It's about that time, where while toasting the new year, many faculty will resolve to finish old projects, publish only great papers, & take a vow never to procrastinate again.
Such "reach goals" require effort, resources, & capability building to realize.
While set with the best intentions, too many reach goals can be bad for your self-esteem.
Why?
Because failing to reach goals is dangerous for the "Type A" personality that lurks deep within most academics.
For the #TypeA person, failure can be upsetting, even demotivating, causing a downward spiral in the #newyear.
Worse.
#Failure can lead to endless introspection about what went wrong, what you could have done to avoid failure, & plotting the next steps to be a success.
Such introspection can teeter dangerously close to second-guessing your choices & undermine your #confidence.
Even worse.
Having lost confidence in your decisions, you may stop forming "big goals" or pursuing "reach ideas" that are needed to advance your career, keep the job engaging, or contribute to your institution.
So how to avoid the fallout of #failure? & to keep setting #reachgoals?
First, recognize that it is not the goal that matters but the #journey toward realizing that goal.
Create goals that require you to learn so that even if you don't realize it, you can look back & know what you learned & get how you can use it in the future.
To ensure you do this, jot down a few #mikestones or #skills you hope to pick up along the way.
That way, even if you don't publish 5 top papers in a year, you can find satisfaction in what you #learned by trying.
Second, create a #portfolioofgoals, which includes some achievable outcomes.
Some #motivationalspeakers warn of the peril of setting achievable goals, bc they can lead to not chasing reach goals.
I disagree.
A few achievable goals help you find your confidence, build your efficacy, & give you the necessary wins to navigate the challenges of academic life.
Third, create a portfolio of goals, with different #timelines.
Goals don't have to be realized immediately.
Some things take years, like publishing a paper. Some take months, like creating a new course.
While we are often counseled to play the long game, fulfilling short-term goals can be powerful motivators to keep working.
Fourth, when forming #newgoals, learning from what went wrong is okay.
We are all trained to think & critically.
When setting new goals, ask what resources & skills do you need to acquire? To make them plausible?
Rather than a specific outcome, make acquiring those %resources & #skills goals.
Finally, don't forget the reach goals.
Absent reach goals, you risk becoming complacent, dated, or irrelevant to your field or your uni.
Remember, it's the journey, not if you fulfill the goal, that matters!
Bonne chance pour la nouvelle année!
