Setting Goals

Reposted from 2018

Setting goals might have been a writing prompt that elicited eye rolls and boredom. However, your teacher didn't lie; it can be a good tool for many parts of your life! I used it a lot academically, but it wasn't until my injuries that I was able to really fine tune it.

Being ambitious and having big goals is great; but often those goals can seem far away and the distance can be intimidating. People say, "you have to walk before you run", "take it step by step" , etcetera, but we're not often taught to apply that thought to goal setting.

I've personally found that when I set goals in "steps" that I am able to keep a better attitude and big goals don't feel so far away. Setting my goals in this way acknowledges the progress I've made and prevents me from feeling as if I have fallen short even though I am making progress. I sometimes will call the particular goals "the gold", "the silver", or "bronze". Making this simple change in mindset rewards progress while looking forward as well.

Build steps and a ladder to reach your goals

In honor of the new year, here are some of my tiered goals for my vocal issues:

• Bronze: have vocal cord augmentation/injections**

• Silver: add more notes/tones when speaking***

• Gold: sing again

*It seems to help to set tiered goals for individual aspects of life (ex: general, academic, health, personal, etc)

**achieved

***in progress