Going Beyond Internship: Professional Goals

In this Going Beyond section, let's talk about goals. One format my program emphasizes is the SMART goal-setting model. This model highlights that for goals to be most effective they ought to be:

• Specific - Goals should be detailed and defined. This includes answering the Who, What, Where, When, and Why questions of the goal.
• Measurable - How will you measure your goal and when will you know if it has been achieved?
• Attainable - Is this a realistic goal? Can you break it down into smaller, more reasonable chunks?
• Relevant - Goals should be personally worthwhile - otherwise there may be no motivation to achieve it.
• Time-Bound - How likely are you to put off a chore if you know you have forever to complete it? Creating a deadline can reduce the opportunity for constant procrastination.

So, I am not the best with intentionally creating and evaluating my SMART Goals. More often than not, I make them too broad and not necessarily attainable. Knowing that, I have tried to take on goals that I care more about to ensure that the relevance keeps me motivated.

One of my goals for this year has been to attend a portion (at least an hour) of a school board meeting each month. I'm not going to make it for November. Does that mean I fail? Technically yes I guess. Can I rework my goal to make it more reasonable? I think I can. Now I'm thinking of it as an average of one meeting per month. This allows some flexibility for my past and future self to navigate the busy life of a graduate student.

Moral of the story: goals are important, but it can be just as important to give yourself the grace to modify your goals.