of studying, I may not get my wish. But if my goal is to attain good grades, and I take action to achieve them by studying, reviewing, being prepared, etc., then I am much more likely to accomplish my goal.
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
– Michael Jordan
One of the challenges many students face is being overcommitted. Some are working full-time, going to school full-time, and have other responsibilities as well. Students may additionally be taking care of children, siblings, parents, or have other commitments. It can be difficult to take action to complete goals when there are so many areas competing for our time. And sometimes we cannot “do it all.” Sometimes we need to prioritize, let something go, adjust, and reevaluate what the most important things are to us.
Other students may struggle because college does not have as much structure as they may have been used to in high school. Why should I start a homework assignment now when I don’t have anything I have to do for the next three days? This mindset usually leads to the student waiting until the last minute to start the assignment, and as a result, the quality of work is not high.
Estimating Task Time
One of the biggest challenges I see college students have is accurately estimating how much time it will take to complete a task. We might think we’re going to be able to read an assigned chapter in an hour. But what if it takes three hours to read and understand the chapter? Having the skill to know how long a homework assignment will take is something that can be developed. But until we can anticipate it accurately, it is best to leave some time in our schedule in case it takes longer than we had anticipated. Starting before the due date is key to doing this successfully.
We have a limited amount of time. Most of us cannot complete everything we wish to complete—either in a day or in a lifetime. We hear people say, “I wish there was more time” or “If there was more time, I would have done this.” We have enough time to do many of the things we wish to do. People run into difficulty when they spend time on things that are not the most important things for them.
“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
– Bill Watterson
Time Management Strategies
Laura Vanderkam’s TED Talk helps with perspective on free time.
Video: Watch “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time” by Laura Vanderkam, TED Talk
You must make time for the things that are most important to you. In order to make time, you may need to decide you will not do something else.
The ability to say “no” cannot be underestimated. It isn’t easy to say “no,” especially to family, friends, and people that like you and whom you like. Most of us don’t want to say “no,” especially when we want to help. But if we always do what others want, we won’t accomplish the things that we want—the things that are most important to us.
Ask yourself:
- What am I doing that doesn’t need to be done?
- What can I do more efficiently?
Have you ever ordered an appetizer, salad, beverage or bread, then felt full halfway through your entree? In situations like this, many people claim, “my eyes were bigger than my stomach.” This is also true with planning and goal setting. It may be that your plan is bigger than the day. Experiment with what you want to accomplish and what is realistic. The better you can accurately predict what you can and will accomplish and how long it will take, the better you can plan, and the more successful you will be.
In the next chapter we will talk about why we sometimes (or often!) procrastinate and how to overcome it!
License & Attribution
Adapted from College Success Strategies by Rosie-Carbajal-Romo, which is licensed CC BY SA 4.0. Any changes to the original chapter can be found in the Appendix.
