Table of Contents
“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities – always see them, for they’re always there” (Bluestein, 2010). Academic success for students nowadays tends to be directly correlated to a student’s ability to have a plan for their success. Having a plan entails setting goals, self-regulation and following the strategies that prove effective for oneself.
Goal Setting
Setting goals is a crucial first step to creating a plan for students because without a goal there is no measure of achievement. Studies show that setting higher goals push students to work harder and have more confidence in themselves. Another study directly correlates the use of short-term goals set on study and homework with long-term academic success (Thibodeaux, Deutsch, Kitsantas, & Winsler, 2017). When it comes to having a plan for academic success, having a long-term goal to measure oneself by and short-term goals that set up the success of the long-term goal are key factors.
Self-Regulation
Regulating oneself and managing time is the next necessary step for successfully following through with a created plan to reach an academic goal. There are three circulatory steps to regulating oneself that include forethought, performance, and self-evaluation. The forethought step goes back to the goal setting from the previous step, it is setting short-term and long-term goals for oneself. The next step is performance, in this step one would carry out strategies and check their learning. After both of these steps the next would be self-evaluation, and in this last step one would examine how effective the strategies they used were in comparison to achieving their goal. The cycle begins back over after examining which strategies worked best and moving forward with the plan of using those successful strategies (Thibodeaux, Deutsch, Kitsantas, & Winsler, 2017). Through constant cycling any student should be able to find a successful strategy for them to achieve success.
Conclusion
Managing oneself can be a tricky and complex thing to figure out especially in the face of stressful classes, activities, and personal life. Approaching these things with no clue of how to handle them can lead to health issues and academic failure. In order to stay stress free and achieve success academically a plan must be made through setting goals and regulating oneself to ensure the goals will be hit. Instead of seeing only the darkness of all the responsibilities ahead, see through it to the possibilities for success. Become a possibilitarian and achieve your dreams.
Reference
- Thibodeaux, J., Deutsch, A., Kitsantas, A., & Winsler, A. (2017). First-Year College Students’ Time Use: Relations With Self-Regulation and GPA. Journal of Advanced Academics, 28(1), 5–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X16676860
- Bluestein, J. (2010). Becoming A Win-Win Teacher Survival Strategies For The Beginning Educator. 109.